Libraries disappear

Swedes borrow less and less books from the library - a trend in all of the Nordic countries with the exception of Finland. 

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  Libraries are disappearing in Sweden as people take out fewer books than they used to. The average Swede borrows 6 books per year, the average Norwegian borrows 5.1 books, the average Dane 9 books and the average Finn 21 books (yes, that’s right). The average American borrows 2 books per year. Above the beautiful Lund University Library, founded 1666.

• Libraries disappear
  Swedes borrow less and less books from the library and during the past 15 years every fifth library has disappeared, according to fresh statistics from Kungliga biblioteket (the National Library of Sweden). Every municipality must, according to Swedish laws, have a local library and it is the number of library branches in the municipalities that are decreasing. If this trend should continue, then every third library will be gone by the year 2020, compared with how many there were in 1995. Meanwhile, the interest in electronic books is on the rise.