With more than 92,000 titles, 167,000 borrows and about 22,000 readers, there is no doubt that Modi'in Maccabim Re'ut is the city of books.
Each year, our reading city celebrates Reading Month during the month of June and this is an opportunity to find out how much you love to read.
In the city, there are three bustling public libraries where you can open a free subscription, and some even have subscriptions to all three libraries. In addition to these, there are 39 city school libraries with a librarian, which makes the city unique. In addition to borrowing books from libraries, library meetings are held to encourage reading, and special activities such as the Book Fair and author meetings. All of these, of course, expand and enrich the children's world and advance them in the field of language and knowledge.
So what is going on in public libraries? Here are the figures.
This year, 1,530 new family subscriptions were opened, and thus we reach 7,333 active subscribers. This year, 3,765 new titles were added to the library shelves, joining the 92,305 titles in the library collection. According to the figures, residents borrowed 167,000 books! Of which 62,000 books borrowed were about adult books and 96,000 were children's and youth books.
So who said that the younger generation doesn't read enough? It turns out that in addition to reading fiction, non-fiction books also arouse their curiosity, and last year they borrowed 9,000 books. Another interesting statistic shows that about 11% of all subscribers also like to read digital books – 12,345 requests. According to the Israeli Digital Library (LIBI), the city is on the list of leading cities in the number of digital loans, an impressive figure relative to the size of the city.
And what do they like to read most? Children and teenagers love comics and borrowed 24,000 books. And adults love thrillers, romance and historical novels, but mostly like to escape to other worlds, with 14,600 science fiction books borrowed this year.
If you are looking for a reading recommendation according to the majority, the most borrowed books this year are:
In the adult category, " The Silent Patient" by Michaelides Alex, "The Temptation of Gracie” by Santa Montefiore, and “Someone Else’s Shoes” by Jojo Moyes.
In the children's category, the most popular books were "Diary of a Nerd" by Kenny Jeff, "Dog Man and the Puppy Writer" by Pilkey Dov, "Sisters" by Telgemeier Raina.
The youth read "The Fate of Apollo" by Riker Riordan and of course continuing to lead - "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" by J.K. Rowling, and "Percy Jackson" by Riker Riordan.
In libraries, people have long since stopped just reading quietly, but also enjoying the opportunity to meet in a pleasant environment and rich cultural and enrichment activities. During the past year, 115 activities were held in which about 4,800 participants participated. 50 story hours to encourage reading, including story hours for people with special needs, 14 writer meetings for children and adults, and 5 writing workshops for children and adults for writing poetry and prose as part of our writing school "Words." Throughout the year, there were also garden visits, performances, creative workshops and scientific workshops following stories, peak events and events to promote writers from the city.
The rich activity is led by a team of professional librarians and 26 volunteers of all ages who help arrange the books, operate the home book service, take care of the books - and more. This is an opportunity to say to them on behalf of all of us - thank you.
During the coming month, the city will celebrate Reading Month and as part of the festivities - A variety of story hours, including one in collaboration with the Moreshet Museum on Givat Ashon in Moreshet neighborhood, quiet activities for children for those who prefer, and a meeting with the beloved children's author Yenz Levy. A large book celebration for the whole family in collaboration with Tsivoni community center - Community Wing, centered on the play "The Egg That Disguised It" (11.6). In addition, a local literature fair will be held on the lawn of the Schechter Library, where you will find books of about 50 writers from the city, alongside a book truck "The Astronaut", also a food truck, and Mimi will tell a story on the grass, and finally a show for adults (children are also welcome to stay) - a tribute show to the songs of Jonathan Gefen by the ensemble "Dlatot Metohorot" .
