Palazzo Pastore Library Sees Growth in Patrimony, Readers and Loans

Positive balance for the year 2000 for the Municipal Library of Palazzo Pastore: significant increases are registered in both the patrimony and the number of readers and loans. The number of available volumes reached 40,046, an increase of 7.5% compared to 1999.

The patrimony boasts a large section for young readers, with over 6,000 titles, nearly 2,000 books in foreign languages, and just under 14,000 volumes of literature. The readers using the new facility, directed by Monica Vedovelli, now amount to 2,313.

Characteristics of Readers

Readers, +4% compared to the previous year, are: 60% female, 38% male, and the remaining 2% are entities. Regarding the profession of the users, students stand out with 1,542 individuals, while considering the age groups of the readers, the most populous is between 11 and 20 years old (809 people), while the least populated is those over 51 years old.

Loans and Services Offered

Regarding loans, the statistics also show a significant expansion of the public reading service: 25,330 transactions in 2000, 966 more than the previous year, with a rise of 4%. On average, 84.43 books are loaned daily, and the month of March, with over 96 volumes lent daily, set a positive record, balanced by October’s 79.

Among the most requested texts by users are fiction works: the top one being “Unidentified Code” by Patricia Cornwell, followed by a classic like Svevo, works by Steel, then “The Catcher in the Rye” by Salinger, and the novels of Andrea Camilleri.

Additional Services and Digital Resources

Of course, the interlibrary loan service must not be forgotten, which allows the exchange of volumes throughout the provincial territory and offers citizens free access to a database of over 150,000 titles. Lastly, the outcome of the multimedia station is good, with increasing numbers of users utilizing the Internet connection and Office for word processing.