Oswego Public Library District data shows agency saving patrons millions each year

Oswego Public Library District patrons are collectively saving millions of dollars annually by borrowing books and other items from the agency’s two local libraries, according to data released this week by the library district.

According to library district data released this week, patrons checked out books and other items valued at just under $7.5 million over the past year.

That savings represents an 11% increase over the $6.7 million patrons saved in 2021.

Sarah Skilton, library district director, said the nearly $7.5 million patrons saved in 2022 represents books, DVDs and other items, excluding popular downloadable items such as eBooks and audiobooks, comics, magazines and movies. Skilton said if those items are factored into last year’s total it would increase by another $70,000.

Skilton said she expects the annual savings figure to continue to rise given current economic conditions which have many area residents increasingly looking to their local library as a cost-effective resource amid an inflationary economy.

Skilton said the library district has been tracking the number of books and other items checked out of the library dating back to the 1960s, shortly after the district was established. But those circulation figures have not reflected the dollar value the district is providing to its patrons and the community.

But by now calculating the value of the books and other items checked out, Skilton said the library district can show the community the savings it provides to patrons.

“We saw some other libraries doing it and we thought that might be a good way for people to understand the value they are receiving,” Skilton said.

The data was compiled by Krista Katzen, the district’s assistant library director.

Skilton said the district serves a population of 70,508 of which 39,960, 56%, have library district cards.

The district operates two libraries, one at 32 Jefferson Street in downtown Oswego and the other at 1111 Reading Drive in Montgomery.

The district’s boundaries take in the villages of Oswego and Montgomery, the unincorporated Boulder Hill subdivision between the two villages and a portion of Wheatland Township in Will County.

Skilton said the district’s total circulation figures continue to rise and she expects that trend to continue.

“It has been pretty much a steady increase over the last several years and I was working yesterday (Sunday, Feb. 5) and there were a lot of people in, so it certainly feels like it was before all of this other stuff happened (with the COVID-19 pandemic). We were very busy and we are happy to see everybody back,” she said.