THUNDER BAY — The Thunder Bay Library has released its annual report, and there have been positive increases across the board.
Everything the library has to offer has seen increased numbers, said Richard Togman, the library's CEO.
"We did see really big double-digit increases in programming. A lot of people attending our services, the events, a lot of the partnership opportunities that we put on to host different community activities. Those are some of the biggest drivers of library usage."
Togman said expanded programming allows people to rediscover the library and its collection.
He said there are "a lot of people attending our services, the events . . . So it's not just coming to the events and leaving, but a lot of the way people access our traditional book collection and get exposed to the literature is from programs.
"For example, someone bringing their young one to a story time or a puppet show, they're often doing that and then carting out their arm full of books on the way out. There are fewer people coming in exclusively to use just the book collection.
"It's a lot more of a multi-purpose destination - people coming for programs and services and then taking advantage of the literature, the books and the literacy work."
Togman said the number of people coming through the doors is increasing past pre-COVID numbers.
"The 2023 report really shows that we've bounced back strongly. People are coming back, but they're coming back maybe for in different kinds of ways, ways that they want to re-engage with their community, they want to be part of the social life of the city.
"That's why, again, we're kind of heavily investing in that programming aspect in our services."
The report also details revenues and expenditures for 2023. Based on the reported numbers, there is a surplus of funds of $423,420.
Togman said that number isn't necessarily a surplus for the library.
"When it looks like there's a surplus, it's really a matter of timing for when we invest in some of those large-scale projects," he said.
"Sometimes we need to save up money for a year to spend it all the next year. You know, if we've got a major roof replacement, that's hundreds of thousands of dollars for buildings this old and this large. We don't really have any surpluses or profits, so to speak."
The report also outlined that various book collections have expanded, including its Indigenous collection and French books, at all library locations across the city.
The library's website also underwent a major overhaul. Togman said the old site wasn't mobile-friendly, the catalogue search was limited and unforgiving of misspellings and typos, and the site used outdated technology on the back end.
"It's a lot more user-friendly in terms of that Google or Amazon search function you get anything close to you're typing in - it's going to locate that for you.
"Also some new software we have built into the back end, which actually proactively recommends books to you. So similar to Amazon, if you bought this, you're probably going like this. We now have that for the book collection as well."
"There's a lot of new personalization and customization to the website that brings us up to 2024 standards in ways that we were seriously lacking before."
The full report from the library is available here.
Katie Nicholls is a Local Journalism Initiative Reporter with Newswatch
