The recent opening of the renovated Fergus library drew a crowd, reports Wellington County chief librarian Murray McCabe.
Both the special event held on for local business people on March 30 and the public event the following day were “a tremendous success,” McCabe stated in a report presented April 30 at the Wellington County council meeting.
McCabe estimated 200 people attended the Monday night event and “easily 1,500” passed through by noon Tuesday following the official ribbon cutting.
“Comments received from the public were extremely positive and many mentioned the possibilities of how the library could tie in further with other local events,” McCabe noted.
Library usage
Printed and recorded material distribution through the Wellington County Library system was down slightly in March from the previous year, but the library still put 81,873 print books, CDs, DVDs, magazines and audio books into circulation during the month. That compares to 86,874 copies of such materials circulated in March 2014, according to statistics provided at the April 30 council meeting.
Material loaned through the inter-library system was also down, with 114 items loaned between branches in March, compared to 172 last year.
However, borrowing of eBooks through the library system rose from 4,518 in March 2014 to 5,418 this past March.
Public computer usage within libraries was also up from 5,563 to 6,212.
Attendance at library programs was higher, at 3,882 in March 2015 – up from March 2014’s figure of 3,319.
