The Jake Epp Library is one of the busiest libraries in the province with over 3,145 patrons consulting books and using the facilities in 2021.
Library manager Chrystie Kroeker Boggs is delighted that many patrons have used the library over the past year. With around 80,000 books in their inventory, there were over 180,000 library transactions that took place in 2021. Transactions can mean renewing books in addition to the initial signing of a book.
Library usage statistics for the Jake Epp Library only date back to the year 2000, when they began digitizing information. But during this time, they’ve collected some interesting data over the years that has shed some light on who’s using the library and how. For example, a customer signed 1,983 items last year (this number also includes item renewals), a sharp drop from 2007 when a customer had 15,000 transactions.
While the statistics they collect are insightful, the data still makes it difficult to define a specific library patron. And Kroeker Boggs is grateful she can’t. “That’s the beauty of the library, is that we’re there for everyone and there isn’t one particular customer. There are so many different people who use the library for different things who appreciate different materials, which I think is the beauty of the library. Anyone interested can find something in our library.
Fiction is the clear winner for both adults when it comes to what most people read. And according to Kroeker Boggs, when adults consult nonfiction books, they are books from the technology and knowledge translation section of the library. “It’s all in the Dewey Decimal system in the six cents. That includes health books, home management books, home decor, that sort of thing.
Children check out fiction books with cartoons and graphic novels topping the list. And when it comes to non-fiction books, animals and space are the most popular topics, with dinosaurs being the number one topic.
The top five signed books at the Jake Epp Library for 2021:
- The Four Winds by Kristen Hannah
- Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
- Big Nate turns around
- Cat Kid Comic Club
- Garfield chews the fat
The Best Offline eBooks for 2021
- A time for mercy
- Nomadland: Surviving America in the 21st Century
- The Sentinel: a novel by Jack Reacher
- The secret society, of the book and the scone
- American dirt
The best offline audiobooks for 2021
- Cold Mourning: Stonechild and Roulea Mystery Series
- Finding April Raintree
- Le Rossignol – 38 cases
- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
- The hunger Games
Kroeker Boggs is pleased with the variety of most signed books for 2021. “I think whatever you read, just read. I also strongly believe that graphic novels and anime are just as much books as any other book. I’m very happy to say that we don’t have a cartoon in the first place. For our young readers, the most important thing is that they like the content they read, and if that means they want to read Garfield, then let them read Garfield.
