The Prince George Public Library (PGPL) has had a very good year.
According to its rosy report to Council, library use went up across the board. Reference inquiries went up by nearly 5% over 2016 and the number of patrons went up by more than 3,500 compared to 2016 and more materials were borrowed, physically and digitally. But the most impressive jump was in the number of events hosted at the library and the number of people who attended them. Both figures grew by about 25% in just one year.
“We’re seeing an increase in library participation and programs, an increase in people coming into and taking out physical collections and we’re seeing, at the same time, an increase in people using our services remotely and not even coming into the library,” says Janet Marren, head librarian at PGPL.
In January, the library began offering online courses that people can access from home. Marren says they’ve been very popular so far.
She adds a new RFID materials management system is now in the works and should help them continue this positive trend
“What we’re trying to do, in the long run, is really take our staff time that’s put into materials handling and move it towards where people really want it and that’s in our customer service and our programs.”
She says they’re also hoping to get out into the community more often – the library is currently fundraising for a community outreach vehicle.
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