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Roseburg Library reports 79,482 visits in 2024; staff detail circulation, exhibits, programs and grants
Summary
Library Director Chris Webby reported 8,652 items circulated in December (38% digital), 79,482 visits for 2024 (a 12% increase), plans to purge ~500 inactive library cards, upcoming Letitia Carson exhibit, and several grants totaling tens of thousands of dollars for collections and programs.
Library Director Chris Webby reported operational statistics, program activity and grant awards to the Roseburg Library Commission, including a year-over-year increase in visits and several funded projects for 2025.
Webby said the library circulated 8,652 items in December, with 38% of those circulations digital. For all of 2024 the library recorded 79,482 visits, a 12% increase from the prior year. Webby also said the library will purge about 500 inactive library cards for patrons who have not used them in the last two years; cards can be reissued on request.
On programming, Webby and staff member Aurora reported that the winter reading program had modest participation: 41 youth logged about 700 books and 15 adults logged 135 books. Attendance at story time increased in recent weeks (noted counts of 45 and 21 for two sessions). Staff recounted that the Americans and the Holocaust exhibition drew about 450 visitors and 210 attendees across five related programs; two programs targeted teenagers and local school groups attended a guided tour.
Aurora said the Oregon Black Pioneers’ Letitia Carson exhibition — about a Black Oregon homesteader from the Myrtle Creek area — will be hosted at the library in April and May, displayed in the library’s main area. Staff also piloted a combined in-person/Zoom/Facebook Live author event that drew a small mixed audience and plan further hybrid programming.
Children’s services updates included moving a monthly Lego program to a later 5:30–6:30 p.m. start time, which produced an initial attendance of about 20 people. The library received an early-literacy grant from the Ford Family Foundation that funded a wooden play kitchen to support imaginative play; staff plan to rotate the play station (kitchen, vet station, restaurant) over several months. An upcoming author event with Victor Laudato is scheduled for Feb. 13 at 6:30 p.m.; the Friends of the Roseburg Library will provide a free copy of the author’s book to the first 20 attendees.
On funding, Webby said the library received $3,687 from the State Library of Oregon’s Ready to Read grant, and a Douglas County Library Foundation grant for $30,000 to support digital and physical collection materials. Staff said they will submit a $2,000 request to the Douglas County Cultural Coalition to help fund summer reading performers and reported a prior $15,000 Sea Giles Hunt Charitable Trust award used for collection materials and giveaway books. Webby said staff have submitted required grant reports where noted.
Webby noted increased usage of a new digital magazine subscription: recent statistics show more than 500 digital magazine checkouts in each of the past two months compared with roughly 30 print magazine checkouts per month. Staff said they will continue outreach via newsletters and social media to promote digital services.
Commissioners thanked staff for coordinating exhibits and programs and for maintenance assistance moving larger exhibit pieces. No formal actions or budget approvals were requested during the report.
