Belgium/The FWB's Lirtuel digital book lending platform celebrates its 10th anniversary

Lirtuel is an online service that enables anyone registered in a library recognized by the Wallonia-Brussels Federation to borrow novels, comics and other works free of charge from a catalog of over 12,000 titles on electronic media.

Digital book lending platform Lirtuel celebrates its 10th anniversary this year. This service of. A poster campaign will be organized in Wallonia and Brussels throughout January to further raise Lirtuel's profile.

Lirtuel's development has accelerated with the periods of confinement. The platform went from 1011 active users in 2015 to 7421 in 2024. The majority of users are aged between 30 and 69, with the 40-49 age bracket the most represented (21%). At the same time, the number of digital loans has almost doubled, from 60,000 in 2015 to 116,000 in 2024.

Lirtuel is accessible free of charge to anyone registered in a library recognized by the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles. The platform is managed by the FWB in partnership with the central libraries and several direct operators.

The Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles purchases the rights and pays the publishers for each work, with financial support from the provinces and the City of Brussels. Today, the catalog includes over 12,000 titles, accessible 24 hours a day.

Each user can borrow up to six works simultaneously for a period of 30 days. Lending statistics reveal a clear dominance of fiction, which accounts for over 67% of borrowings. Graphic novels and comics follow with 12%, ahead of children's and educational literature (7%). Together, these three categories account for almost 87% of loans.

Source: www.rtbf.be/