The balance of the Municipal Library of La Orotava in 2021 shows progress in the recovery of activity prior to the pandemic, with positive data such as the incorporation of 240 new member-readers that allow almost 5,000, and new and exciting projects such as the creation of an inclusive corner. In this new service, people with functional diversity will be able to find braille booksto read with the fingers; over 150 audiobooksto listen to its content, and texts adapted to people with autism or with significant visual difficulties, with larger font size or use of capital letters. With collections of 63,375 copies, served by a staff made up of seven public workersthe Villera library also registered 9,333 foreign loans last year, well above the 6,000 of 2020, but still far from the 14,000 of the best years without Covid.
The Councilor for Libraries, Delia Escobar (CC), valued the importance of betting on inclusion in a space that already has 16% of users under 14 years of age. This Wednesday the first works of this inclusive corner were presented and the villera mayor promised to “continue to expand the necessary funds so that we can all enjoy the library”.
The director of the Municipal Library of La Orotava, Juan Carlos Gonzalez Orta, highlighted the importance of having 4,956 members, of whom 84% are over 14 years of age, and the positive trend shown by indicators such as queries to the automated catalogue, “which have tripled in the last year.” Regarding the collection, he considers that the objective for the coming years is an improvement “more quantitative than qualitative”, since the facility is already close to its capacity limit. The newspaper library registered a decrease in queries of copies of newspapers and magazines in 2021but its funds continue to grow and, in addition, titles such as Research and Scienceand Free Ink.
the village mayor, Francisco Linares (CC), highlighted the work of the staff of a library “with a flavor of history”, which was created in 1988 in the headquarters of the old casino and which since then “has not stopped innovating without losing its essence” with its bibliographic and audiovisual collections , its important newspaper library, its cultural events, its literary gatherings and its function as a study room. After improvements in recent years, the Town Hall It is now committed to a renovation of the electrical installation, which will allow “increasing the number of plugs available to adapt to the connectivity demands of the new times”.
63,375 copies
The holdings of the Municipal Library of La Orotava currently include a total of 63,375 copies, including the 2,044 titles in its media library.
4,956 member-readers
The Villera library won a total of 240 readers in 2021, which places its global number of member-readers at 4,956, on the verge of 5,000, for a population of about 42,000 inhabitants.
9,333 foreign loans
The library made 9,333 foreign loans in 2021. The figure grew significantly compared to 2020, when barely 6,000 were made, but it is still far from the years without Covid.
16% of children under 14 years of age
This cultural and educational resource has 16% of members under 14 years of age, which means that it has almost 800 users of that age range.
