Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Public Library topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Lansing Community Library reports steady use, 2024 growth in digital services
Summary
Library Director Terry reported a 19% increase in digital checkouts, steady overall circulation and outreach expansions in 2024; staff described accreditation application and shelving plans to address space limits.
Terry, Lansing Community Library director, presented the library’s 2024 annual review to the Lansing City Council on March 6, reporting higher digital use, program growth and a pending accreditation application.
The director told the council the library saw a 19% increase in digital checkouts in 2024 and roughly 43,000 items circulated overall. The library recorded about 24,000 visitors and 4,300 program attendees during the year. Terry said about 70% of circulation still came from physical materials.
Terry said the library reached 78% of children under 5 in Lansing through the Dolly Parton Imagination Library, and that the program has mailed more than 5,000 books since 2021. She said local donations have funded roughly $4,000 of the program’s costs, and the Kansas Children’s Trust Fund supplied about $2,600; the state provides a 50% grant for the Imagination Library.
On technology and services, Terry said public Wi‑Fi usage rose about 57% (about 18,000 sustained connections), public computer use increased by about 25% and the library adopted a new app (Aspen LITA) that reduced annual software costs by roughly $1,000–$1,500.
Terry described a two‑year project to replace the Dewey Decimal arrangement in the children’s section with a genre‑based shelving scheme to improve browsability and circulation; she said about 50 books remain to be relocated. She also said she submitted the library’s accreditation paperwork to the Northeast Kansas Library System, making the library eligible for a regional development grant; a decision was expected in April or May.
On collection space, Terry said the library’s shelves are fuller than recommended and described a plan to install narrower, slightly taller shelving that would add approximately 20 inches of linear shelf per run and one extra row over time; she said the accreditation development grant could be a funding source. Terry said the library currently employs four staff members (five when fully staffed).
Council members thanked Terry for the report. No formal council action was taken; the presentation was received and council members asked questions about staffing, accreditation and space options.
The director offered to provide the council with the underlying spreadsheets and graphics supporting the return‑on‑investment figures shown in the presentation.
