Chickasha Public Library 2021 Year in Review

Congratulations! We made it to 2022! 

In January 2021, the library began using a new circulation system called Atriuum. This has some amazon features, one of which is the ability to create and run several different types of reports. This allows us to track statistics with a wide range of parameters-and that makes my boring little heart just soar. Join me on my adventure through the Chickasha Public Library 2021. 

Last year our patrons checked out over 20,000 items from the library. This includes books, audiobooks, magazines, and DVDS. When we started counting circulations per book we found one that soared above the rest. Juniper’s Butterfly Garden by Autumn Heigle was the most-circulated item in the entire library. The book tells the story of Juniper, a young girl who wants to find ways to help the Monarch butterfly population. It is a great book, but what made it even better is that each patron who checks out the book receives a voucher to the Oklahoma City Zoo for up to 4 people. That’s a pretty good deal in my book!  Four Winds by Kristen Hannah was another heavily circulated item. This story of Elsa Wolcott and her life-changing decisions was the most circulated adult fiction item. 

Of course, the library added more than those 2 items. In fact the library purchased over 2200 items to add to the collection in 2021.  The first book we ordered in the year 2021 was Plants-Only Kitchen: Over 70 Delicious, Super-Simple, Powerful and Protein-Packed Recipes for Busy People -a vegan recipe book by Gaz Oakley. Many of the children’s books we added this year were focused on animals in coordination with the theme of Summer Reading 2021 which was Tails & Tales. 

While most of the items we add to the collection are selected by Lillie, the Library Director or Courtney, the Youth Services Librarian, we do occasionally add items that are requested by customers. Last year our customers requested 347 items. Some were titles suggested by family and friends or recommended through social media. 

Sometimes an item that has been requested is difficult to find for purchase. That is one of the many reasons we use a system called interlibrary loan wherein libraries around the country lend books to one another for their customers. This year we lent 564 items to libraries as close as Anadarko and as far away as New Jersey. Of the 924 items that we borrowed, one came  all the way from Alaska!

You may be asking yourself “Brande, if the library added over 2000 items this year, why are you not bursting at the seams?” That is because in addition to adding items to the collection we also eliminate items. This year we weeded over 1600 items from the collection. Most of the items had low circulation counts, were in unacceptable condition, or covered a topic that needed updating-for example a book about First Ladies of the United States that ended with Barbara Bush who served in that role from 1989-1993. 

Looking over these statistics I was amazed that the library had accomplished so much in 2021. I certainly knew that we had been busy, but I hadn’t realized how busy. It is easy to get caught up in a day to day routine, to miss the forest for the trees. What did you accomplish this year? What does your forest look like?