On my watch – So Who is Using Our Greenwich Library and Why?
By Anne W. Semmes
At a recent Friends of Greenwich Library meeting there were some impressive statistics of the many uses and users of our great Greenwich Library shared by Mary Ellen LeBien at an Oral History Project (OHP) meeting, where she serves as co-chair, and I volunteer.
So, the visitor count has swelled to nearly half a million in the years 2023-24, to 492,305 – from 320,834 in 2021-22. And during that time those visitors were “circulating” nearly a million books (including other “materials”) for a total of 962,331, up from 915, 385.
The number of programs offered have more than doubled since 2021-22, from 890 to 1,802 in 2023-24. And attendance of those programs has more than doubled with 61,741 attending compared to 25,180 in 2021-22. And count a few more using those study rooms, 11,139, compared to 10,234 in 2022-23.
But, interestingly, I also learned in that OHP meeting of a recent related article on “Who Uses Public Libraries the Most” published in the Washington Post. Thanks to the kind help of a librarian at our Greenwich Library I was given access to that article, with its surprising findings.
So, according to the reporter’s online source, YouGov, “the top library users – those most likely to visit at least monthly – include adults under age 30, folks who attend religious services at least once a month, and Democrats! (To read more of the curious blue/red library users statistics, the Post article appeared on October 4.)
And what brings the young users? “Younger adults are more likely …to socialize or browse media other than books…churchgoers use library resources: computers, workspaces and archives…Educated Americans gravitate toward the fun stuff: books, classes and children’s programs and help from librarians.” And it’s not financial hardship that draws people to libraries. “In fact, the higher your income, the more regularly you avail yourself of their free books, spaces and services.”
So, speaking of services, coming up on October 26 is another freebee at the Library – your opportunity as an adult (age 18 and up) to be interviewed by an OHP interviewer to tell your story in 30 recorded minutes of something of interest, about yourself, or a town person, a place, an event, or an organization!
That Saturday, October 26, is Oral History Project Day, with interviewers available from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Interviewees will receive a digital file of their interview to keep and share. To book your 30 minutes go to http://www.greenwichlibrary.org, then Visit, then Calendar, then October 26, then Registration. More information is available at ohistory@greenwichlibrary.org or call 203-622-7945.
Note that the Oral History Project (OHP) is celebrating its 50th year this year, as founded in 1974. Since then, OHP has trained volunteers to record interviews with people who helped make or lived through and observed the history of Greenwich. The Project has recorded more than 1,250 interviews (all accessible), published 142 books, written monthly blogs and pamphlets based on its collection, and has taught volunteers and Town residents how to conduct and preserve oral history interviews.
Thank the 1974 library director Nolan Lushington for having given OHP space at Greenwich Library, and the Friends of Greenwich Library for sponsoring and funding it. One of its earliest interviews was with Mary Dodge Ficker, describing her growing up in Old Greenwich in the 1890s!
