Gwynedd has become a county of booklovers, if the latest figures from the Council’s Library Service are anything to go by.
Council run libraries in Gwynedd have had their busiest summer in over ten years as more people than ever have used the free facilities to catch up on the latest bestsellers, study or research, use the computers and surfed the web or borrowed a CD or DVD.
The rainy and miserable weather this summer may have kept people indoors, but a visit to the local library has allowed hundreds of people to escape on adventures to far flung places through the pages of a good book.
Councillor Alwyn Gruffydd, Gwynedd Council’s Portfolio Leader with responsibility for libraries, said:
“I’m delighted to see that use of Gwynedd libraries over July and August has increased significantly with loans up over ten per cent. We hope that people who used the library during the summer will continue to use the facility into the autumn now that they have seen the range of services on offer.
“This shows, without doubt, the importance of maintaining services which are among the best in Wales so that we can extend the service and wide range of facilities available in our libraries even more.”
Hywel James, Gwynedd Council’s Principal Librarian, added:
“The busiest library this summer was the newly refurbished library in Nefyn which saw 45% increase in the books borrowed with the new look Bangor Library also very busy. The use of the computers increased in all libraries but particularly at Penygroes.
“This increase in library lending is double good news for Gwynedd as a recent assessment showed that Gwynedd library users are very satisfied with the services and facilities available.”
For more information about Gwynedd Libraries Service, visit the website www.gwynedd.gov.uk/libraries
