Library director proposes ending low-use services as attendance climbs to 108,767 last year

Mary Canfield, director of library services, told the board the system served 108,767 attendees across 2,157 programs over the past 12 months and recommended several service changes to reduce operating costs.

"Currently in this past 12 months, our attendance has been 108,767 people with a total of 2,157 programs," Canfield said, and recommended discontinuing external hold lockers (used by ~150 patrons), LinkedIn Learning (476 unique logins last year) and underused interlibrary loan services. Canfield said a switch to a new self-check vendor would also produce operating savings.

Commissioners asked for branch-by-branch breakdowns and program participation by age group; Canfield agreed to provide that data for follow-up. The board signaled interest in preserving core community services while trimming low-use subscriptions and duplicative features.