I enjoy talking to folks about how libraries’ missions have evolved. Libraries today are more like community centers, offering classes and programs, in addition to the typical collections of books, magazines and computers. In February, we had two special programs: Technology Tools Tutoring class, and a family film: The Princess Bride.

We track statistics to determine how well we are serving the community. Each month the Community Room and our Study Room are used approximately 60 times. On average our computers are used by 66 people per day in Sandy and 17 per day in Hoodland. I believe that tracking attendance is probably the best measure of success that we have. We installed a door counter, which we’ve had problems with, but the important thing is that I was able to determine that on average, 400 people enter the library each day.

These statistics are helpful to track as indicators of how relevant we are in the community. We also count circulation, and it is interesting to note which materials count the most to our circulation. See the graph below.

 It is clear to see that DVDs have the highest percentage of the circulation. But it must be remembered that they also have the shortest check out period (7 days, as opposed to 28 days for most books), which explains part of that higher circulation.