Circulation numbers at the Weyburn Public Library continued their trend downwards in 2007, the board members heard at their annual meeting held on March 4, highlighting an ongoing challenge for the board members looking to improve numbers in 2008.

"Our struggle, along with libraries all over the world, is declining use. It's something that's on our minds all the time, and what we can do about it," said vice-chair Randy Bangsund.

"A good part of the meetings in the last few months is dealing with the place of the library in our community," he added. "I think the program numbers will continue to show improvement."

The program numbers for the year show that, while there were fewer program events at the library, the attendance per event was up considerably from the year before.

The circulation numbers broken down are as follows: the number of adult materials checked out were 46,125, compared to 50,230 the year before; of juvenile materials, there were 18,991 checkouts compared to 19,484; there were 8,556 checkouts of audio-visual materials, down from 12,141 in 2006; there were 317 inter-library loans compared to 370 the year before.

Two areas that showed an increase were for large-print materials, with 4,289 checkouts, up from 4,008 the year before; and for special collections, such as the toy library and literacy materials, it went up to 483 from 379 the year before.

There were 11,369 bookings of the computers for Internet or computer use, down from 12, 653 the year before; and there were 9,877 holds placed and filled this year, down from 10,851 last year. There were 356 patron registrations, down from 419 the year before, and 9,687 renewals up from 9,281.

For adult programs, there were 31 compared to 53 in 2006, and attendance was 588, compared to 691 the year before. There were 38 children's programs, down from 92, with a total attendance of 543, down from 1,237 the year before.

Under the community initiative program for children, there were 28 sessions with 275 children in attendance. This program has the library available on weekday mornings to such children's groups as the Family Place, or the Soo Line Day care or Tatagwa Kids Care; the library cut back its hours last year so it isn't open to the general public on weekday mornings.

There were 170 outreach visits, compared to 83, with 167 in attendance compared to 495 the years before.

Asked if most program attendees are library patrons, librarian Kam Teo replied, "Most of the time, which is positive in a way, but it is a challenge. Patron registrations shows a sizable drop, and it isn't because the economy's not good."

One program that saw an increase was the summer reading program, for which the library received a donation of $3,500 from EnCana. Total attendance for the summer was 935 children, which was a sizable increase from the previous year. In addition, a new Kids' Korner program was started and is continuing in 2008.

The board for 2008 includes Dianne Sander, returning as chair, and vice-chair Randy Bangsund, Coun. Dave Craigen. Linda Moffat, Lynn Kot, Laura Chapman, Judy Van Betuw and Carole Schlosser, along with library Kam Teo.