The Polish edition of the “Books of Jacob”, a historical novel by Nobel laureatte Olga Tokarczuk. Photo by marekuliasz / Shutterstock.com

According to the National Library, the number of book readers dropped dramatically in Poland between 2004 and 2008. Since then readership levels have essentially been stable.

The National Library says people do not read books for a combination of reasons. These include new ways of spending free time and the growing popularity of digital entertainment.

Another factor is that, as communication technology develops, books are no longer the only source of knowledge and information, Polish Radio says.