written by Shelley O’Brien, Executive Director of the Johnson County Library Foundation
It must be spring because I’m thinking about baseball. If Johnson County Library had a baseball card, it might look like this infographic. Here are all of the major statistics the Library reports to the State Library of Kansas.
The bottom line: Johnson County loves its library.
Here are the highlights:
- Physical materials – Over 1.7 million items are on our shelves. Of course, not at one time. A large percentage of our collection is always on the move. Items can be checked out, moving to another library, or being processed. This number is up since 2019. The library still purchases a lot of physical materials and keeps the stacks full.
- Number of People with Library Cards – Almost 43% of people in Johnson County have a library card. That is amazing.
- 8.3 million e-materials borrowed in 2023 – Johnson County Library made national news in January for having over 1 million Libby/Overdrive books checked out. Now we know the overall number for all digital resources being used. Whoa! That is a lot of access.
If anyone ever says that libraries are a thing of the past – show them this card, let them know they are missing out. Johnson County Library and most libraries across the U.S. are being utilized now more than ever before. It just may look a little different.