Langley's population growth is driving more and more people to local libraries, especially to attend programs hosted by staff, according to data collected by the Fraser Valley Regional Library (FVRL).
Libraries across Langley are seeing big increases in the number of people coming in for programming. Much of that is traditional storytime for children, but over the years, the libraries have added a huge host of programs for children, youths and adults. You're likely to see a story time session for young children, followed by a game of Dungeons & Dragons for teens or tweens, followed by the meeting of a knitting group, said FVRL CEO Scott Hargrove.
"We had a storytelling session in the City of Langley, and it was getting so popular we had to split it in two," Hargrove recalled.
Then both sessions kept expanding, and staff added a microphone and speakers so all the children could hear the reader.
Eventually, the City mayor's office, which is upstairs from the library, had to politely ask them to turn down the volume a little.
In 2024, libraries in Langley City and Township held 2,245 programs, 1,299 for children and 946 for adults. That's a 14.3 per cent increase in the total number of programs in one year.
But attendance increased even faster. In 2024, a whopping 73,258 people attended programming at a Langley library, up by 20.9 per cent from the 60,592 the year before. The rate of increase in Langley was slightly higher than across the region, but not by much. FVRL libraries as a whole saw a 19.6 per cent jump in program attendance in the same period.
That's why one of the major tasks of the FVRL is expanding its physical footprint. All those people need more space.
"The remainder of my career is going to be spent on new library builds," Hargrove said.
In Langley Township, a new library just opened in Fort Langley at the salishan Place by the River, where it replaced an older library in the community hall. A new library in Willoughby is planned as part of a community centre, and discussions are underway about a larger library in Aldergrove, as well.
While programs are important, lending of library materials is also rising.
The FVRL lends both physical objects – mostly books, but also DVDs, audiobooks, and specialty items ranging from ukuleles to telescopes to radon detectors – and digital items. The digital items are mostly ebooks and digital audiobooks.
Because a digital item can be borrowed from anywhere by someone with an FVRL library card, it's impossible to track whether Langley residents are borrowing more of them.
But Hargrove said that, like other library systems around the world, their digital borrowing has been going up year over year.
Overall circulation of all digital and physical materials hit 6.1 million items across the system in 2024, up from 5.8 million in 2023 and 5.3 million in 2022. That amounts to a 7.9 per cent increase in total circulation in 2023, and a further 6.5 per cent increase in 2024, for a total increase of 15 per cent over two years.
Almost all of that is due to digital items.
Overall circulation of print items has been rising slightly over the last three years – from 3,228,769 in 2022, to 3,324,184 in 2023, to 3,336,290 in 2024. Within that number, the circulation of adult books was mostly flat, circulation of books for children and young adults has been rising, and circulation of magazines has been falling.
But circulation of digital items via the OneDrive system used by the library has continued shooting up. In 2022, the FVRL loaned out 1,396,000 digital items, in 2023 that jumped to 1,775,000, and in 2024 it rose again to 2,205,000.
People enjoy the convenience of digital books, and digital audiobooks are popular with commuters who can listen to them while driving to and from work every day, Hargrove said.
While physical adult book circulation is largely flat, it's not surprising that borrowing of children's books keeps going up, Hargrove noted.
"You're not going to sit with your grandkids and read an ebook," he said.
