Madison Heights Library by 
the Numbers
(CP Proxmire, April 15, 2017)
Madison Heights, MI – Madison Heights Councilperson Robert J. Corbett said “The door to the American Dream goes through the Library,” and there are many reasons to celebrate what this means in his community.
Though the value of a library may be immeasurable, there are some statistics that can show the use of public libraries as a place of learning and community -building.
Madison Heights Library Director Rosyln Yerman recently presented the 2016 annual report, 
which covers July 1, 2015- June 30, 2016) to City Council.
Here are some of the key numbers she presented:
98,172 people came to the Madison Heights Library.
109,045 items were checked out.
Librarians at the reference desk answered 6,537 questions.
There were 31,910 logins to public internet, plus 5,107 logins to wireless, for a total of 37,017 internet usages.
Database usage included 259 uses of ABC Muse, 23 of Enterprise, 927 of Mango and 18,364 of Little PM.
66 VHS tapes were removed from the collection. A net of 738 DVDs were added.
There were 55 movies shown and 30 story times.
In 2016 the library also added some new services, including Zino for reading digital magazines, World Book eBooks for preschool to 12th grade, Overdrive Download Destination for reading ebooks and Bookmyne which allows users to access card catalogues from their mobile devices.
Another exciting addition is the library’s Facebook page, which has 177 likes at the time of this article’s publication.
“I’d like to commend staff and the library board. A lot of the shift from traditional books to e-books and e-learning is important,” said Councilperson Mark Bliss. “My kids use ABC 
Mouse every day. To give access to that to everyone that walks through the door is crucial. I commend the library for doing that.”
Yerman has seen the technology change in the 30 years that she’s worked for the City of Madison Heights, but says “There are still a lot of people who like the feel of a physical book or magazine in their hands. We make sure we cater to both.
She also noted that financial donations are accepted, and can be dedicated toward specific purposes, such as children’s books or the music collection.
The Madison Heights Library is located at 240 W. 13 Mile Rd., Madison Heights MI 48071. Learn more at http://www.madison-heights.org/departments/library/.
