FARMINGTON — Building a new $4.5 million Davis County Headquarters Library has increased checkouts at the Farmington location by 15 percent over the previous year.
The library, at 133 S. Main St., opened Oct. 16, 2012, replacing the 49-year-old Farmington main branch library less than 200 yards away at 38 S. 100 East.
A review of 2012 circulation numbers from October through December at the new library location, compared to the same time period in 2011, reveals a 15 percent increase in circulation since the building opened, said Mary Moore, technical services administrator and branch librarian at the headquarters.
And based on what is being checked out, many using the new library are likely young adult and youth readers.
“There was a definite upward trend in checkouts for the headquarters library throughout the 2012 year as interest in the new library construction peaked with the opening,” Moore said.
“The increase in October (2012) of 15 percent over October of 2011 is especially significant, considering the library was closed to move the collections for a full week during that time,” she said.
“The new building has definitely made an impact on the circulation at the headquarters library,” Moore said.
“Some people don’t know what they’re missing,” Farmington resident Bruce Strehlow said. He said he favors reading over watching television, at least until baseball season begins.
“I think (the building) is wonderful,” said Strehlow, a retired interior contractor who enjoys books on historical fiction.
Dawn Berntson said the new library is her own personal library because of the kindness and attentiveness of the librarians who work there.
“I do love the new library,” Berntson said. She enjoys books on historical fiction and hobbies, and enjoys using the computers at the library.
The new library, in addition to increasing circulation, is changing up some patrons’ reading interests.
There has been a noticeable increase in the use of some of the library collections, Moore said, specifically during the last quarter of 2012 compared to the same time period in 2011.
Since opening the library, the more popular collections include adult and children’s DVDs; children’s easy readers; any materials containing information on music, especially jazz, rock ’n’ roll and miscellaneous music; and children’s graphic novels.
Based on information compiled at the director’s station in the library, during the last three months of 2012, six of the eight most popular books checked out at the Farmington location were young adult fiction titles.
The young adult fiction titles receiving high use were “Catching Fire,” by Suzanne Collins; “Crossed,” by Ally Condie; “Inheritance,” by Christopher Paolini; and “Mark of Athena,” by Rick Riordan.
Moore credits the increase in people reading those books to the titles being “clean” — meeting the standards of adults and young adults in the community.
“Casual Vacancy,” by J. K. Rowling of Harry Potter fame, was the most-read adult fiction title over the last three months of 2012.
Moore said peak use of the county library’s wireless service also experienced a large increase, going from 2,135 users in 2011 to 5,027 users in 2012.
Comments