Palmerston North Library visitor numbers increase

Palmerston North city libraries are continuing to be the community’s destination of choice with increased numbers of visitors over the past twelve months.

Statistics for the year ended 30 June show more than 880,000 visitors have been through the doors of all the city’s libraries, with 640,000 of them visiting the Central Library. This is a 24 per cent increase from last year when the numbers were 711,000 and 508,000 respectively.

“These numbers prove the value of a welcoming community space that our libraries provide,” says Debbie Duncan, General Manager – Libraries and Community Services. “Our libraries have for a long time, always been more than books. We’re the city’s Living Room and open our doors to everyone of all ages so they can become informed, meet others, perform, learn, be creative, watch or just chill.”

Other areas of increase are the borrowing of eBooks and eAudiobooks, the use of PC internet and free Wi-Fi sessions at the Central Library.

“The popularity of eBooks and eAudiobooks has grown with eAudiobook usage doubling and eBooks showing a 30 per cent increase. These are available to download through our recently upgraded website and specialist apps and it is wonderful to see people are making more use of these resources.”

People are still enjoying books as the libraries have continued to issue over a million books in the twelve months.

“Our libraries are also a great place for our programmes team and the community to host events, particularly those relating to lifelong learning. Over the last twelve months we hosted 1767 events that were enjoyed by nearly 61,000 people.”

ENDS

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