Public Libraries: Dynamics of Infrastructure and Access

This publication presents the last decades’ dynamics of some essential aspects regarding the network of public libraries in Romania. The first chapter illustrates the territorial distribution of public libraries on an interactive map with disaggregation down to locality level. Subsequently, the chapter presents a dynamic comparison of the evolution of public libraries at county level between 1995 and 2022. Next, the second chapter interactively addresses the complementary topic of the population’s access to the public library in the locality of residence.

Over the past three decades, the number of active public libraries has seen considerable declines. Inherently, the access of the population to the public library in the locality of residence decreased. Therefore, citizens’ access to culture and education is increasingly restricted.

The primary source of data used is the National Institute of Statistics (NIS / INS):

• For the number of public libraries – set ART101B from TEMPO-Online
• For the population at locality level, by domicile – set POP107A from TEMPO-Online
• For the resident population at locality level – the set P15 from the provisional results of the 2021 Population and Housing Census.
• For the outline and coordinates of the administrative-territorial units – the sets Polygon county boundaries, Polygon UAT Limits and Localities Romania dot from geo-spatial.org.

The data were processed statistically and in visual format by the National Institute for Cultural Research and Training (NICRT / INCFC).

• Authors: Alin Savu, Bogdan Pălici, Maria Trifon
• Web developer: Cristian Georgescu