Kitsap Regional Library details 2025 circulation surge and expands digital services for 2026

Collection and Technical Services staff told the Kitsap Regional Library Board of Trustees on March 24 that they added more than 45,000 items in 2025 and recorded "just over 2,500,000 checkouts," including about 1.7 million physical checkouts and just under 1,000,000 digital checkouts.

"Last year, we added over 45,000 new items to our collections and had just over 2,500,000 checkouts," said Benjamin Nanamaker, collection management librarian, during the board's mission-moment presentation. He and Sharon Grant, collection and technical services manager, outlined projects aimed at making collections easier to find and use across all nine branches.

The presenters described 2025 work that included relabeling juvenile graphic novels to remove Dewey decimals and make browsing simpler, creating a separate "step ups" chapter-book collection for emerging readers, increasing discoverability for Northwest reference materials, and introducing a short-story label for adult fiction. They also said book-kit instructions were clarified and barcodes were moved to improve check-in and circulation workflow.

For 2026 the team emphasized customer service and improved discoverability. "This year, our staff as a whole is looking at customer service... how do we welcome, how do we support, and how do we delight?" Grant said, describing plans to relabel the adult graphic-novel collection and refresh popular adult- and children's titles.

The library will pilot a "Leased Books" service intended to speed access to high-demand titles, add roughly 30 new kits for children with plans to expand to adults, and extend Spanish picture-book collections to all nine branches as part of a language-access effort. Nanamaker and Grant said they will also review branch inventory and capacity to keep physical collections aligned with local demand.

Staff described steps to grow digital circulation toward a 1,000,000-checkout digital milestone by expanding simultaneous-use ebook collections, increasing digital audiobooks, and adding new online services. "We are definitely going to make it to 1000000 checkouts this year," Grant said, and the system has added Kanopy, New York Times All Access, JobsNow (live job coaching available 11 a.m.–8 p.m. local time), and American Sign Language content on Mango.

Board members asked about service details during a brief Q&A. A trustee confirmed JobsNow availability is "yes, our time," meaning the 11 a.m.–8 p.m. local window. Trustees also discussed marking the millionth digital checkout with internal recognition or vendor visibility.

The presentation closed with board appreciation for the CTS team's trainings, outreach and support for branch operations, including logistics during recent branch closures and participation in community events.

The board did not take further action on the presentation; staff said they will continue implementation and report progress at future meetings.