books

WTF Fun Fact 13230 – NYPL Gave Away Books

The New York Public Library gave away books in the summer of 2022 – half a million books, to be exact.

The New York Public Library gave away half a million books

According to the NYPL website (cited below), branches in the Bronx, Manhattan, or Staten Island gave away books starting June 9, 2022. The goal was to give away 500,000 diverse books for kids and teens (from birth through 18)!

Certain locations even offered large print books as well as books in Spanish and Chinese.

As they note: “A lifelong love of reading—and your own home library—begin with choosing your first book.”

Personal libraries

Building a personal book collection can provide people with many benefits – so it’s good to start young.

Having a personal library (however small) helps with knowledge, learning, and personal growth. It can also provide relaxation, stress relief, cultural enrichment, and a sense of accomplishment.

Collecting books can be a calming activity that helps reduce stress and promote mindfulness. It can even help you to regulate your emotions, especially if you collect books that address topics that you’re struggling with or that resonate with your experiences.

A study conducted by researchers at King’s College London found that over 30 percent of adults participate in some form of collecting, including books. While psychologists can’t pinpoint exactly what makes book collecting worthwhile, many people take great pride in their book collections.

Studies do show that people who engage in hobbies are happier than those who do not. Book collecting can even be a social hobby if it involves getting out of the house and hunting for books in bookstores or attending book clubs.

Read books, live longer

A 2016 study published in the journal Social Science & Medicine actually found that reading books can reduce mortality by up to 20%. You’ll live longer if you read books.

The same was not true of reading other things – like the Internet, newspapers, or magazines!

The researchers noted that “any level of book reading gave a significantly stronger survival advantage.” This was particularly true for adults 65 and older who read books instead of watching TV.

— WTF fun facts

Source: “Summer at the Library: Free Book Giveaway!” — NYPL

WTF Fun Fact 13198 – Turkey’s Library of Books Thrown Away

Garbage collectors in Turkey have curated their own library from books thrown away by residents. The books were destined for landfills, but around 6,000 books now sit on shelves waiting to be re-read by the public.

Reusing books thrown away

The trash collectors kept finding books and eventually found a place to put them. It’s an old brick building outside of Ankara that used to house a factory. Its long shape makes it ideal for the long bookshelves that make libraries so fun to browse.

In the beginning, the trash collectors would stash the books and lend them to friends. But as more people heard about it and the number of books grew, they searched for a more sustainable option. The local municipality, Çankaya, found money in the budget to open a library with these books.

We started to discuss the idea of creating a library from these books. And when everyone supported it, this project happened,” the mayor of Çankaya, Alper Tasdelen, told CNN (cited below).

Turkey doesn’t have a public library system, so it’s up to each region to build, curate, and staff a library themselves.

A new collection and a public good

The library full of books thrown away has a full-time staff member. They’ve even converted a garbage truck into a mobile library/donation truck!

The public has started donating books to the library instead of throwing them away to rot in landfills. You’ll also find magazines and other types of reading materials in the library.

There are some other items found in the trash that have made their way to the library, such as furniture and even games. Some of the space acts as a social center for people in the town.

Talk about turning trash into treasure!

Check below for a video about these garbage collectors’ awesome efforts! — WTF fun facts

Source: “Garbage collectors open library with abandoned books” — CNN

WTF Fun Fact 13184 – People in India Read the Most

People in India spend 10 hours and 42 minutes a week reading, the most of any country on Earth. The U.S. makes up about 30% of the world’s book-buying population. But Americans don’t crack the top 5 for the time spent reading metric.

Where do most readers live? People in India read the most

India, Thailand, China, Phillippines, and Egypt round out the top 5 for the most time spent reading per person, on average, per week.

Data collected between 2017 and 2022 showed that:

  • India ranks first, with people spending 10 hours and 42 minutes reading per week (556.4 hours per year).
  • Thailand ranks second with weekly totals averaging 9 hours and 24 minutes (488.8 hours per year).
  • China readers average 8 hours a week (or 416 hours per year).
  • Those in the Philippines tend to read 7 hours and 36 minutes per week (395.2 per year.)
  • And Egyptians read for 7 hours and 30 minutes per week (or 390 minutes per year).

Books and their readers

Data collected between 2011 and 2020 shows that Americans love buying books (and they do read them, so it’s not just book hoarding). And most Americans do read books.

The World Population Review compiled numbers from various research studies and showed that while people in India read the most (in terms of hours spent reading):

Altogether, Americans read 275,232 books per year and makeup 30% of the market share of book buyers. A Pew Research Center study published in 2016 found that 72% of Americans had read a book the preceding year, a number that rose to 75% in 2022. But that rise was almost certainly due to the pandemic keeping people at home. In 2016 Americans read an average of 12 books a year (though 50% of the nation reads 4 or fewer, so we’re depending on some people to read a lot of books to make us look good). But we still tend to read more physical books than e-books, even though the e-book trend is growing in the U.S.

In other countries:

  • China reads 208,418 books on average per year (10% of all books purchased).
  • The United Kingdom reads about 188,000 books every year, and book sales have reached about 212 million!)
  • Japan makes up 7% of the market share for book buyers, and the Japanese read an average of 139,078 books per year. This makes up about 7% of the total market share.

What are the most popular books in the world? Well, you can probably guess – it’s the Holy Bible and the Holy Qu’ran. Next in line come The Harry Potter Series, The Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse Tung, and Lord of the Rings. Eclectic! — WTF fun facts

Source: “Average Books Read Per Year by Country 2023” — World Population Review

WTF Fun Fact 13146 – Oldest Library in the World

Al-Qarawiyyin Library is the oldest library in the world. It is located in Fez, Morocco, and was part of the oldest continually operating university in the world, al-Qarawiyyin University. The university opened in 859. (If you’re thinking this can’t be right because Oxford is the oldest university, note that it’s simply the oldest in the English-speaking world. Even the University of Bologna was founded after al-Qarawiyyin.)

Al-Qarawiyyin had a library, but sultan Abu Inan Faris founded the one we consider the oldest continually operating library in 1349. He was able to collect some of the world’s most precious manuscripts.

How the al-Quarawiyyin Library came to be

Al-Qarawiyyin university, its library, and a mosque were founded by a woman (around the same time algebra was invented!).

Her name was Fatima El-Fihriya, and she even attended the university. Born in Tunisia around 800 AD, her family became wealthy as a result of her father’s successful merchant business and migrated to Fez.

Both well-educated, Fatima and her sister Maryam went on to found mosques in Fez. Fatima’s wealth was a result of her father having only two daughters to leave his riches to, and Fatima’s husband and father died shortly after her wedding. However, we know little else about their lives. A fire in 1323 destroyed most of the records that could tell us more about her life.

It appears Fatima El-Fihriya’s goal was to make Morocco an educational hub, which she did. In fact (while it’s disputed), she likely influenced the future of educational institutions around the world.

Al-Qarawiyyin offered many courses on the Qur’an, but eventually expanded to include the study of medicine, grammar, mathematics, music, and astronomy. It drew intellectuals from all over the world.

Once accessible only to academics, the library is now open to the public thanks to a full renovation Canadian-Moroccan architect Aziza Chaouni began in 2012 and finished in 2017.

— WTF fun facts

Source: “The Fascinating History of the World’s Oldest Library; Al-Qarawiyyin Library and University, Fez” – Odyssey Traveler