It’s been another great year for children’s services at SCFPL! Here are a few highlights:
507 people attended 46 children’s programs throughout the year, plus another 387 attending our 9-week summer collaboration with Dresser Public Library. Kids took home 191 summer program activity kits, in which Adventure Began at Your Library! In addition, patrons checked out 13,643 children’s items from the library, 81% of which were owned by the St Croix Falls Public Library and 19% that were owned by one of our 54 partner libraries. Of those, books made up 74%; DVDs made up 12%; graphic novels were 11%; magazines, books with attached audio, and video games were 0.7% each; and kits and audiobooks on CD were 0.5% each.
The most popular items of different formats were as follows:
Children’s books:
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid #1: Greg Heffley’s Journal by Jeff Kinney (13 checkouts)
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid #18: No Brainer by Jeff Kinney (12 checkouts)
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid #15: The Deep End by Jeff Kinney (11 checkouts)
- Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers, adapted into picture book format by Amy Novesky, Bears by Amy McDonald, and Bluey: The Beach (10 checkouts each)
- Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina, Dragons Love Tacos by Adam Rubin, Can I Play Too? and The Thank You Book by Mo Willems, The Bad Seed by Jory John, and Bluey: The Pool (9 checkouts each)
Graphic Novels:
- Dog Man #1 by Dav Pilkey (14 checkouts)
- Dog Man #11: Twenty Thousand Fleas Under the Sea by Dav Pilkey (12 checkouts)
- Dog Man #2: Dog Man Unleashed by Dav Pilkey (11 checkouts)
- Cat Kid Comic Club #1, Dog Man #10: Mothering Heights, and Dog Man #6: Brawl of the Wild, all by Dav Pilkey; and Be Prepared by Vera Brosgol (9 checkouts each)
- Phoebe and Her Unicorn #1 by Dana Simpson, Pokemon Adventures #19 by Hidenori Kusaka, Dog Man #7: For Whom the Ball Rolls by Dav Pilkey; and Baby-Sitters Club #5: Dawn and the Impossible Three by Ann M. Martin (8 checkouts each)
Audiobooks, and Book + Audio combinations (Book on CD, Playaway, Book and CD, Wonderbook, or Vox book):
- I Had a Rooster by Pete Seeger (book and CD, 4 checkouts)
- Little Ballerina Dancing Book by Fiona Watt (book and CD) and Walk With a Wolf by Janni Howker (book and CD) (3 checkouts each)
- The Peter Yarrow Songbook and Puff, the Magic Dragon by Peter Yarrow (book and CD), The Porcupine Year and The Game of Silence by Louise Erdrich (audiobook on CD), A Perfect Time for Pandas by Mary Pope Osbourne (audiobook on CD), and Free to Be–You and Me by Marlo Thomas and friends (book and CD) (2 checkouts each)
DVDs:
- Minions: The Rise of Gru, Elemental, Migration, The Little Mermaid, and The Boss Baby 2: Family Business (14 checkouts each)
- Big Hero 6 and Sing (10 checkouts each)
- Ferdinand, Encanto, Bluey seasons 1 & 2, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, The Adventures of Milo & Otis, and Dumbo (9 checkouts each)
- Pokemon, the Movie, 2000, Peter Rabbit, Despicable Me 3, Mary Poppins Returns, and The Super Mario Bros. Movie (8 checkouts each)
- Spirited Away, Trolls Band Together, Air Buddies, The Bad Guys, Dolittle, The Addams Family, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, How to Train Your Dragon 3: The Hidden World, and The Lion King (7 checkouts each)
Magazines:
- Ranger Rick (22 checkouts across all issues)
- National Geographic Kids (19 checkouts across all issues)
- Eco Kids Planet (11 checkouts across all issues)
- Chickadee (10 checkouts across all issues)
- Cobblestone (7 checkouts across all issues)
Kits:
- STEM Kit: Simple Machines (6 checkouts)
- STEM Kits: Planetarium and Magnetism (4 checkouts each)
- Early Literacy Kits: Dinosaurs and Nursery Rhymes; STEM Kits: Electronics, Weather Science, Architecture, and Botley the Coding Robot (3 checkouts each)
Video Games:
- LEGO Star Wars: the Complete Saga (Wii) (6 checkouts)
- Kirby’s Dream Collection (Wii), Batman: The Brave and the Bold (Wii), Super Mario All-Stars (Wii), Create (Wii), and Endless Ocean: Blue World (Wii) (5 checkouts each)
- Active Life Outdoor Challenge (Wii) and Angry Birds Star Wars (Wii) (4 checkouts each)