Library director: Cedar Springs library logged more than 20,000 visits in first half of year

James Pew, director of the Cedar Springs Public Library, told the council the library serves a service population of about 10,000 and has recorded over 20,000 visits in the first half of fiscal 2024–25. “Weve had over 20,000 visits in just the first six months of the year,” Pew said, and noted that equates to roughly 781 visits per week and about 130 per day.

Pew pointed to circulation figures he described as “very healthy”: about 1,500 youth items checked out per month, roughly 900 adult materials per month and about 800 digital checkouts monthly (about 30% of total circulation). He said the library currently lists more than 33,000 items available for checkout.

The director also described facility and program use: a community room with capacity of about 95 people is rented about nine times per month and used informally by roughly 38 people per month; the library ran 41 childrens programs (averaging about 43 attendees) and 76 adult programs (about 18 attendees each) in the first six months, and several larger all‑ages events averaged around 245 attendees. He added that 3,725 people hold library cards overall and that, as of the end of February 2025, 1,587 Cedar Springs residents (about 43% of the citys population) had local library cards.

Pew left the poster from his presentation in City Hall for public viewing and asked council to consider increased funding for digital materials given the share of circulation they represent. The council thanked library staff for the report; no formal action was recorded on the library presentation.