By Logan Wells, News Director | Logan@kymnradio.net
160,795 people visited the Northfield Public Library in 2024 according to Library Director Natalie Draper, that number is up about 4% from the previous year and continues to show an upward growth of library interest in Northfield. Adding to the growth of the library, 1,911 people signed up for library cards this year. Here’s Draper with a breakdown of the numbers:
“485 of those were college cards. 915 of them were adults, 361 juveniles, and 49 teens.” – Director of the Northfield Public Library, Natalie Draper
A new service that started last year in February was the ability to complete your passport application at the Library:
“So now folks can do their business with the State Department, you can get your passport renewal photos taken. And you can do the application for a new passport.” – Director of the Northfield Public Library, Natalie Draper
In 2024, 843 passport applications were completed.
Most days of the year, the library hosted at least one event, and many days 2 or 3 events, with over 600 events in total. While it may be cold now, Draper expressed excitement for the summer concert series coming up in a few months:
“I love, you know, things like our summer concerts, right? It’s a great opportunity for us to get out and spend time with the community and Waite Park. So we had 1356 people attended our summer concerts last summer and we have all of our summer concerts already booked. So we’ll be ready to start talking about that very soon.” – Director of the Northfield Public Library, Natalie Draper
Draper noted that there are many reasons for a person to stop by the library beyond just book checkouts and library events, including the library of things, notary services, meeting space, homework help, board games checkout, and more.
“You know, I think some of the services that people don’t necessarily realize we offer until they really need. I see a lot of people on online, you know, in Northfield Happenings saying where can I get something notarized?” – Director of the Northfield Public Library, Natalie Draper
You can find out more about their library at mynpl.org. The Library is open Monday – Thursday 9am to 8pm, Friday 9am to 6pm, Saturday 9am to 5pm, and Sunday (Sept.- May) 1pm to 5pm.
Listen to the full interview KYMN had with Natalie Draper about the 2024 Library Statistics:
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