These days, the work of the Denver Public Library has been extended from purveyor of books to provider of services, concerts and more.
But don't get it twisted, there's still a lot of books.
Circulation numbers from 2016 say that more physical material was utilized by patrons than digital: Only 4 percent of checkouts were digital items such as eBooks.
The humble book even managed to reign supreme in terms of aggregate checkouts. Check out the breakdown below, which looks at material types both physical and digital:
A few other items of note:
- The library's new program providing access to state parks with an adventure backpack was well-received. In under six months, the backpacks were checked out 551 times.
- Likewise, another new initiative to provide wireless hotspots to low-income families was accessed 220 times from August until the end of the year.
- Patrons used their library cards to access the Denver Museum of Nature and Science and other museums almost 1,000 times during 2016.
As for the most popular items to check out, they were all DVDs. But if you want to know the most popular books, here you go.
10. Fool Me Once, 728 checkouts
9. Between the World and Me, 756 checkouts
8. My Name is Lucy Barton : a novel, 801 checkouts
7. Big Magic : Creative Living Beyond Fear, 876 checkouts
6. Go Set a Watchman, 942 checkouts
5. When Breath Becomes Air, 981 checkouts
4. Spark Joy : An Illustrated Master Class on the Art of Organizing and Tidying Up, 1005 checkouts
3. The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up : The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing, 1035 checkouts
2. All the Light We Cannot See : a novel, 1168 checkouts
1. The Girl on the Train, 1641 checkouts
And if you're feeling inspired to pick up a book, there are currently 23 copies of The Girl on the Train available at the library. Timing is everything, I suppose.
Methodology note: In the material type chart, physical audiobooks and electronic audiobooks were categorized together.
