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Swiss libraries receive over 46 million visits

People visiting a library in Switzerland
Swiss libraries lent out just over 40 million books and other media in 2023. Keystone-SDA

Public libraries in Switzerland recorded 46.3 million admissions last year, 7.4 million more than in 2022. The total number of active users remained stable at 1.7 million, the Federal Statistical Office (FSO) reported on Monday.

Switzerland has a total of 1,498 libraries, a slight increase on the previous year (1,484), says the statistical office. On average, the country has 16.7 libraries per 100,000 inhabitants. This is more than other cultural institutions, such as museums or cinemas.

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In 2023, libraries lent out just over 40 million books and other media, a figure stable compared to the previous year. And they once again attracted a lot of people: the statistical office counted over 79,000 events organised, compared with almost 70,000 the year before.

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A total of 8,607 people, or 4,337 full-time equivalents, worked in Swiss libraries, in addition to 2,339 volunteers.

Translated from French by DeepL/gw

A correction was made to this story to specify the number of volunteers and full-time equivalents working at Swiss libraries.

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