Library Statistics

Here is a selection of facts and figures about the library for those who like statistics:

Total Beebe Library budget appropriated for FY07 – $1,089,741
Number of years since Library reopened in renovated building – 9
Number of registered borrowers – 17,749, or 72% of the town’s population.

Total number of items in the Library’s collections as of June 30, 2007 – 110,777
Number of items added to the collection in 2006 – 8,895
Approximate length of bookshelves in library – 2.3 miles
Total number of books borrowed (circulation) in 2006 – 309,592, up 4.4% from 2005.
Percent of total circulation made up by Youth Room materials – 38.5%
Number of books patrons renewed online in 2006 – 15,956
Number of visits to the Library in 2006 – 315,081
Number of visits to the Library on an average day – 1,054
Number of books checked out on an average day – 1,035
Number of reference questions answered in 2006 – 35,852
Number of reference questions asked on an average day – 120
Number of books borrowed on interlibrary loan for Wakefield patrons in 2006 – 20,686
Number of books we sent to other libraries on interlibrary loan in 2006 – 19,258
Number of times museum passes were checked out in 2006 – 1,263

Number of public computers in the Library – 39
Number of hours the Library’s computers were used in 2006- 46,505
Number of times the Library’s web site was visited in 2006 – 319,436, up 27% over 2005.
Number of subscribers to the Library’s e-mail newsletter – 623
Number of people who attended our technology tutoring sessions in 2006 – 18
Number of children’s story hour programs offered in 2006 – 185
Number of children who attended those story hours – 4,568
Number of other children’s programs offered in 2006 – 96
Number of children who signed up for the summer reading program in 2006 – 1,793
Number of class visits to the Library in 2006 – 6
Number of librarian visits to classrooms – 50

Number of homebound people participating in our delivery program in 2006 – 17
Number of deliveries made to our homebound patrons in 2006 – 88
Number of book discussions held in 2006 – 20
Number of readers who attended those sessions – 300
Number of times our three meeting rooms were booked in 2006 – 519
Number of Library volunteers – 34