Most organizations issue an annual report to their stockholders,
along with a nice dividend. We’ve closed the fiscal year, and are
ready to tell you what we did with a little over thirty dollars
per resident. At the Cedar Falls Public Library, over 25,000
cardholders checked out 263,061 items. If you’re a library regular,
you can probably guess what the largest percentage of that was—new
books and adult fiction. However, the materials that turned over
most frequently were youth DVDs, each averaging 24 checkouts last
year, way ahead of the nearest competitor, youth software.
19.025 staff members answered 25,574 reference questions (you do
know you can call and ask for help in seeking all kinds of answers,
right?), and issued 4,341 new library cards. 545 events, including
storytimes, puppet shows, and other educational and fun sessions
happened for 13,027 little library users. The staff sent out 227
teacher units and 2,460 Traveling Tales units to assist local
educators and daycare providers. Summer Library Program, “Amoeba to
ebra,” drew 638 elementary school aged participants, keeping those
reading and thinking skills sharpened until fall.
103 busy teens took time to read 863 books, winning prizes donated
by our Friends of the Library. Volunteers contributed 4329 hours in
many capacities. The meeting rooms were used 493 times. Local non-
profits held meetings, offices held off location “retreats”, and
authors talked about books. Students earned college credit without
visiting campus, by learning over the ICN network. 226,268 visitors
entered the library this fiscal year, 31,951 of them used the
public access computers for internet, Microsoft Office, and more.
We said good-bye to longtime director, Carol French Johnson, who worked hard
for a beautiful new building, and a tax levy to fill it with lots of great new
materials. And for next year, we’ve added 5,085 new titles for your browsing
pleasure, hoping that presents a nice little dividend.
From the Director
Annual Report of the Cedar Falls Public Library
Sheryl Groskurth, Director
