By Logan Wells, News Director | Logan@kymnradio.net
As the year comes to a close the Northfield Public Library released their “2024 Wrapped” which shows some different data points up through the end of November of this year. So far 230,328 items have been checked out from the library, as well as 33,886 eBooks and eAudiobooks. Director of Library Service Natalie Draper described that as an incredible number and thanked the community:
“We we love to see how much Northfield loves their library. And so when those numbers come in, it’s always fun to share that with the community.… Thank you Northfield for your support throughout the year for all these years. 1910 Northfield has loved its library. Thank you for coming in.” – Director of Library Services Natalie Draper, KYMN News Interview
The top item checked out this year was The Woman by Kristian Hannah. Most items were checked out at the public library, but 1,258 items were checked out at the book mobile and 537 at the Library Oasis.
However, the library provides far more than just books, one service that was particularly popular and new this year was that people could apply for their passports at the library. Between February and November, 746 passport applications were completed.
This year 1,700 people signed up for a library card, Draper noted that was in part because of their outreach efforts for college students. Going forward Draper said that the library will continue to work to reach out to members of the community:
“You will see us out their with the bookmobile, you’ll see us out tabling at events at evenings in the park and doing all sorts of things in the We’re always trying to get people to sign up for library cards, go out to the colleges and welcome new incoming freshmen.” – Director of Library Services Natalie Draper, KYMN News Interview
KYMN News asked Draper what she would say to a person who had never visited the library before and didn’t know if it was for them:
“I say there is something everyone at the library. Everybody needs to print something out every once in a while and that is something that’s a huge use of the library for a lot of people. That may be the only reason that they come in and they’re welcome to do. That for some folks, they come in to use the Wi-Fi because it went out of their house and we’re there for them too. For some folks, they’re tired of opting into yet another streaming service. Can come and borrow one from the library. So I would say there is something for everybody” – Director of Library Services Natalie Draper, KYMN News Interview
The library plans to post the final numbers from 2024, in January.
