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, college admissions test preparation, educator resources, adult core skills, and more. These days, it’s getting easier to “go to school” without getting out of your pajamas. Many people lean into libraries for learning.
There were other growth areas for the library. We did a push to sign up library card users, and saw a jump both in new patrons and activity by existing patrons. More people are using study rooms, not only for personal use, but for business. While we never seem to get much interest in computer classes, we’re seeing a bump in one-on-one tech assistance.
Our programming and events continue to climb, as in our recent Posada Navideña, which all by itself reached some 250 people. And we managed to about double the number of Spanish materials in our collection.
The library lends internet hotspots and laptops. That grew by 34% over last year. Clearly, there are still folks who can’t get, or can’t afford, these services on their own.
But there were a few areas where library use dipped. Public computer use fell by 2% — maybe because despite our rise in laptop checkouts, more people have their own computers or rely on their phones. Wireless internet use fell by a surprising 9%. Maybe more folks hang out in coffee shops or are using their phone connection.
We’re seeing sharp drops in use of DVDs and CD audiobooks. That’s part of the shift to streaming media. It may mean that we’ll start phasing out some of those materials. We’re also seeing a general slight decline in checkouts of physical materials, offset by increased use of ebooks. But hardback books still account for about a quarter of a million checkouts per year, which isn’t bad for a population of 65,000 or so.
Taken together, use of electronic databases rose 13% over last year. But a few of our offerings fell sharply, among them Creativebug and Code Combat (down over 60% from last year), Brainfuse HelpNow (down 79%) and VetNow (down 69%).
What does it all mean?
First, the two biggest numbers we track are physical and website visits, (up 14% over last year). Together, that’s over 610,000 people. The library is both a physical and virtual destination. I suppose it shouldn’t be a surprise that our community, like the rest of society, continues to move toward digital interaction.
Second, all the aspects of library use that depend on physical presence — browsing for materials, chatting with other moms at storytimes, meeting to talk about books or community issues — are still significant. Our collective choices are richer than they used to be.
Many thanks to all of our patrons who continue to point the way to the development of library services.
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, college admissions test preparation, educator resources, adult core skills, and more. These days, it’s getting easier to “go to school” without getting out of your pajamas. Many people lean into libraries for learning.
There were other growth areas for the library. We did a push to sign up library card users, and saw a jump both in new patrons and activity by existing patrons. More people are using study rooms, not only for personal use, but for business. While we never seem to get much interest in computer classes, we’re seeing a bump in one-on-one tech assistance.
Our programming and events continue to climb, as in our recent Posada Navideña, which all by itself reached some 250 people. And we managed to about double the number of Spanish materials in our collection.
The library lends internet hotspots and laptops. That grew by 34% over last year. Clearly, there are still folks who can’t get, or can’t afford, these services on their own.
But there were a few areas where library use dipped. Public computer use fell by 2% — maybe because despite our rise in laptop checkouts, more people have their own computers or rely on their phones. Wireless internet use fell by a surprising 9%. Maybe more folks hang out in coffee shops or are using their phone connection.
We’re seeing sharp drops in use of DVDs and CD audiobooks. That’s part of the shift to streaming media. It may mean that we’ll start phasing out some of those materials. We’re also seeing a general slight decline in checkouts of physical materials, offset by increased use of ebooks. But hardback books still account for about a quarter of a million checkouts per year, which isn’t bad for a population of 65,000 or so.
Taken together, use of electronic databases rose 13% over last year. But a few of our offerings fell sharply, among them Creativebug and Code Combat (down over 60% from last year), Brainfuse HelpNow (down 79%) and VetNow (down 69%).
What does it all mean?
First, the two biggest numbers we track are physical and website visits, (up 14% over last year). Together, that’s over 610,000 people. The library is both a physical and virtual destination. I suppose it shouldn’t be a surprise that our community, like the rest of society, continues to move toward digital interaction.
Second, all the aspects of library use that depend on physical presence — browsing for materials, chatting with other moms at storytimes, meeting to talk about books or community issues — are still significant. Our collective choices are richer than they used to be.
Many thanks to all of our patrons who continue to point the way to the development of library services.
[Note, this column ran in the Sopris Sun on January 15, 2025.]
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