Hennepin County Library staff recently released a variety of statistics on library use for 2008. Among the "fast facts":
16.6 million items that were checked out (an increase of 2.5 percent from 2007)
16 million visits to both the former Minneapolis Public Library and Hennepin County Library public websites, which merged in January 2009
9.6 million adult items checked out
7 million children's and teen materials checked out
881,762 people with library cards who are considered active library users
875,000 reference and reader's advisory questions answered
270,000 attendees at library programs in 2008
103,682 new people who signed up for library cards
1,750 public computers available at Hennepin County libraries
1,716 people following Hennepin County Library on Twitter
1,420 fans of Hennepin County Library’s Facebook page
800 customers using the At Home Service which delivers materials to people who cannot go to a library due to disability, illness or lack of transportation
15 average number of items per resident checked out
5 Hennepin's rank among the 85 largest U.S. library systems
