World Book and Copyright Day is celebrated on the 23rd of April of each year. In 1996, UNESCO proclaimed this special observance encouraging publishers, book shops, libraries, schools, cultural institutions and authors? societies from all over the world to celebrate the Day and promote the enduring importance of books and the protection of intellectual property through copyright. To mark this day, we are presenting various statistical indicators related to reading and use of public libraries.

A Eurobarometer Survey carried out between February and March 2007 showed that 54 per cent of the Maltese respondents never read a book in the preceding 12 months. This is the highest percentage, way above the EU27 average that stood at 28 per cent. The survey showed that Sweden, with 60 percent of the respondents indicating that they have read more than 5 books during the reference period, is the country whose citizens are the most avid readers.

The same survey also indicated that visits to public libraries are not very popular with the Maltese. In fact, 75 percent of the respondents indicated that they never visited a public library during the reference period. The country that makes most use of public libraries is Denmark, whose respondents indicated that 39 percent visited a public library more than 5 times during the preceding 12 months.

Locally, new public library membership is also showing a negative trend during the last 4 years. A positive trend has, however been noted in new adult membership in Gozo public libraries during 2007. The total number of book acquisitions in public libraries increased from 19,995 in 2006 to 27,119 in 2007, mainly due to donations received by libraries.

In the four years under review, a significant increase was noted in private consumption expenditure on newspapers and periodicals during 2007 when compared to 2006. A marginal increase was noted in the expenditure of books during 2007 over the previous year.