A significant drop in the number of people using library services and facilities across Finland could lead to many having to close.
According to a report published by the Ministry of Education and Culture on Thursday, the share of Finland's population that regularly uses libraries has fallen from about half in 2006 to one third in the 2020s.
Young people in particular are increasingly using libraries less, the study found.
This development is in stark contrast to the growth in popularity of libraries from the 1960s to the 90s, when they were often the focal point of communities across the country and considered a cornerstone of Finnish culture.
"Funding for public libraries decreased significantly in the 1990s, and the drop in resources could be seen especially in the sharp decrease in the libraries’ purchases of books and other materials," the ministry's report stated.
Reading habits are also changing, with Finnish people spending on average considerably less time reading books compared to previous decades. This is especially true among men, according to the ministry.
The report anticipates that the popularity of libraries will continue to decline in the future, and Finland's extensive network of libraries is likely to become a memory from a bygone era.
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