Some interesting information can be found while looking over the statistics of 2023 for the Jake Epp Library in Steinbach. 

Aubrey Walker is one of the interim library directors. She says there are a lot of avid, young readers in Steinbach and area, which is reflected in their numbers. 

“Our most used collection last year was, by far, our juvenile fiction section. Our small readers are incredibly avid, and we love that. We love to see that, that it's starting there and they're growing into readers already. So, we have around 16,776 items in that collection. So, it's a pretty big collection and they circulated 183,063 times last year.” 

While most libraries experience a slower pace during the summer months, Walker says that is not the case in Steinbach. 

“A lot of other libraries actually cut back their hours in summer. That's not something we do because summer is our busiest time. July and August, our stats go very high. We put on our summer reading club and that garners a lot of interest. When kids are out of school, they're not using their school libraries anymore and then they come here to keep their reading up, which we love to see! That's why we do our summer reading club in order to foster that reading to continue on throughout the summer.” 

The most popular non-fiction section was home economics where the cookbooks are located. 

“Which was interesting,” says Walker. “We weren’t sure if our cookbooks would continue to be this popular in that age of Internet recipes, right? But they are going strong, and The Pioneer Woman Cooks is definitely the highest one that goes out in that section, so you can see what our people are interested in.” 

2023 statistics from the Jake Epp Library

Most Used Collection: juvenile - 16,776 items in that collection, and they circulated 183,063 times. That averages out to each book in the collection going out almost eleven times.  

Busiest Months: July  & August 

Five Year Trends: Pandemic was interesting so our year to beat is 2019, where our circulation was 241,539. We surpassed that last year already with 245,552 but this year we hit a new high with 255,840. 

Most Popular Non-Fiction Section:  640's, (home economics) The Pioneer Woman Cooks by Ree Drummond took the crown for most checked out in that section.  

Most Popular Author: Geronimo Stilton is our most popular author.  

Active Users: We have 3,297 active users, up from 3,010 of last year.  

Highest Circulating Books:  

  • Our highest circulating book (outside of book club kits) was Spare by Prince Harry (with 28 circulations) 

  • followed by Baby-sitter's Club graphic novel, Kristy and the Snobs (24x) 

  • Our most checked out Adult Fiction book (aside from book club kits) was a tie between Verity by Colleen Hoover and Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult (with 21 circulations.)  

  • Our most popular Christian Fiction book was Critical Threat by Lynette Eason (hitting 19x)  

  • Our Easy picture book winner is Should I Share My Ice Cream by Willems at (22x) 

-With files from Carly Koop

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