In 2023, Calgary Public Libraries had more than 6.7 million visitors and more than 7 million items in circulation, representing a continued interest in using the city’s library system.

In addition, the library added 150,000 members over the year—exceeding the number of members added when CPL opened the new Central Library in 2018, and the Seton Library in 2019.

“Calgary should feel really proud because we are one of the largest library systems in North America, and we have one of the largest per capita captures,” said Mary Kapusta, Director of Communications and Engagement for the Calgary Public Library.

“We also can’t pretend we’re the same city and the same community that we were in 2019. So, for us in 2024, it’s also understanding and appreciating what services are different.”

The year represented a massive growth in interest in digital resources like ebooks and online learning, but also in more tangible physical resources like meeting rooms, in-person programs, and Chromebook lending, said Kapusta.

Those aspects also led to increased growth in library users, with more than 230,000 school-aged students attending a library program, 64,000 of that same age group attending a virtual learning session, and in general, more than 14,000 different programs being delivered to patrons of all ages.

Meeting rooms, of which there are 90 across the city, were booked over 84,000 times.

“We’ve had everything from birthday parties in our meeting rooms to study groups. We’ve had community group meetings, people starting businesses. So, there’s all sorts of things that can happen in those meetings,” Kapusta said.

Meeting users where they’re at

Approximately 55 per cent of Calgarians have a library card, and during 2023, the system had 750,000 active users.

Calgary is also a city that has been pressured to provide more services to more people—population projections for 2024 from Statistics Canada estimate that a little over 123 people per day will be moving to the Calgary Metropolitan Area.

Kapusta said that for a lot of newcomers, a library card is one of their first new pieces of Canadian ID.

“We’re seeing that support of refugees over recent years, newcomer settlement services, those are other areas where we’re seeing that maintained like high level of engagement,” she said.

Addressing the needs of Calgarians already here, as they go through various stages of their lives, has also been a core driver in increased library usage.

“Something I always think about the library, we’re always here for different changes in your life, different movements of your life. For instance, that expectant parent who’s bringing in that baby, that kid who might be struggling with school, it could be that person looking for a job, and maybe an empty nester looking for a volunteer opportunity or a senior looking for some connection,” Kapusta said.

“We do have a very strong capture of users that would be in an older demographic. With that being said, when we’re looking into intergenerational families, we’re looking into people who might have used our services in the past.”

Part of that means offering library patrons different types of activities and materials that meet their needs, Kapusta said.

For younger generations, that means digital services—which made up more than 40 per cent of materials circulated by library users. For older generations, that means having ample supplies of physical books and tailored in-library activities.

Four new libraries in the works

Kapusta said what all of this increased demand means, ultimately, is the need for more libraries.

“It’s time to invest in library spaces. We are really encouraged that there are four new locations planned in our current budget cycle, and we’re working on designing and developing those with our partners at the city,” she said.

Those locations, she said, were being looked at in the communities of Belmont, Skyview Ranch, Walden, and Simons Valley representing each of the four quadrants of Calgary.

“You’re going to see a mixture of shared facilities, and also shared development areas. We love working with the fire department—usually fire stations go in and then hopefully a library follows. So, that’s exciting to work with them, and then, of course, recreation centres as well.”

Although the proposals have not yet reached the design phase, she said that the core design of providing baseline library services, book lending, meeting rooms, and places for the community to gather would be present.