Corvallis-Benton County Public Library

As I was preparing for our Budget Commission presentation and gathering statistics,  I thought it would be interesting to share some of them with you.  Let me  tell you a little about an average day in our libraries.

• Every day, an average of almost 2400 people come to one of our libraries and an additional 1800 users access our online resources from outside the library.  This is about 147 more people coming through our doors every day than during the same time period last year, and about 300 more online users per day.  I have been told anecdotally that we are visited by more people every day than any place in Corvallis except Burger King. 
• We check out over 4,200 items day in and day out.  We check back in approximately the same number (if we’re lucky!).
• We welcome 22 new card holders on a daily basis, even though Benton County’s population only grew at an average of 3.5 new residents every day. 
• We offer 2.57 library programs daily, and about 85 people come to these programs.  This does not count outside users of the meeting rooms. 
• Our patrons put nearly 600 items on “hold” every day, and the staff and volunteers  retrieved those that are in the library and not currently checked out.  This translates into over 200,000 holds per year.
• Our amazing reference librarians answer over 800 reference questions every day.  This is one of the highest rates in the country.