The Collective Management Organization for Literary Works (OSDEL) presents the aggregate data on public book lending for 2025, which were derived from the processing of data submitted by the country’s public and municipal libraries.
The data confirm that public lending remains one of the most important means by which citizens gain access to books, showing a further increase and highlighting the reading preferences of male and female readers.
Library Participation and Data Collection
To collect the data, OSEL sent a letter to 247 libraries (public, municipal, elementary, and community) throughout the country.
Of these:
- Data was sent by the National Library of Greece
- Data was collected from 25 public libraries (coverage ratio 55.56%)
- Data was collected from 54 municipal libraries (coverage ratio 31.21%)
- Data was collected from 5 children's (public/municipal) libraries (coverage ratio 16.67%)
The response rate among libraries varies significantly by region, with high participation rates in some areas (such as Western and Central Macedonia) and lower rates in others, a fact that highlights the need to further strengthen the systematic collection of public lending data at the national level.
At the same time, several libraries reported that they are unable to export or send data, a fact that underscores the importance of digitally upgrading their infrastructure.
Key findings
- 876,885 total book loans in 2025, vs. 846.225 in 2024
- An increase of 30,660 loans (+3.6%) within a year
The increase in borrowing for the second consecutive year is a positive development for the book ecosystem. The data show that public and municipal libraries continue to play a vital role in promoting a love of reading by offering free access to knowledge, literature, and culture for all ages. It should be noted that the total number of loans mentioned above applies only to libraries that submitted data to OSEL. Based on an estimated extrapolation, the total number of loans from public and municipal libraries in Greece (excluding school and academic libraries) is estimated to be approximately 2,000,000 loans for the year 2025.
Breakdown of Loans by Library Type
- Public libraries: 299,475 loans (34,15%)
- Municipal libraries: 577,410 loans (65,85%)
This breakdown highlights the crucial role of public libraries in promoting reading, while also confirming the significant contribution of public and children’s libraries to meeting the reading needs of different age groups.
It is worth noting that municipal libraries, despite significant variations in size and available resources, continue to serve a large number of readers every day, confirming the important role of local government in fostering a culture of reading.
Literature continues to dominate
The largest category of loans remains fiction for adults, with 389,638 loans, which correspond to the 44,5% of the total.
The following are:
- Children's Fiction: 152,688 loans (17.41 TP3T)
- Children's Illustrated Books: 120,276 loans (13.71 TP3T)
- Scientific books: 61,343 loans (7.0%)
The first three categories account for more than 75% of total loans, confirming readers' enduring preference for literature for adults and children.
The 2025 data also confirm that Greek literature continues to hold a leading position in readers’ preferences, while demand for children’s and young adult books remains particularly high, a fact that underscores the value of libraries in fostering a love of reading, starting from an early age.
How «old» are the books they borrow?
An analysis of loans by year of publication shows that readers—both men and women—are drawn to both contemporary titles and older, timeless works:
- Publications from the past 5 years: 24,5%
- Edition 6–10 years: 24,5%
- For ages 11–15: 18,0%
- Ages 16–20: 13,2%
- Publication more than 20 years old: 19,8%
The data show that, aside from new releases, a significant portion of interest remains focused on books that have already established themselves among readers, confirming the timeless nature of literature. It should be noted that, due to the extremely limited resources available to libraries for purchasing books, there is a significant shortage of the most recent titles.
