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Hancock County Public Library reports rising circulation, digital services and facility projects
Summary
Hancock County Public Library briefed the board on funding structure, circulation gains, summer-reading participation and upcoming facility projects including a main-library parking-lot project and a remote-locker pilot.
Hancock County Public Library representatives reported increased usage, described the library’s funding model and outlined near-term facility and technology projects during a presentation to the school board.
Board appointee Tom Singh and Dave Gray explained the county library’s funding structure, telling the board that roughly 60% of the library’s annual budget comes from a property‑tax replacement (the county’s ceded funds), a mechanism established in 1999 to ensure countywide library service. Gray said the funding is not additional property tax revenue but a replacement of prior revenue streams.
Library officials cited 2024 metrics: roughly 3,000 new library cards, nearly 500,000 annual library visits and circulation approaching 1 million items; the system remained “number 12 in the state” by circulation, the presenters said. They highlighted electronic resources such as Libby and Hoopla and described Imagination Library enrollment of nearly 2,700 children countywide.
On infrastructure and service projects, the presenters said the main library replaced a chiller and boilers, upgraded RFID checkout and sorting systems, and plans for 2025 include a main-library parking-lot repair, a website redesign and a pilot installation of remote lockers at Eastern Hancock schools for hold pickup. Officials said the library is testing concurrent-use digital options and adding newspapers.com and other online services.
