Cedar Rapids Circulation Continues Its Cliimb Back to Pre-Flood Numbers

Cedar Rapids library circulation on the rise. (Cedar Rapids Gazette, 8/9/2011)

Excerpt: When historic floodwaters washed out Cedar Rapids’ downtown public library in 2008, use plummeted and the library organization saw its circulation numbers drop more than 50 percent.

But the Cedar Rapids Public Library system — thanks to the growing popularity of its expanded Westdale Mall branch and a temporary facility on Third Street SE downtown — is making a comeback, according to a new report cataloging library use in the 2010-11 budget year.

The two locations combined for a total circulation of 810,115 items in the fiscal year that ended June 30, the report shows. Although that still trails the 1.14 million circulation tally counted in the 2007-08 budget year — before flooding wiped out the library’s old location on First Street SE — it’s edging nearer the pre-flood numbers and is 54 percent above circulation totals in the 2008-09 budget year, when use dropped to 524,719 items.

It’s also 15 percent above last year’s count of 703,636, according to the report.