Slight decreases were registered in the scope of non-fiction publishing. In the category of biographies, 273 were written this year (a decrease from 295), of which 109 were autobiographies, some posthumously published. Only 76 books about Eretz Israel from an historical, archaeological or natural perspective joined the library catalogue (a decline from 114 last year) as well as 155 books on Jewish history. On the topic of the State of Israel from the angles of sociology, political science and other perspectives, the library received 644 books (720 last year). Only 74 books on the topic of the Israeli-Arab conflict were published this year, a further drop following last year's decline (76, and two years ago, 124).
Sixty-eight works of literature in Arabic joined the library's shelves this year. Hebrew and Arabic together produced 32 books on language and linguistics. In addition, 112 law books – most for experts and some for a general readership – joined their predecessors at the library.
The library also registered 502 books in the realm of rabbinics, 223 books of ethics and homilies, and 134 books of Bible commentary and scholarship. In Jewish thought, 37 new titles were added (a drop from 76) and 166 original works and studies were published in kabbalah and Hasidism (a decline from 215), a surprising drop relative to the previous year.
129 culture and leisure guides and 27 additional guides share the shelves with 235 art and folklore books.
Like to cook? Thirty-five new cookbooks were written for you this year, including holiday cooking, cooking from the Bible, recipes for vegans, and no small number of companies convinced that cooking with their products will improve the taste of the dishes you prepare.
134 books on popular science, nature and mathematics joined the library this year, a sharp increase from last year (80).
This year, 855 books for children and youth were registered at the National Library, a slight decline from 879 last year. This number does not include 221 textbooks registered at the library (a decrease from 300 two years ago). The percentage of translated children's and young adult literature plummeted this year (261 versus 367) – see itemization below.