Patrons of Apache Junction Public Library borrowed 168,714 books, 161,187 items of e-content, 130,600 DVDs, 5,911 audiobooks and 2,868 music CDs in the fiscal year ending May 31, according to an annual report accepted recently by the city council.
The total physical circulation — the number of times items were checked out at the library, 1177 N. Idaho Road — was 318,067, which is a slight increase over last fiscal year. The 2021-22 fiscal year report didn’t include a specific breakdown of types of items borrowed, but showed a physical circulation of 311,873 and an e-content circulation of 151,151, according to city records.
The number of active card holders decreased. For 2022-23, there were 32,653. In 2021-22 there were 36,830, according to the reports.
The Apache Junction City Council on June 20 voted unanimously in a consent agenda with other items to acknowledge receipt of the 2022-23 fiscal year annual report of the Apache Junction Public Library Board of Trustees.
Library board discussion
The city’s library board on June 8 voted 6-0 to approve the 2022-23 fiscal year annual report. Board member Vivian Rajski was absent.
The 11-page document for 2022-23 includes a financial statement showing $1.9 million in expenditures, including $1.3 million for personnel; a letter from Library Director Pam Harrison; and details accomplishments such as refurbishing a mobile library, increasing the borrowing limit to 30 items in January from 20 items, creating a library card for all students enrolled at Apache Junction Unified School District, and that 4,363 free packs of seeds have been checked out from its seed library.
The library’s 2022-25 strategic plan’s four areas — access, communication, community engagement and spaces — are each on a separate page. That’s a format Library Board President Cheryl Hall liked, she said at the June 8 library board special meeting.
“I love this format. It is easy to read, easy to understand. I like the page per like pillar or focus area and I like how really simple it is to state the four things that you’re focused on. That’s something that I think all of us can remember and talk about because it’s so simple and easy to say — access, communication, community engagement and spaces,” she said.
A one-page infographic of library statistics is also helpful, Hall said.
“The active cardholders it says 32,653 — that’s almost the number of people in the city of Apache Junction, so that’s pretty amazing,” she said.
Library Board member Robin Barker said she has gone through 23 of the reports over the years.
“And this is by far, No. 1 the best looking; No. 2, the easiest to read,” she said.
Richard H. Dyer can be reached at rdyer@iniusa.org, or on Twitter @rhdyer. To voice your opinion on this story, connect with us at AzOpinions@iniusa.org.
Richard Dyer Managing Editor | East Valley @RHDyer
Meet Richard Richard Dyer has worked at Independent Newsmedia Inc. USA since 1987, starting his career in Apache Junction as a copy editor and being promoted over the years to work as the editor of the Mesa Independent, news services editor for the East Valley office in Apache Junction, managing editor for the East Valley office, news services editor for the East Valley office and eventually also for the newspapers at INI’s then-Chandler office, managing editor again and as a news editor covering Apache Junction/Gold Canyon and Queen Creek. He helped start the Florence Independent while the news editor covering Apache Junction and Mesa news. In January 2023, he became associate managing editor for the East Valley newspapers and in August 2023 became managing editor for the East Valley newspapers of Chandler/Tempe, Gilbert, Queen Creek, Florence, Mesa and Apache Junction/Gold Canyon, while also reporting on Mesa and Apache Junction/Gold Canyon.
Community: Since 2009, he has worked as a volunteer to design The Blue Guitar Magazine, Blue Guitar Jr. magazine and Unstrung magazine, which are projects of The Arizona Consortium for the Arts; and since 2014, has been overseeing the art submissions.
Education: University of Arizona with a master of arts in journalism and a bachelor of science in agricultural communication. Also continuing education at Mesa Community College in welding in a metal art sculpture class.
Random fact: Saw his first tornado on May 31, 2010, which was classified as an EF-2, as part of a stormchasing tour group.
Hobbies: He is an artist of welded-steel sculptures, selling his artwork at juried and non-juried art shows.
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