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Libraries. By type. Counties and Aran, areas and provinces

Libraries. By types. Counties and Aran, areas and provinces 2016
Public For specific user groups Higher education institutes Specialities Total Books
Alt Camp 4 1 0 4 9 115,545
Alt Empordà 9 2 0 6 17 337,020
Alt Penedès 9 0 0 3 12 181,272
Alt Urgell 1 0 1 4 6 83,401
Alta Ribagorça 1 0 0 1 2 19,717
Anoia 10 0 1 3 14 303,179
Aran 2 0 0 2 4 46,759
Bages 18 0 1 7 26 785,526
Baix Camp 13 0 0 5 18 586,052
Baix Ebre 10 0 1 7 18 249,611
Baix Empordà 11 0 0 5 16 325,866
Baix Llobregat 34 2 1 20 57 1,354,543
Baix Penedès 8 0 0 2 10 169,738
Barcelonès 61 4 30 141 236 11,231,355
Berguedà 5 0 0 3 8 114,008
Cerdanya 2 0 0 2 4 55,365
Conca de Barberà 4 0 0 4 8 211,774
Garraf 6 0 1 4 11 324,023
Garrigues 8 0 0 1 9 82,023
Garrotxa 7 0 0 4 11 150,914
Gironès 13 3 1 11 28 1,061,235
Maresme 28 0 1 5 34 1,200,104
Moianès 1 0 0 0 1 30,496
Montsià 9 0 0 1 10 178,408
Noguera 6 0 0 3 9 107,750
Osona 18 1 2 5 26 614,379
Pallars Jussà 2 0 1 2 5 62,089
Pallars Sobirà 2 0 0 2 4 20,146
Pla d'Urgell 9 0 0 1 10 113,736
Pla de l'Estany 3 0 0 1 4 83,228
Priorat 2 0 0 2 4 30,483
Ribera d'Ebre 8 0 0 2 10 92,867
Ripollès 5 0 0 2 7 115,780
Segarra 4 0 1 2 7 88,731
Segrià 15 2 2 11 30 861,838
Selva 14 0 0 4 18 311,289
Solsonès 2 0 0 3 5 38,625
Tarragonès 15 1 1 11 28 875,179
Terra Alta 4 0 0 1 5 58,817
Urgell 6 1 0 2 9 100,580
Vallès Occidental 35 1 11 23 70 2,467,142
Vallès Oriental 29 3 0 6 38 899,391
Catalonia 453 21 56 328 858 26,139,984
Metropolità 187 10 43 195 435 17,152,535
Comarques Gironines 62 5 1 33 101 2,385,332
Camp de Tarragona 38 2 1 26 67 1,819,033
Terres de l'Ebre 31 0 1 11 43 579,703
Ponent 48 3 3 20 74 1,354,658
Comarques Centrals 45 1 3 18 67 1,601,334
Alt Pirineu i Aran 10 0 2 13 25 287,477
Penedès 32 0 2 12 46 959,912
Barcelona 254 11 48 220 533 19,505,418
Girona 63 5 1 35 104 2,433,009
Lleida 59 3 5 34 101 1,633,083
Tarragona 77 2 2 39 120 2,568,474
Source: Idescat. Estadística de biblioteques.

Last update: December 10, 2019.

Methodological note

Definition of concepts

Library
Organised collection of books and printed periodical publications or any other type of document, especially graphic or audiovisual ones, and a service of staff that assists users in their use of said documents for purposes of information, research, education or leisure. The library is also the administrative unit (the same management) which can contain one or more points of service. There are two types, as follows:
Libraries of higher education institutes
Library mainly dedicated to servicing students and teaching staff at university faculties, higher technical colleges, university colleges and other public or private centres of higher education.
Specialised libraries
Library that depends on an association, official service, research centre, museum or any other body dedicated to a particular discipline or branch, which determines the documentary content of the library. Can provide documentation or services to any body requesting it, or may be essentially designed to respond to the information needs of a certain audience.
National library
Institution whose purpose is to collect, conserve and provide access to Catalan bibliographic production and that related to the linguistic area of the Catalan language.
Public library
Library that is at the service of a community, especially a local community, and that attends to the general public (does not include military libraries). Includes both publicly owned libraries and those financed by private entities (savings banks associations, etc.) that are at the service of a community.

Methodological aspects

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The data for libraries has been obtained from the Library Statistics which is conducted biennially by the Statistical Institute of Catalonia (Idescat) at libraries that are open to the public.

The main goal of this operation is to produce statistical information on the main characteristics of libraries, including:

  • structure
  • operation
  • equipment
  • staff
  • expenditures
  • services

These statistics have been performed in accordance with a collaboration agreement signed between the National Statistical Institute INE and Idescat, and in conjunction with the Department of Culture of the Generalitat de Catalunya.

These statistics are of a census nature and collect information on all libraries, regardless of their administrative dependence. Nevertheless, there are some exclusions: on the one hand, private libraries that belong to private bodies or individuals and the use of which is not open to the public, not even under special conditions; and on the other, school. From 2016 onwards, information has been obtained from the military libraries in Catalonia.

Information that is not available is represented using the symbol ":". When the value is lower than the minimum unit allowed to estimate the statistical operation, or affects statistical secret, the symbol used is "..".