RICHMOND—The city library board is thrilled over the major growth the library has experienced in the last three years. The number of items checked out yearly has increased by 6,357 since 2007, said librarian Juliene Parrish The library had 1,548 visitors and 4,336 items checked out in January alone.

“We’re grateful to the city for the library because the community is using it,” Parrish said.

The board had plenty of other good news to report Thursday night. They’re pleased with a grant they received from Walmart, and have been spending it gradually on audio books on tape and CD. Many new books are available to be added to their Web site and they have developed a system for data entry which they hope will speed up the process. The library has also seen excellent turnouts for recent programs and presentations, including a preschool reading program.

The board thanked the city for their support and for not cutting their budget. Councilwoman Terrie Wierenga in turn thanked the library staff for their hard work and excellent service to the city. “We wish we could do more for the library,” she said.

As for future planning, the board is considering extending the children’s summer reading program to nine weeks this year, running from June 3 to July 29. The theme will be “Make a splash! Read!” All upcoming library events will be posted in the Richmond city newsletter.

Published in cooperation with the Hard News Cafe. Original story is here.