Moldova ranks 21st in survey on library books per capita

The Republic of Moldova ranks 21st. in a world study produced by UNESCO on library books per capita. Thus, there are 594 volumes per 1,000 inhabitants in Moldova. According to the UNESCO Institute for Statistics, cited by the Russian press, Georgia has the richest libraries – 16,335 books per 1,000, followed by Monaco (9,781), Liechtenstein (4,968), San-Marino (3,704), Iceland (2,831), Armenia (2,295), Estonia (1,714), Luxemburg (1,707), Lithuania (1,601) and Macedonia (1,458). The Russian Federation ranks 26th, having 513 books per 1,000, Ukraine came up the 55th (88). Israel has a rank of 28, Great Britain – 30, Germany – 31, Italy – 42, Japan – 59, and the USA – 92. The survey averages 832.5 books per 1,000 inhabitants of the world. At the same time, the National Bureau for Statistics claims 4,000 books per 1,000, provided the number of Moldovan public libraries of 1,389 with a total figure of 17.5 mln of books. This would place Moldova among the richest in books countries of the world. According to the same statistics, compared with 1995, the number of rural libraries dropped by 141 and urban ones – by 72. Nonetheless, the figure of visits to libraries went up 3%, totaling to 10.2 mln in 2005.