Trustees hear statistics report; registered borrowers reach record high and staff update on programs

Library staff presented monthly statistics showing 97,524 registered borrowers — a number staff said is the highest in library history — and discussed how usage at the library’s temporary mall location and digital services are affecting patron metrics.

Trustees welcomed the data and asked staff to provide year-over-year comparisons and more detailed metrics for digital services (Hoopla, Libby/Sora and Link+). Reno, library staff, said he maintains multi-year data and will provide year-over-year subsets on request so the board can use those figures to support funding requests.

Trustees also asked about programming: staff reported that the volunteer who previously ran the chess club is no longer available (the drive to the mall was cited as a reason) and staff are reaching out to local chess clubs and volunteers to reestablish the program. Trustees suggested a targeted volunteer call on social media and asked staff to include volunteer onboarding information if a call is posted. Staff also reported positive community response to other programmed events (for example, a jigsaw-puzzle speed-run) and said drop boxes at temporary locations are functioning and visible.

The statistics presentation and the board’s request for expanded digital metrics were discussed in the context of the collections funding request that the board agreed to send to the city — trustees said digital-service usage will be part of the financial case for added collections funding.