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Liberty Lake library reports rising visits, circulation and program use; trustees to present numbers to city council
Summary
The Liberty Lake library reported year-over-year increases in patrons, visits, circulation and program attendance and flagged space, computer and parking constraints as the council presentation approaches.
The Liberty Lake Library reported larger user counts and program attendance for 2024 and will present those findings to the City Council at its June meeting, library staff and trustees said.
Janie, the library director, told the Board of Trustees that the library’s resident cardholders numbered 4,895 and that nonresident cardholders rose to 2,565, bringing total registered patrons to 7,460. Janie said annual visits measured by the library’s people counter were 69,575, up from about 62,600 the previous year, and cited total circulation of about 97,498 physical checkouts after a state-reporting correction. She said the library’s collection totaled 25,028 items and that the state guideline recommends roughly 1.5–2 physical items per resident; Liberty Lake’s population figure used for that guideline was cited in the library’s state report.
The director described program growth as well: story-time attendance rose to about 8,834 in 2024, and the library ran 306 free programs last year with a total program attendance of 12,919. Digital checkouts included about 15,900 ebooks and 18,041 eaudiobooks; staff noted eVideo circulation will appear in 2025 figures after the library added that service.
Trustees and staff said demand is creating operational constraints. Janie and staff reported 3,237 public-computer sessions in 2024 while the building still has four desktop computers; staff plan to double that count in the new building design. They also said the library’s meeting and study-room use has increased and that parking can be scarce during high-attendance events: the transcript records a board member saying the current parking figure is “I think…33 parking spots,” and the director said she would confirm the exact number.
Board members agreed the council presentation should highlight both the gains and the capacity limits. Michael, a trustee who also serves as the council liaison for the board, and Jen, a trustee, volunteered to help Janie prepare the June 17 presentation to the City Council.
The trustees did not take a final council-facing action at the meeting beyond assigning presentation support; the annual-report statistics will be presented to the City Council for its review and any direction.
