Thursday 12 May 2016

Horowhenua’s library and community centres draw the crowds

People flocked to Te Takere in Levin during April, helped by the popular Cubic Structural Evolution Project hands-on installation featuring 120,000 white Lego blocks and the construction creativity of visitors.

There were 48,020 visits during the month - a 15 percent increase of over 6000 compared to April 2015.

This helped boost the total visits to Horowhenua’s community libraries at Te Takere, Foxton and Shannon to 59,371. This was a 17 percent increase compared to April 2015 with 50,846 visits.

Over the year 2014/15 there were 670,864 visitors to Horowhenua’s library and community centres. In comparison, Kapiti Coast District’s libraries had 529,292 visitors and Palmerston North City had 486,720.

Te Horowhenua Trust Chief Executive Joann Ransom said the numbers further prove the popularity of Horowhenua’s public libraries and particularly the community wellbeing benefits and social value added by the Trust in delivering services.

“Prior to the opening of Te Takere, regular monthly visits to the Levin Library used to be around 18,000 to 20,000. Now it’s usually two to three times that.”

Ms Ransom said it is also pleasing to see Shannon Library visits more than double this April, with 4210 visitors compared to 1805 in the same month last year.

Across the District, library item loans were up 3 percent for April, with 28,085 library books, DVDs, audio books and magazines being borrowed. A highlight was that Levin saw a 10 percent increase in adult nonfiction, a 35 percent increase in DVDs and an 8 percent increase in both youth and children’s fiction.

Ms Ransom said that this bucks a nationwide trend of falling library loans, with some town and city libraries’ loan counts falling 45 percent since 2010.

“The recent closure of the DVD-hire store in Levin accounts for the increase in DVD loans. But, interestingly, there is actually a global phenomenon with a flattening-off of ebook sales and a returning appreciation of print. Even Amazon is talking about opening bricks-and-mortar bookstores.”

Former Te Horowhenua Trust member Bernie Wanden, who owns Levin Paper Plus, says that bookstore print sales are up nationwide over the past year, in both quantity and dollar-value.

“Increased sales are particularly noticeable in non-fiction and good quality titles like SPQR - A History of Rome fly off the shelves,” he said.

“While some of this increase can be attributed to the popularity of adult colouring books there is always a demand for good quality fiction and non-fiction, be it purchased from a store or borrowed from the library.”

ENDS

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