Libraries See Spike in Usage from Budget-Conscious Families
Brooklyn Park resident LeeAnn Joustra and her son, Henry, curled up with some good books at the Brooklyn Park library.
“We like to find any type of free activity,” say Joustra. “This is a place where there’s a lot of space for him to move, a lot of stuff for us to do, so a good way for us to spend time.”
The mother and son are part of a growing number of people using the Hennepin County Library system.
In fact, the library has seen around 12 million checkouts this year of items such as books, e-books, DVDs and other forms of media.
That’s an increase of 3 percent from 2024.
LeeAnn Joustra and her son, Henry, read a book together.
Officials say they’ve also seen more people coming to the library to participate in special programming.
“We love it when people access our library from home, but we truly love it when they come in to our spaces,” said Hennepin County Library Director Scott Duimstra. “That’s where that real connection comes with our staff and other community members as well.”
There are 41 libraries in the Hennepin County Library system.
The system’s top circulating library is Plymouth.
In third place is Maple Grove.
Right now they are promoting their library cards featuring Prince. You can get a new card or replace your old with the music legend.
