After a month of Fridays with extended hours to 7 p.m., the Watertown Free Public Library has some real figures to measure success. Library users comment every week about the convenience of the new service, but the statistics prove it.
Of the 35 public libraries in the Minuteman Library Network, Watertown is the only one open until 7 p.m. on Friday evenings. Several others are open until 6 p.m., but many of them open later in the morning. During the winter months, that means Watertown is open the most hours per week of any public library in the Minuteman Library Network.
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The checkout of library materials during the 5-7 p.m. hour on the four Friday nights in January averaged 19 percent of the total for the day. Each Friday evening our door counters reported average foot traffic of 175 people in the two hour period. From just the month before on Friday, that’s at least 100 more people taking out 275 more books, DVDs, audio books and CDs for the weekend. Watertown users are certainly taking advantage of the new service.
Comments on the extended hours come from everyone – kids and parents, seniors and teens. Here are just a few.
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“We are regular users, but we came in for a few minutes just to support this great new service.”
“It was wonderful to come in after a long day at work and just unwind here for a few minutes at the library.”
“My son always wishes we could stay beyond 5 on Fridays. Now we can.”
“We are absolutely thrilled with the new hours on Friday!”
Extended hours are the most frequently requested service enhancement Watertown Free Public Library receives. The Town Manager and Town Council were able to respond positively to these requests to extend hours by voting the necessary funds in November. The Library expects the extended Friday hours to see even more use as the word gets out.
