James LaRue - myliblog

In the last two months of 2023, 63 library staff (and 3 of our board members) interviewed some 90 “movers and shakers” in the community. These were people representing many sectors of our community: business, civic (as in civic clubs like Kiwanis, Lions, Optimists and Rotarians), education, elected, faith-based, government (non-elected), news/media, and not-for-profit. The preliminary list was generated by our own staff. Then we sent out our people to meet with them at their own place of business. We asked them five questions: What’s your story? That is, how did you come to be here at this time in your life? What motivates you? What drives you in your life or work? As you think about your constituents (the people you represent or serve), what do you think will be their key issues over the next 18-24 months? What are your aspirations for the community? Who else should we talk to? The intent of the questions was twofold. First, we wanted to have some sense of the backstory of community l...

I like statistics. It matters to me how well we do and looking over the numbers helps me stay on top of change. This month, I’d like to take a look back at Garfield County Libraries use in 2024. Thanks to Jenn Cook, our technical services director, for pulling all this together. The main trend: we continue to see a sharp rise in the use of digital content. Some 75% of that use is downloadable/streaming services. Overdrive (or Libby app users) and Hoopla led the pack, coming in at a 26% increase over 2023 for the former, and 25% for the latter. Particularly interesting to me is the jump in newspaper use. NewsBank saw a 372% increase over the previous year. The Wall Street Journal jumped by 83% over 2023. (Incidentally, a personal subscription is about $500 a year. A library card is a heck of a savings!) Use of the New York Times grew by 32%. Other digital services include things like our Learning Express resource. This provides career preparation data, high school equivalency info, coll...