Circulation at a high for library district
Middendorf-Kredell branch touts most accessed materials
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| Ryan Prewitt photo -- Library assistant Karen Haines checks out books at the Middendorf-Kredell Library Branch. The O'Fallon location is the highest circulating branch of the St. Charles City-County Library District. |
In the past year nearly 6.4 million items were checked out of the 12 library branches in the St. Charles City-County Library District.
That amount of traffic is a 12 percent increase over last year, according to Maggie Preiss, the children's resources and marketing coordinator for the library district.According to Preiss, 1.7 million customers will visit branches this year.
In comparison, the St. Louis County Library District also circulated more than 6 million items, but with fewer items being accessed at each branch.
Jennifer McBride, communications manager for the St. Louis County Library District, said the library district circulated more than 6.1 million items at its 20 branch locations between January and December 2007.
The Daniel Boone Branch has the highest circulation in the St. Louis County Library District, at 581,170 items last year, McBride said.
In contrast, the Middendorf-Kredell Library Branch, which opened in 1995 at 2750 Highway K in O'Fallon and is the highest circulating branch in St. Charles County, lent out more than 1 million items.
Carl R. Sandstedt, library director for the St. Charles City-County Library District, credits the high circulation to three things.
"First off, you're in a nice, suburban area," Sandstedt said. The large amount of families that have children can never be underestimated, he said.
Second, Sandstedt said the district sets aside 20 percent of its budget to buy new books and movies - nearly twice the amount most libraries spend on new materials.
"If you don't have the books on the shelf, people will not be checking them out," Sandstedt said.
Sandstedt said the third key to success is the fact that library patrons are able to locate information easily.
In March, the St. Charles City-County Library District, Barnes-Jewish St. Peters Hospital and Progress West HealthCare Center launched the Consumer Health Information resource, which gives residents free, reliable, up-to-date medical information.
Also, each library has experienced researchers on staff to help patrons navigate through the available material.
The district also has a program that enables residents to check out audio books in MP3 format online.
Aside from these features, the Middendorf-Kredell branch is ranked the third-best library in the country by the Thomas J. Hennen's American Public Library Ratings.
The district is expanding the Kathryn Linnemann Library Branch, at 2323 Elm St. in St. Charles, by 50 percent, Sandstedt said.
Renovations to the building built in 1992 are scheduled to be completed in late autumn of this year, Sandstedt said.
Sandstedt, who has been library director since 1976, is retiring in 2011.
"The last thing I want to do is replace all the facilities on Spencer Road," Sandstedt said.
He hopes to complete construction on that project by 2010.
