The bar chart provides information on the books borrowed from UK public libraries between 1995 and 2005. Overall, while the number of adult fiction and adult non-fiction books borrowed exhibited a downward trend, with the latter experiencing the most pronounced change, the opposite pattern was observed in the figure for top audio-visual materials. Meanwhile, the figure for children’s books remained somewhat unchanged. Notably, this indicates that people’s interest in adult fiction and adult non-fiction books faded throughout the period.
Focusing on the decreases first, the number of adult non-fiction books borrowed stood at 1113 million copies in 1995; this figure then experienced a dramatic drop over the course of the following ten years, finishing at 110 million copies, thereby witnessing the biggest change. Similarly, this was followed by adult fiction books, which started the period with 330 million copies before declining considerably and culminating at 230 million copies in 2005.
In contrast, people started borrowing top audio-visual materials overtime. Having started the period with 28 million copies, the figure for top audio-visual materials rose moderately, reaching 60 million copies within a decade.
Meanwhile, the number of children’s books lent by the libraries remained almost stable. The figure for borrowed children’s books started at 107 million copies in 1995, prior to increasing slightly to 114 million copies in 2000 and decreasing mildly to 104 million copies again in 2005, thereby remaining somewhat unchanged at the end of the timeframe.