More Poles read books in 2020 than at any time in the last six years, according to a report released by Poland’s National Library. Just over four in ten (42%) read at least one book last year, while one in ten managed seven or more.
The figures represent slight increases on figures of 39% and 9% respectively in 2019, continuing an upturn from the 37% and 9% in 2018. But they are still some way short of those recorded in the early 2000s, when well over half of Poles read at least one book a year and almost a quarter read seven.
The report also found a large difference between men and women’s reading habits. Two thirds of men (67%) did not read a single book in 2020, compared to around half (49%) of women, while more than twice as many women (15%) read at least seven books as men (7%).
Percentage of people who read at least one book (dark blue) or at least seven in each year (grey). Source: Biblioteka Narodowa
It also noted disparities between residents of cities and the countryside. One in five people (20%) living in the largest cities read at least seven books and 57% read at least one, compared to 6% and 37% of people living in the countryside.
The report’s authors attempted to gauge the effects of the pandemic on people’s reading habits, but noted that the results were inconclusive since different social groups of people had been affected in different ways.
“It seems that it was in fact not the pandemic that was the main factor in deciding on Poles’ reading habits, but the exceptional circumstances caused by it are in fact heightening the social differences that were visible previously,” they concluded.
The top three most popular authors among Poles remained unchanged in 2020. Prolific crime and thriller writer Remigiusz Mróz held on to first place, followed by Olga Tokarczuk, winner of the 2018 Nobel Prize in Literature, and Stephen King.
Other Polish writers in the top ten were Adam Mickiewicz and Henryk Sienkiewicz, authors of 19th century literary classics, as well as Andrzej Sapkowski, who wrote the bestselling Witcher series, and Szczepan Twardoch.
Supporting development of reading is one of the priorities of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, according to the Polish Book Institute.
The planned budget for the National Reading Development Programme for 2021–2025 is more than 1.1 billion zloty, including 635 million zloty from the state budget, an increase of 180 million on the previous edition of the programme.
A survey of 15 European nationalities by Eurostat carried out between 2008 and 2015 found that Poles were among those who spent the most time reading books – 12 minutes a day on average, just behind Estonians with 13 minutes, and well ahead of Italians with five minutes and the French with just two minutes.
Main image credit: Poland4Me/Flickr (under CC BY-NC 2.0)
Ben Koschalka is a translator and senior editor at Notes from Poland. Originally from Britain, he has lived in Kraków since 2005.
