More than 350,000 people visited libraries across Hume’s municipality in the 2021-22 financial year, with nearly 7000 new members signed onto the books and over 660,000 items borrowed.
The latest Hume Libraries Annual Report was presented to a council meeting on Monday, September 26, highlighting a number of big wins for the borrowing services.
Hume councillor Jarrod Bell was thrilled with the latest library data, describing the libraries team and their work as “amazing”.
“This report… shows our libraries continue to provide critical opportunities for our people to have access to services that support social, community, educational and employment outcomes,” he said.
Anh Do’s WeirDo book 12, Hopping Weird, was the most borrowed children’s book, taken home 258 times, followed by the classic The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle, loaned 248 times and Bluey Mum School borrowed 246 times.
In the youth book category, three titled were tied for the most loans: Holly Black’s The Queen of Nothing, Suzanne Collins’ The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes and One of Us is Lying by Karen McManus.
Sally Rooney’s Beautiful World, Where Are You and Better off Dead by Lee Child were both loaned 139 times, followed by Colleen Hoover’s It Ends With Us, borrowed 127 times.
The library added 46,575 new physical and digital items to the catalogue, making up more than 220,300 in the system.
Elsie Lange