The Books with the Most Loans
The top fifty books with the most loans in 2025 were:
| No. | Book Title | Author | Publishing Company |
| 1 | The House by the River | Lena Manta | Psychogios |
| 2 | The Seal | Lena Manta | Psychogios |
| 3 | The Green Dress | Lena Manta | Psychogios |
| 4 | A Trip to Venice | Lena Manta | Psychogios |
| 5 | The Three Aces | Lena Manta | Psychogios |
| 6 | Almyra. Happiness, Another Way | Rena Rossi – Zairi | Psychogios |
| 7 | The Great Chimera | M. Karagatsis | Estia Bookstore |
| 8 | Turquoise | Rena Rossi – Zaïri | Psychogios |
| 9 | Cobblestone Path | Yiannis Kalpouzos | Psychogios |
| 10 | Letter of Gold (Gold Cover) | Lena Manta | Psychogios |
| 11 | An apology at the end | Lena Manta | Psychogios |
| 12 | As long as the soul can endure | Lena Manta | Psychogios |
| 13 | Unwritten law | Sofi Theodoridou | Psychogios |
| 14 | The Diary of a Nerd 1 | Jeff Kinney | Psychogios |
| 15 | The Ice Flower | Maria Tzirita | Psychogios |
| 16 | Ariol: The Knightly Horse | Emmanuel Guibert | Red |
| 17 | A Women's Issue | Claire Theodorou & Lena Manta | Psychogios |
| 18 | Sour milk | Menios Sakellaropoulos | Psychogios |
| 19 | Olivia | Rena Rossi – Zaïri | Psychogios |
| 20 | The Baby in the Attic | Lena Manta | Psychogios |
| 21 | The Doctor | Paschalia Travlou | Binoculars |
| 22 | Under the apple tree | Maria Tzirita | Psychogios |
| 23 | The other side of the coin | Lena Manta | Psychogios |
| 24 | Love Like Rain | Lena Manta | Psychogios |
| 25 | Secret Lace | Maria Gavriilatou | Six |
| 26 | Ashes and Purple | Maria Chios | Six |
| 27 | A Case for Detective Clouseau: The Case of the Red Dog | Jürgen Banscherus | Crossroads |
| 28 | Everything I love belongs to you | Yiannis Kalpouzos | Psychogios |
| 29 | The House by the River. The Next Generation | Lena Manta | Psychogios |
| 30 | The Diary of a Nerd 2 | Jeff Kinney | Psychogios |
| 31 | The Blue Sapphire | Rena Rossi – Zaïri | Psychogios |
| 32 | A wedding dress made of purple fabric | Sofia Voikou | Psychogios |
| 33 | Ginati. The Sage of the Lake | Yiannis Kalpouzos | Psychogios |
| 34 | The day I met you | Lena Manta | Lebanon |
| 35 | The Revenge of the Angels | Lena Manta | Psychogios |
| 36 | The Beloved of the Gods | Rena Rossi – Zaïri | Psychogios |
| 37 | The Five Keys | Lena Manta | Psychogios |
| 38 | Dog Man 1 | David Jr. Murray – Pilkey | Psychogios |
| 39 | Whispers of the North Wind | Sofia Voikou | Psychogios |
| 40 | Rodanthos | Sofi Theodoridou | Psychogios |
| 41 | The Silent Patient | Alex Michaelides | Binoculars |
| 42 | Tik and Tela: The Super Skateboard | Axel Scheffler | Icarus |
| 43 | My name is Anna | Maria Tzirita | Psychogios |
| 44 | A Nerd's Diary 11: All or Nothing | Jeff Kinney | Psychogios |
| 45 | Margot | Anna Galanou | Binoculars |
| 46 | A Case for Detective Clouseau: The Chewing Gum Conspiracy | Banscherus, Jürgen | Crossroads
|
| 47 | Dawn | Spyros Petrulakis | Minos |
| 48 | The Diary of a Nerd 5 | Jeff Kinney | Psychogios |
| 49 | Red coral | Rena Rossi – Zaïri | Psychogios |
| 50 | The Archangel of the Rocks | Menios Sakellaropoulos | Psychogios |
The ranking reflects the enduring popularity of certain particularly popular titles, which continue to be chosen by readers several years after their publication, alongside newer releases that are also finding their way into library collections.
Lena Manta continues to be the most beloved author among library readers, occupying the top five spots in the rankings and a total of sixteen spots among the top fifty books, while Psychogios Publications has published the majority (specifically 38) of the top fifty titles.
The top ten publishing companies with the most loans:
| No. | Publishing Company |
| 1 | Psychogios |
| 2 | Crossroads |
| 3 | Patakis |
| 4 | Binoculars |
| 5 | Lebanon |
| 6 | Cedar |
| 7 | Papadopoulos |
| 8 | Kastaniotis |
| 9 | Minos |
| 10 | Icarus |
The complete list of the top 50 publishing companies is available at the end of the article in PDF format.
The fact that the top ten publishing companies remain unchanged from the previous year indicates the stability of readers’ choices, as well as the enduring presence of specific publishing houses in the collections of public and municipal libraries.
