Library Service __________________________________________________________________________________________________ As noted in the April metrics the Covid-19 emergency has had a huge impact on the performance of the library service. Libraries have been closed to the public since 12 March, following an instruction from central government. May has always been a celebratory month in the libraries supporting creativity and the arts for older people through the national Bealtaine Festival. Book launches, exhibitions, readings, bus trips were all part of these celebrations. This year we produced a newsletter Plan B for Bealtaine. This was produced in hardcopy, digital and in audio format. It was wonderful to work with our colleagues in the Community Response team to distribute 6000 of these newsletters in May. The libraries also supported other local festivals with online content such as Cork Harbour Festival with stories and songs as well as LGBT Awareness Week highlighting recommended booklist for young adults on LGBTI+ issues. The only physical items borrowed were by cocooning patrons, thanks to the Council’s expanded home service. 296 visits were made during April and May with 1,254 items issued, which is a wonderful achievement with one van and driver and a handful of library staff members preparing the deliveries as most staff were redeployed at this time. In the current environment we operate in a dual physical | digital environment. Membership is up again this month – to 34,416 [from 33, 075 in this month last year]; as people join online to download resources. Downloading of eBooks and eAudio books continues to rise again in May by huge amounts – 10,083 in May 2020 compared to 3244 in May 2019. Total items borrowed both digital and physical was 11,337 for the month.
Other online statistics for May should be noted:
• 3,459 lessons viewed +videos watched on the Universal Class Online Courses and Continuing Education • A phenomenal 231,556 articles were viewed through PressReader (newspapers and magazines) • 3,905 magazines checked out on RBDigital
Hopefully this amazing use of our online resources will be a legacy of the Covid-19 lockdown.
Membership & Visits Membership
Library Visits – closed due to Covid19
36000
85000
34000
32000
75000
30000
65000
28000
55000
26000
45000
24000
22000
35000
20000
25000
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul
Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul
Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
2017
2018
2019
2020
2017
2018
2019
2020
Items Borrowed
Online Library Visits
80000
29000
60000
27000
25000
40000
23000
21000
20000
19000
17000
0
15000
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul
Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
2017
2018
2019
2020
2017
2018
2019
2020
11
Powered by FlippingBook