The Thomas Balch Library director told the commission the library saw about 3,000 entries through its front door in September, while new directional counters installed in the reading room registered roughly 1,150 visits to that space.

The director said those figures come after a month of busy programming: an authors festival on Sept. 20 that brought five authors and two panels but about 37 attendees at the library event itself, plus roughly 690 attendees at several off-site events the library staffed, including Descendants Day, the George Mason University archives fair and Sterling Volunteer Fest.

The reading-room counters are new and were in their first full, unbroken month of operation, the director said. The library also tracks reference-desk interactions separately; reference staff logged about 400 questions in the month, a figure the director said aligns qualitatively with staff experience of demand.

Commissioners and staff discussed how the two-count system produces different snapshots: a door counter that registers all building entries and directional counters that measure reading-room usage. The director said many patrons use the building without seeking staff interaction, and that the reading-room counter is a better indicator of visitors who use on-site collections and reference services.

Staff reported good turnout for the Shenandoah Valley Archives Fair hosted at the library (15 institutions tabling and about 56 visitors over the lunch period) and said the event supports networking and referrals with other repositories. The director said the archives fair has been held since 2019 and that visiting institutions frequently rotate hosting duties.

The director also previewed recurring October programming (a pumpkin hunt, display-case exhibits) and said the library will continue weekly and special events while planning a strategic-planning process in 2026–27 to refine outreach and hours based on survey and usage data.

Less-critical details: the authors festival had modest in-building attendance but authors reported the event was worthwhile; staff will track trends as more months of counter data accumulate and will report further analysis to the commission.