The Bangkok Patana Libraries are more than just quiet spaces full of shelves and books – we like to think of them as a social hub, a research centre, a place to collaborate, a place to escape into the pages of a great story … they are living, breathing ecosystems of calm, curiosity, discovery and wonder. Once again, over the past year, the Patana community has proved just how dynamic that ecosystem can be.

So, as we reflect on our Library usage across the past academic year, our circulation and usage figures reveal a wonderful story of enthusiasm, shifting reading habits, and opportunities for exciting growth. Here’s a closer look at what we discovered …

Borrowing is on the Rise in Key Stage 2 and Secondary!

The headline success? Our Key Stage 2 students borrowed 22.5% more books than the year before – and our Secondary students topped even that, with a 27.1% increase. These are phenomenal jumps and reflect a very positive reading culture among our older students. Whether it’s fantasy, dystopia, graphic novels, or real-world non-fiction, our shelves are clearly speaking their language.

A Subtle Rise in Digital Use, Along with a Strong Print Collection

While our overall print book collection decreased by 11%, this was a strategic move, all part of our effort to keep our shelves fresh, relevant, and responsive to our users’ needs.

Meanwhile, eBook checkouts increased by 27%, showing growing digital engagement. Our eBooks now make up 7.66% of our collection, up from 5.48% last year. We’re seeing more of our patrons dip into reading on their devices, which are great for travel, accessibility, and 24/7 availability. However, our print borrowing remains strong, showing that books still hold a place dear to a lot of us. The demise of printed material is still a long way in the future, it seems.

Book Sets for Classroom Use

This year we decided to record the figures for the use of topic, or themed, books that were requested by Year groups to aid the children’s learning in the Primary classrooms. We knew this was popular but had not quite realised to what extent – there were over 10,000 loans last year! This is a huge testament to the depth and relevance of our collection as well as the strong classroom and Library collaboration that exists.

Data Gaps in Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1

You may notice lower figures for our youngest readers. Due to a systems migration mid-year, some FS/KS1 borrowing data wasn’t captured – but rest assured, story times and book borrowing remain a joyful part of their day. We are making sure that next year’s numbers tell the full story – having checked the statistics over the first month of this academic year, we already know that the numbers are comparable to previous years.

New Books and Fresh Reads

Our shelves grew by nearly 5,200 new titles last year, carefully selected for relevance, inclusion, and excitement. This included:

– 3,801 new Primary books
– 1,382 new Secondary books

We are also continuing to curate more topic and themed books to support teachers in their classroom learning.

Thank You, Patana

Of course, none of this would be possible without you – our children, students, parents and staff, who borrow, browse, recommend and read the wonderful variety of reading material we have available.

Whether you are devouring graphic novels, researching for your IB, reading aloud to the children in your class (or indeed your own children at home), enjoying a quiet moment with a story of your own choosing or just using our spaces for a quiet moment of reflection – you are part of our library’s story and we cannot thank you enough.

Here’s to another brilliant chapter ahead!

“Happy Reading” from your Library Team.