2023 anaLIBRARYse Review
What does it say about your library-oriented Blog when the two most-read items in 2023 were companion articles published nearly two years ago about people who don’t use libraries! Being a glass half-full sort of guy I am going to take that as a sign that those items addressed an issue that was and continues to be a hot topic for my followers interested in public libraries. And in doing so I am avoiding going down a rabbit hole of introspection about the relevance of the things I wrote in 2023, although many wouldn’t have found those January 2022 articles if they hadn’t first been connected via some more recent content.
So in 2024 I think I should spend a little more of my ‘Fun Friday’ personal research time digging in to how libraries can attract non-users and make them passionate library users and advocates.
Until then, let’s see out 2023 with a quick run-down of some stats from my web analytics page.
Top 10 articles viewed in 2023
Who doesn’t use public libraries and why? (17 February 2022)
How do you engage and attract library non-users? (28 February 2022)
Why do people feel safe at the library? (16 March 2022)
Why it’s impossible to close a public library? (14 June 2021)
What is the right-sized library collection? (6 May 2020)
What do 5 years of Library Reviews tell us about library management? (15 August 2023)
Library membership – Beware the simple assumption (10 November 2023)
What makes a library a library? (18 December 2020)
The Golden Ratio (12 December 2021) – and this one doesn’t even have anything to do with libraries!
eBorrowing settles at 25% (4 September 2023).
Geography
Most readers of the Blog (35%) come from Australia, with representation from all states and territories – mainly Victoria, WA and NSW
31% of views come from the USA, with at least one view from every one of the 50 United States – all the way from California to Alaska
Views were recorded from 98 different countries.
General usage
Since the Blog was launched near the beginning of COVID in April 2020 I have now published 37 articles
Average time spent on each page in 2023 was around 3-4 minutes – slightly longer for some of the pieces that went past my target of 1,000 words per article
There is a spike in views every time a new article is published and promoted, which tends to drop on Day 2, spike again on Days 3 and 4 (through re-posting) and then tail off over the next few weeks
The single biggest day in 2023 was July 24 when the article on The imperfect art of library benchmarking was published, and yet this one didn’t make the Top 10 for the year
Which makes it a wrap from anaLIBRARYse for 2023. I’ll be back next year with more statistics and analysis from my quest to boost literacy, well-being, social and digital inclusion, and cultural connections through our wonderful high-performing public library network.