District Library Sets Records For Checkouts, Renewals
District library sets records for checkouts, renewals
Total was more than 8.1 million in past fiscal year
BY GEOFF LARCOM
It was a record-breaking year at the Ann Arbor District Library.
The total number of checkouts and renewals totaled more than 8.1 million this past fiscal year, an increase of 15 percent from the previous year and the most in library history.
Library director Josie Parker said the increase stemmed from the wider variety of items available to check out, as well as the ease in doing so. “It’s availability and accessibility,” she said. “Those two words are the key.”
Online renewals increased 20.7 percent, up to 4.9 million this past year, and library visits were up as well. Visitors to the library’s five branches totaled 1.6 million last year, a rise of 4.4 percent, according to library figures.
Parker said that figure is significant because it shows that online use is not replacing actual visits to the library.
The Downtown Library recorded the most visits in the system, with 600,696. The downtown location circulated more than one million items for the first time in its history, a 6.9 percent increase over last year.
The Mallets Creek branch showed the greatest growth, circulating 654,716 items for a 13.6 percent increase; all branches recorded significant increases. “I’m happy it’s consistent across the system,” Parker said.
Books remained the top circulating item, accounting for 28 percent of the total. DVDs and videos were second, at 27.9 percent, with children’s books third, at 21 percent.
The library’s offerings include books, DVDs, CDs, magazines, pamphlets and framed artwork.
The library opened its newest branch on June 30 at the corner of Traverwood Drive and Huron Parkway. The
Traverwood branch is the third new building in the past six and a half years for the Ann Arbor District Library, which also recently built the Pittsfield and Mallets Creek branches and is planning an expansion of the downtown library.
All three new libraries were funded by an expansion millage approved by voters in the 1990s.
Geoff Lorcom can be reached at 734-994-6838 orglarcom@ annarbornews.com.