‘Only one in 10 Filipinos borrow books from libraries’

MANILA, Philippines — Most Filipinos do not borrow books from libraries, the 2017 National Book Development Board (NBDB) readership survey showed.

Conducted from May to June 2018, the poll found that only one out of 10 adult Filipinos or 11.19 percent borrows books from libraries. Awareness of the presence of libraries was also low at the barangay level with only 12 percent of respondents saying they knew they have one in their village.

It was a bit higher in cities and municipalities as 41 percent of the respondents said they were aware of the presence of a library near their homes.

The NBDB survey was based on interviews with 1,200 adult Filipinos, 18 years old and above, nationwide.

It showed that a majority of Filipinos or 37.74 percent were more likely to purchase or acquire books by borrowing from family, relatives or friends. It also said that 33.98 percent of Filipinos received books as gifts and that 25 percent bought it themselves from bookstores.

The survey also found that about half or 49.2 percent of adult Filipinos read books at least once a week and 22.1 percent read books at least once a month.

As of 2016, there were about 1,416 libraries affiliated with the National Library of the Philippines.