The ten Greek male and female authors with the most loans:
The list of the ten Greek authors—both men and women—whose books are borrowed most frequently follows, with Evgenios Trivizas once again at the top, whose appeal remains undiminished. The ranking also highlights the consistent presence of popular Greek authors, as well as the significant impact of contemporary Greek literature on the reading public:
| No. | Author |
| 1 | Eugene Trivizas |
| 2 | Lena Manta |
| 3 | Rena Rossi – Zaïri |
| 4 | Chryseida-Chrysa Dimoulidou |
| 5 | Maria Tzirita |
| 6 | Paschalia Travlou |
| 7 | Yiannis Kalpouzos |
| 8 | Yolanda Tsoroni – Georgiadis |
| 9 | Menios Sakellaropoulos |
| 10 | Sofi Theodoridou |
The complete list of the top 50 Greek male and female authors is available at the end of the article in PDF format.
The ten Greek illustrators with the most loans:
| No. | Illustrators |
| 1 | Natalia Kapatsoulia |
| 2 | Iris Samartzi |
| 3 | Leda Varvarousi |
| 4 | Vangelis Eleftheriou |
| 5 | Nikos Maroulakis |
| 6 | Daniela Stamatiaidi |
| 7 | Katerina Veroutsou |
| 8 | Sofia Zarambouka |
| 9 | Eliza Vavouri |
| 10 | George Sgouros |
The complete list of the top 50 Greek male and female illustrators is available at the end of the article in PDF format.
The fact that picture books rank among the top items borrowed confirms their significant contribution to the development of children’s and young adult literature and to the creation of high-quality publications that are consistently chosen by the reading public.
Here is a detailed list of the ten Greek male and female translators with the most translations:
| No. | Male and Female Translators |
| 1 | Maria Angelidou |
| 2 | Philip Mandilaras |
| 3 | Petroula Gavriilidou |
| 4 | Maro Tavri |
| 5 | Eugenia Kolyda |
| 6 | Sophia Gregoriou |
| 7 | Vicky Lianou |
| 8 | Rena Rossi – Zairi |
| 9 | Antonis Papatheodoulou |
| 10 | Titina Sperelaki |
The complete list of the top 50 Greek translators is available at the end of the article in PDF format.
Maria Angelidou remains at the top of the rankings for yet another year. The presence of male and female translators highlights the crucial role of translation in disseminating world literature and knowledge through Greek libraries.
The top ten foreign authors with the most loans:
| No. | Authors | Country |
| 1 | Jürgen Banscherus | Germany |
| 2 | Elisabetta-Maria Dami | Italy |
| 3 | Jeff Kinney | USA |
| 4 | René Goscinny | France |
| 5 | Renée – Rachel Russell | USA |
| 6 | David Jr. Murray – Pilkey | USA |
| 7 | Orianne Lallemand | France |
| 8 | Roger Hargreaves | Great Britain |
| 9 | Daisy Meadows | Great Britain |
| 10 | Agatha Christie | Great Britain |
The complete list of the top 50 foreign authors is available at the end of the article in PDF format.
These choices demonstrate that readers—both male and female—are drawn to both timeless and contemporary foreign authors, with children’s, young adult, and mystery books.
The top ten foreign illustrators with the most loans:
| No. | Illustrators | Country |
| 1 | Ralf Butschkow | Germany |
| 2 | Axel Scheffler | Great Britain |
| 3 | Éléonore Thuillier | France |
| 4 | Roger Hargreaves | Great Britain |
| 5 | Georgie Ripper | Great Britain |
| 6 | Jeff Kinney | USA |
| 7 | Ingo Siegner | Germany |
| 8 | Benji Davies | Great Britain |
| 9 | Albert Uderzo | France |
| 10 | Jean-Jacques Sempé | France |
The complete list of the top 50 illustrators is available at the end of the article in PDF format.
Public lending supports books and authors
Public lending is a key pillar of book policy, ensuring citizens’ free access to knowledge and culture, while also recognizing the value of the work of authors, translators, illustrators, and publishing companies.
Data on public lending are particularly important in the context of implementing the fair compensation system for public lending, which ensures that creators and publishing companies are compensated for the use of their works by public and municipal libraries, in accordance with European and national legislation.
OSDEL will continue to collect, process, and publish public lending data, helping to capture reading trends in Greece and highlight the contribution of libraries to the country’s cultural life. The use of this data strengthens the development of book policies, promotes a culture of reading, and supports the effective implementation of the fair remuneration system for the benefit of all creators and publishing companies. At the same time, the need to support public and municipal libraries is once again highlighted, particularly the need to increase human and financial resources to strengthen infrastructure, digital transformation, and the enrichment of library collections.
osdel.gr: 73 Themistokleous St., Athens 106 83, Tel. 210 3849 100, info@osdel.gr
