Online libraries becoming preferred choice of Malaysians

The dip in the number of visitors to the Malaysia National Library (PNM), here, is not because of non-response factors but because the public is turning to online services, according to PNM director-general Datuk Raslin Abu Bakar.

He said the statistics on its online visitors showed an increase of six per cent, or a total of 8.75 million visitors last year compared to 8.26 million visitors in 2011.

He said, meanwhile, the statistics on physical visitors were down by 0.7 percent to 420,171 visitors last year, compared to 423,166 on 2011.

"Cumulatively, last year recorded a total of 9.18 million visitors via online and physical visitors which is an increase of 5.6 per cent compared to 8.7 million visitors in 2011," he told Bernama Tuesday.

The trend showed that the public were in fact love to read, but perhaps with the existence of gadgets such as tablets and smartphones, they could find the information more easily and quickly, yet it can be downloaded such as e-book.

However, he was unable to state the Malaysian People's Reading Profile Research's latest statistics as the research, which is carried out once every 10 years, will only be done next year.

"In 2010, we did only the Reading Profile Interim Study where we found the public reads eight to 12 books in a year," he said.

The last time the Malaysian People's Reading Profile was released in 2005, it showed that Malaysians only read two books in a year.