Taiwan becomes first in Asia with Public Lending Right scheme

Taiwan becomes first in Asia with Public Lending Right scheme

2026-04-20

Since 2025, every time you check out a book from a public library in the six special municipalities, publishers and authors can still receive compensation. It’s because Taiwan is now piloting a Public Lending Right, or PLR scheme from 2025 to 2027. It’s also the first country in Asia with a PLR program. The government pays NT$3 for each physical book checked out from the library, split 7:3 between the Taiwan-based publisher and writer or translator of Taiwanese nationality. Currently, more than 4,000 writers and translators have benefitted from the program.

Lin Yung-chi
FTV reporter
You can borrow books for free at the library. But did you know that your borrowing also benefits writers and publishers?

That’s right, you can support writers even if you didn’t buy a personal copy. Public libraries could more or less affect book sales, but it doesn’t have to be a zero-sum game. The Ministry of Culture is piloting a Public Lending Right, or PLR scheme, covering 300 libraries in the country. Every time a physical book is checked out, the government offers a NT$3 subsidy, split 7:3 between the publisher and the writer or translator.

Member of public
Library user
I think it’s great, because it doesn’t cost me anything to borrow books from the library. At the same time, I get to receive knowledge from books and compensate writers.

On the program website, beneficiaries can see the number of times their titles were checked out and how much they can expect to receive. All the writer or translator has to do is to register the ISBN of their publications, and the system will automatically tally the number of times their works have been checked out.

Chi Li-feng
Writer
Only after registering on the system did I discover just how many times my works have been checked out, which really adds up. The new title section in stores looks different every two to three months. Now that you can find the books in libraries and check out the titles, you can actually support the authors and publishers. Sometimes it’s not about money. It’s more the realization that so many people are still willing to borrow my works, which is really touching.

Xiao Yi-qing
Children’s author
I was quite happy when the remittance came through. This title was published way back, in 2010. It’s not so easy to find it in stores now, but over a four-month period last year, it was checked out 700 times. It’s still visible to readers, which I find really touching.

Currently, only some 35 countries have a PLR program, with Taiwan as the first in Asia. Over the September to December billing period last year, around NT$18.47 million was distributed to 221 publishers and over 4,000 writers and translators.

Steve Wu
Publishers’ Association
Not only the publishing industry, the entire book industry strongly supports PLR. I also hope that it can be written into law, so that there won’t be a risk of the government no longer earmarking a budget for PLR due to a lack of budget, which we don’t wish to see happen.

Publishers hope to see PLR written into law, so that the funds for the all-win solution for libraries, publishers, writers and translators won’t risk getting cut.

For more Taiwan news, tune in:
Mon to Fri at 9:30 pm on Channel 152
Tue to Sat at 1 am on Channel 53

#libraries #publishing #PLB #publiclendingright #culture

借書也能造福作家! 台灣領先東亞推"公共出借權"

2026-04-20

現在到六都的公共圖書館借書，也能成為支持創作的力量，台灣跟上國際趨勢，推出"公共出借權"，每本書被借出一次，政府會補貼作者與出版社共3元，畢竟圖書館免費借書，多少會影響賣書市場，去年第二期試辦，有超過4000名著作人受惠，出版業都樂見其成。

[[民視記者林詠琪]]
“看到喜歡的書，可以在圖書館免費借回家，不過你知道嗎？借書的同時，還可以替作者跟出版社，送上一份小小的回饋金。”

沒錯，借書也能支持作家，畢竟公共圖書館都是免費借書，多少會影響賣書市場，因此，文化部推出"公共出借權"政策，全台300間公共圖書館加入，民眾借書一次，政府會補助三元，著作人拿七成、出版者分到三成。

[[民眾]]
“我覺得挺不錯的，因為平常去借書，就是完全不用花到自己的錢，但是又想到，我又可以得到書裡面知識，又可以回饋給作者。”

點開網頁，可以看到總借閱次數，以及分潤金額作者只要把出版過的書申請登錄，就會開始統計，而譯者也是發放對象。

[[作家祁立峰]]
“登記這個系統之後才發現，其實每本書借閱的次數還不少，這樣子也還算一筆小錢。其實我們新書上架，可能兩三個月就會換一批，那現在就變成說圖書館也可以借，然後我在圖書館借了，其實對作者、對出版社也是支持。有時候不一定是錢，有時候是說，啊，原來我書還有這麼多人，還願意去借閱，這樣就會覺得很感動。”

[[兒童文學作家蕭逸清]]
“真的收到就覺得還蠻開心的。這一本書，它其實已經是2010年出版，市面上一般要找到，其實沒那麼容易，但圖書館，像我去年四個月的時間，就有借閱了700次，持續被閱讀者看到這樣，那我是覺得這樣子，讓我覺得還蠻感動。”

事實上，有超過35個國家實施公共出借權，台灣是東亞第一個推動，去年9月到12月間，共221家出版社，超過4000名著作人受惠，合計發放約1847萬元。

[[出版商業同業公會理事長吳政鴻]]
“我們不只是出版業，還有我們整個圖書產業，其實都是非常地支持，其實我當然還是希望可以入法，因為如果哪一天因為沒有預算，它就不再編列公共出借權，那也是我們不想見到。”

出版業也樂見其成，期盼未來政策可以入法，不受部門預算風險限制，繼續共創三贏局面。

更多新聞內容，請鎖定：
民視台灣台（152頻道）週一至週五晚上9:30
民視新聞台（53頻道）週二至週六凌晨1:00

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Cho Jung-tai (Dec. 4, 2025)
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Mr. Chen
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I actually think that feeding food scraps to pigs is best for everyone. In places like Taichung, the issue is in management. I think that the environmental protection and agriculture departments in every local government need to tighten their ships.

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Ms. Cheng became an overnight sensation after featuring in a video dancing at the Megaport Music Festival with her granddaughter. Now she’s become the oldest person to throw the first pitch for the TSG Hawks. She got a tour of the stadium and even got fanned during the breaks by the team’s mascot, to make sure she was comfy at all times.

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