The Barrington Area Library has reached its one millionth check-out in a fiscal year for the first time in the library's history. The one-millionth item was circulated sometime in the evening of Friday, April 30.
"This is a huge milestone for us. To hit the one million mark for the first time in a fiscal year, and to hit it much earlier than we expected is a real surprise. It is great to see so many people making use of their library," Executive Director Detlev Pansch said.
Marie Thomas, Head of Circulation said, "This is so exciting as we had our one millionth check-out two full months before the end of our fiscal year. With media downloads, online renewals, check-outs via our locker systems, and in-person visits - there's no way for us to know the actual person who checked out the one-millionth item, but we do know we hit the one million mark sometime late in the day on Friday, April 30."
As part of the library's observance of reaching its one millionth check-out, patrons were able to use charts of the library's statistics to guess the date. A name will be drawn from the correct entries to award a prize.
"We have hundreds of guesses and several who guessed the correct date, so we'll draw from those who guessed April 30 in our two age group categories to award prizes," Public Information Manager Sharon Doty said.
The two winners will be contacted and announced this week.
In its last fiscal year, the Barrington Area Library had a total of 978,703 check-outs. As of May this year, the library's circulation was up by 26%. The one million mark has officially been met, but the library's annual numbers will continue to grow until the fiscal year closes on June 30.
Executive Director Detlev Pansch added "Beyond being a number, this really shows how the library is an invaluable resource and how much the community loves and uses its library."
The Barrington Area Library serves over 42,000 patrons and is the largest geographic library district in the state of Illinois covering 72-square miles. The library can trace its history back to 1915 when books were loaned to the public from a downtown drug store. The Barrington Area Library has been at its current location at 505 N. Northwest Highway in Barrington since 1978.