Every March, the Crawfordsville District Public Library reports our previous calendar year’s statistics to the Indiana State Library. It’s a great opportunity to take a look back at the previous year to set our performance in perspective. Over the past few years, the COVID-19 pandemic interrupted normal patterns of library usage, but the good news is that our usage has continued to grow year to year since then. Let’s look at a few highlights of 2023.
In 2023, CDPL had a total of 7,045 borrower accounts, which include resident, new and reciprocal (non-residents with resident library cards from other libraries) borrowers. Our patrons downloaded e-books and digital content from our content partners, OverDrive, Hoopla, and Kanopy, as well as print books, magazines, and media items.
Our top circulating item for 2023 was our Explorer Adventure backpacks — with a total of 55 checkouts for the year. If you haven’t heard of these before, the backpacks include a letter that will get your family in free of charge at a state park, plus several accessories to help you explore nature. Our 2024 packs aren’t ready for checkout quite yet, but should be soon.
The most popular 2023 titles in the adult fiction collection were “It Starts with Us: A Novel” by Colleen Hoover, checked out 42 times; “Dreamland: a Novel” by Nicholas Sparks, checked out 39 times; and “The House of Wolves” by James Patterson, checked out 33 times. These most popular items have multiple copies to reduce wait times.
Top nonfiction included Prince Harry’s blockbuster, “Spare,” with a total of 31 check outs; “Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing,” by Matthew Perry, with 21 check outs; and “If This is a Woman: Inside Ravensbruck: Hitler’s Concentration Camp for Women,” by Sarah Helm, with 19 check outs.
Top DVD titles were “Hidden Figures,” with 26 check outs, “Brooklyn” with 24 check outs, and “Chappaquiddick,” also at 24 check outs. “A Man Called Otto” and “Yellowstone. Season 1” were also among the most popular titles.
Our entry gate counted 95,587 visits to CDPL in 2023, and the Carnegie Museum of Montgomery County, which operates as a department of the library, hosted 8,897 visits in 2023. That’s a grand total of 104,484 visits between our two buildings!
In 2023, 748 programs for various community organizations and private events took place in the library’s meeting rooms, with a total attendance of 10,254 people.
Our Youth Services Department offered an amazing 374 children’s programs in 2023 with an attendance of 5,884. Young adult programs totaled 47 for the year with 212 attendees. The Youth Services programs include Wiggle & Giggle, Story Times, Book Clubs, Book Munchers, Teen Film Club and Teen Anime Club.
The Adult Services department hosted 70 programs for adults, with 987 attendees and both departments led programs for a general audience — a total of 39 — with 2,929 attendees. A few examples of the library’s adult programs are Wyrd Words book club, Yarnworks, D&D for Beginners, Mystery of History book club, and many nature and craft programs.
In 2023, our staff public notary assisted the public with notarizing 136 documents. Notary services are available by appointment on days the notary is present. While there is no set fee for the service, donations to the library’s gift fund are gratefully accepted.
Through our interlibrary loan services, we borrowed 607 items from other libraries for our resident patrons, and we loaned out 773 items to other institutions to serve their patrons.
Our public internet computers were used for 7,436 different sessions during 2023, with 5,258 hours of usage logged.
The most popular database offered was Ancestry.com, with 4,745 sessions logged. Ancestry.com can be accessed within the library building but is not available for outside access.
Please stop by the library, and check out our online offerings on the library’s website: www.cdpl.lib.in.us We hope you explore all the many ways we provide materials, services, and programs to meet residents’ needs in our community.
Jodie Steelman Wilson is the assistant director at the Crawfordsville District Public Library.
