The World Cities Culture Forum (WCCF) ranks Warsaw as the leading city globally for its abundance of public libraries per resident. With 11.98 libraries for every 100,000 citizens, Warsaw finishes on top of the charts in front of Seoul (11.5) and Brussels (8.0). 

On the opposite spectrum, cities such as Lagos, Chengdu, Bogota, Istanbul, Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Rome, and Madrid lag significantly behind in library accessibility, with only a fraction of a public library available per 100,000 inhabitants.

New York City slightly surpasses Moscow in terms of public libraries per resident, while certain Central European capitals like Prague, Budapest, and Bratislava were not included in the WCCF study.

https://twitter.com/InclitusRegnum/status/1655249235850215431

Last year, a video showing Varsovians reading books on their way back from work while travelling by metro went viral, showing that the attachment of Poles to books is not only a matter of numerous public libraries. 

The truth is that Poles know that a good book is something enjoyable. Scrolling social media can “kill some time”, but it does not leave you with that feeling of truly emerging yourself into a given universe. Also, it’s practical and does not cost much generally speaking. 

The WCCF ranking encompasses numerous major cities worldwide and highlights Warsaw’s prominence in library accessibility.

Image: Unsplash

Author: Sébastien Meuwissen