Greek libraries report another annual increase in book loans

Libraries that submitted data to OSDEL recorded 876,885 book loans in 2025, compared with 846,225 in 2024. The increase of 30,660 loans, or 3.6%, marked the second consecutive year of growth in recorded public lending in Greece.

The figure covers only the libraries that provided information to OSDEL. Based on an extrapolation, the organization estimated that public and municipal libraries across Greece made nearly 2 million book loans in 2025. The estimate excludes school and academic libraries.

OSDEL contacted 247 public, municipal, children’s, and community libraries across the country. The National Library of Greece submitted data, along with 25 public libraries, 54 municipal libraries, and five public or municipal children’s libraries. Coverage reached 55.56% of public libraries, 31.21% of municipal libraries, and 16.67% of children’s libraries.

The organization reported considerable regional differences in participation. Several libraries also said they lacked the technical capacity to extract or submit lending data, highlighting the need for further digital modernization and more systematic nationwide data collection.

Municipal libraries accounted for 577,410 loans, or 65.85% of the recorded total, while public libraries registered 299,475 loans, or 34.15%.

Adult fiction remained the most frequently borrowed category, with 389,638 loans, or 44.5% of the total. Children’s fiction followed with 152,688 loans, or 17.4%, while illustrated children’s books accounted for 120,276 loans, or 13.7%. Together, these three categories represented more than 75% of recorded borrowing. Scientific books accounted for 61,343 loans, or 7%.

Readers borrowed both recent publications and older titles. Books published within the previous five years accounted for 24.5% of loans, the same share as books released six to 10 years earlier. Titles published 11–15 years earlier represented 18%, while books released 16–20 years earlier accounted for 13.2%. Publications more than 20 years old made up 19.8%.

OSDEL noted that the limited resources available to libraries for book purchases had created a significant shortage of recently published titles in their collections.

Greek bestselling author Lena Manta dominated the ranking of the most-borrowed books in 2025, occupying the first five places and placing 16 titles in the top 50. Her novel “Το σπίτι δίπλα στο ποτάμι” (“The House by the River”) ranked first. It was translated into English by Gail Holst-Warhaft, the English edition was published by Amazon Crossing in 2017. It was followed by “Η σφραγίδα” (“The Seal”), “Το πράσινο φόρεμα” (“The Green Dress”), “Ταξίδι στη Βενετία” (“Journey to Venice”), and “Οι τρεις άσοι” (“The Three Aces”). 

Images: Covers of “Το σπίτι δίπλα στο ποτάμι” (“The House by the River”), “Η σφραγίδα” (“The Seal”), “Το πράσινο φόρεμα” (“The Green Dress”), “Ταξίδι στη Βενετία” (“Journey to Venice”), and “Οι τρεις άσοι” (“The Three Aces”) by Lena Manta, Psichogios.

Greek children’s author and criminologist Eugenios Trivizas ranked first among the most-borrowed Greek authors, followed by bestselling novelist Lena Manta and Greek author Rena Rossi-Zairi. 

Writer and literary translator Maria Angelidou remained the highest-ranked Greek translator, followed by Filippos Mandilaras, Petroula Gavriilidou, Maro Tavri, Eugenia Kolyda, Sofia Grigoriou, Vicky Lianou, Rena Rossi-Zairi, Antonis Papatheodoulou, and Titina Sperelaki.

German illustrator Ralf Butschkow dominated the ranking of the foreign illustrators, followed by Axel Scheffler, Éléonore Thuillier, Roger Hargreaves, Georgie Ripper, Jeff Kinney, Ingo Siegner, Benji Davies, Albert Uderzo, and Jean-Jacques Sempé.

Images: Covers of  “Η συνωμοσία της τσίχλας” (“The Chewing Gum Conspiracy”) and “Η υπόθεση του κόκκινου σκύλου” (“The Case of the Red Dog”) by Jürgen Banscherus, illustrated by Ralf Butschkow, Metaichmio.

German children’s author Jürgen Banscherus ranked first among foreign authors, followed by Italian author Elisabetta Dami, American writers Jeff Kinney and Rachel Renée Russell, French comics writer René Goscinny, American author Dav Pilkey, French writer Orianne Lallemand, British children’s author Roger Hargreaves, Daisy Meadows, a collective pen name used by several British children’s authors, and British crime writer Agatha Christie.

Psichogios ranked first among the publishing houses whose books were borrowed most frequently, followed by Metaichmio, Patakis, Dioptra, Livanis, Kedros, Papadopoulos, Kastaniotis, Minoas, and Ikaros. The top 10 remained unchanged from the previous year, while Psichogios published 38 of the 50 most-borrowed titles.

OSDEL said that public lending data play an important role in Greece’s public lending remuneration system, under which authors, translators, illustrators, and publishing companies receive compensation for the use of their works by public and municipal libraries. The organization added that the data could support policies concerning books, reading, and library infrastructure.

As reported earlier, Greece had around 40 state libraries and slightly more than 100 municipal libraries, according to 2022 figures cited by Chytomo. Greek publishing professionals said many library collections had not been replenished for years and called for functioning libraries that could serve as “incubators of readers.”

Another OSDEL study found that people in Greece read an average of five books, while the median was two. More than 80% of the books read were in print, and access to books at home and during childhood was associated with higher reading levels.

Main image: pexels