A Look Back at 2021

Now that 2021’s over, let’s look back together at what titles captured the attention and love of our community. Because the library is so much more than books–we’ve got a lot to recap!

For instance, this last year the library had 114,439 visits, and if each of those visits were a separate person, it’d be enough people to completely fill Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City one and a half times over!

We love adding new patrons! Last year alone, we made 3,961 new library cards! If you lined those cards up end-to-end, they’d stretch to almost four football fields long.

Access to resources is what we are known for, and business was booming with 219,954 physical items checked out. Plus there were 5,657 items delivered to homebound patrons. So, if you consider the average weight of a book, that’s almost 110 tons of materials. And in terms of materials outside of our collection, 15,996 items were borrowed from MOBIUS/ILL, totaling almost another 8 tons.

Let’s not forget about the digital and online collections. Total digital checkouts reached 78,093 this year: over 11,000 gigabytes worth of audiobooks and eBooks.

Needed a computer to check email or write a resume? You were not alone. Our public-access computer stations logged 551,156 minutes of use, amounting collectively to over a whole year of time. That’s not even including the 299,541 WiFi sessions that were logged at the community branches.

Since the library is more than books, the top items checked out from the Library of Things collection were WiFi hotspots, followed by Nintendo Switch kits!

But what about specifics, like what everyone was reading and listening to? We’ve got that data, too!

 

The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah
The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
Daylight by David Baldacci
The Awakening by Nora Roberts
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
A Time for Mercy by John Grisham
Dark Sky by C.J. Box
1st Case by James Patterson
The Return by Nicholas Sparks

Mulan
News of the World
Wonder Woman 1984
Yellowstone
, Season 1
Yellowstone
, Season 2
The War with Grandpa
The Call of the Wild
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
Knives Out
Little Women
(2020)

Midnight Sun by Stephanie Meyer
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins
One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus
Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo
Twilight by Stephanie Meyer
The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson

The Pigeon Has to Go to School! by Mo Willems
Bad Dog by Mike Boldt
Dog Man: Lord of the Fleas by Dav Pilkey|
Cat Kid Comic Club by Dav Pilkey
Mother Bruce by Ryan T. Higgins
If I Built a School by Chris Van Dusen
Dog Man. 8, Fetch-22 by Dav Pilkey
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Deep End by Jeff Kinney
Crocodile Needs Kisses Too by Rebecca Colby
Hey Dog by Tony Johnston

The Croods
Big Hero 6
Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation
PAW Patrol. Mighty Pups Charged Up
PAW Patrol. Mighty Pups Super Paws
PAW Patrol
Dolittle
Frozen 2
Zootopia
Onward

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling
Local Woman Missing by Mary Kubica
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling
The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
The Wrong Family by Tarryn Fisher
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling

The Duke and I by Julia Quinn
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling
The Viscount Who Loved Me by Julia Quinn
Romancing Mister Bridgerton by Julia Quinn
An Offer from a Gentleman by Julia Quinn
Girl, Alone by Blake Pierce
To Sir Phillip, With Love by Julia Quinn
Under the Magnolias by T.I. Lowe
Bookshop by the Sea by Denise Hunter
The Deep End by Jeff Kinney