Latvian libraries gain users but record 8% drop in loans in 2025

Latvian libraries registered more active users in 2025, while the total number of loans fell by about 8% year over year, according to data from the National Library of Latvia published on the country’s Official Statistics Portal.

Latvia had 1,336 libraries in 2025, down from 1,350 a year earlier. The number of registered active users rose to 763,709 from 753,070 in 2024, while loans declined from 27.77 million to 25.54 million.

The statistics cover the National Library of Latvia, public libraries, higher education and college libraries, special libraries, and libraries at general and vocational education institutions. The National Library of Latvia is responsible for compiling the annual data.

Public libraries remained the largest category by number of active users. Latvia had 711 public libraries in 2025, with 384,527 active users and 9.65 million loans. In 2024, 712 public libraries recorded 380,149 active users and 10.2 million loans. Public libraries followed the broader national pattern, with slightly more active users but fewer loans.

The National Library of Latvia recorded a different trend. Its number of active users rose to 27,125 in 2025 from 17,923 a year earlier, while loans increased to 4.22 million from 3.68 million.

Higher education libraries recorded 70,087 active users and 7.05 million loans in 2025, compared with 71,730 users and 8.71 million loans in 2024. Libraries at general and vocational education institutions, meanwhile, registered 270,345 active users and 4.49 million loans, compared with 268,705 users and 5.07 million loans a year earlier.

The latest statistics cover data from 1999 through 2025. Since 2014, the active-user indicator has excluded external users. The official database also notes that technical problems affected the collection of some 2025 data on physical visits at academic, public, general education, and vocational education libraries; the note relates specifically to physical-visit statistics.

The decline in loans comes as printed books remain the dominant way Latvians access reading material. As reported earlier, a Latvian Academy of Culture study found that 47% of residents surveyed had used at least one method of obtaining or reading books during a six-month period. Twenty-six percent bought printed books, while 23% read or borrowed books during an in-person library visit.

Digital methods were considerably less common. Five percent of respondents borrowed e-books through a digital library, 4% purchased e-books, and 8% downloaded e-books from other internet sources. The researchers concluded that digital channels currently supplement rather than dominate access to books in Latvia.

As reported earlier, separate data from Latvia’s Central Statistical Bureau showed that 50.3% of the population aged 16 and older regularly reads books. Reading was more common among women, people with higher education, and residents of wealthier households. 

Another Latvian study also found that printed-book purchases had a broader social reach than e-book purchases. Among respondents with higher education, 46% had bought printed books during the period studied, while paid e-book use was concentrated among a smaller, generally younger and higher-income audience.

Neighboring Estonia has also been examining library use and access to books. As reported earlier, more than 4 million library loans were recorded there in 2025, while public libraries warned that funding for new materials had failed to keep pace with rising book prices. State support for library acquisitions has remained at 1.9 million euros for five years. At the same time, Estonia has been studying ways to attract people who rarely or never use libraries, including expanded e-lending, book lockers, cafés, and other services designed to make libraries more accessible and relevant to everyday life.

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