Last year, the Iberia Parish Library system received nearly 62,000 visitors who checked out nearly 83,000 items, a dramatic increase from the past few years.

Additionally, the Library offered 798 programs across their various locations which received 11,932 attendees. This included mostly children programs, as well as many teen and adult programs. They also sponsored 39 family events, another increase from 2022. The children programs had the highest attendance, with 7,804 youth followed by adult programs and family programs. Despite making up less than a quarter of the number of adult programs, the 39 family events received over half the number of participants.

According to Community Relations Coordinator Erica Romero, the library program has grown in both quality and quantity since the return of events in 2021, and she said they plan on continuing this trend for years to come. They have made specific changes to how they run events, which have drastically improved attendance, like pushing the start time for youth programs to 6 p.m. to allow parents to get out of work, and increasing the number of attendees that can attend events.

The library also saw nearly 1,000 new cardholders join the library. Many of these are children who just grew “old-enough” to receive their library cards, but many of them are also individuals moving into the area, according to Romero.

“There are people who say the first thing I do is come to the library and get my library card,” Romero said.

Physical books aren’t the only resource utilized heavily by the public. The community also checked out 23,307 e-books, while 62,844 people used the free online resources, and 27,447 people used their free-access wifi. The wifi is an important resource for many in the community who have little to no access to effective internet. During remote learning, the internet usage was actually higher because many students used it for their schoolwork.

“I personally know people who didn’t have the internet and had to go look for a job, so they went over to their local library to use the internet to find jobs and fill out resumes,” Romero said.

Romero also said the library is grateful to the community for their lasting support, because everything the library does is designed to enrich the community.

“People see that we’re back and they are starting to come back to the library, which makes me very hopeful,” Romero concluded.

To learn more about the free events and resources available at the library, go online to Iberialibrary.org and visit libbyapp.com to see what e-books and audiobooks are available with a library card.