January – March 2025
At the end of Q1 for 2025 I received the final statistics recounting Pikes Peak Library District’s (PPLD) services in 2024. An analysis of these figures revealed incredible access to materials and resources that were surprising in their extensiveness and their impact on the community. The numbers showed that PPLD has been serving El Paso County residents as intended and in alignment with its strategic plan’s goals.
- eLibrary Services
- The District saw a 15% increase in eLibrary checkouts in 2024. We reached 3 million eLibrary checkouts on Libby, Hoopla, and Kanopy in early November, nearly two months earlier than we reached that milestone in 2023 and 2022. At the end of 2024 there were more than 3.5 million eLibrary checkouts of eBooks, magazines, newspapers, movies, music, and more across those databases.
- Meeting Rooms
- More than 170,000 individuals utilized the Library’s event spaces, meeting rooms, and study rooms available throughout the District. Based on the median rental cost for similar spaces, these reservations saved the community approximately $1.2 million dollars in rental fees.
- Computers
- Computers have long been part of a Library’s core services, and their usage is only increasing. In 2024, PPLD’s public computers across the District logged 164,297 hours of use.
- Library Card Distribution
- At present, PPLD’s Legal Service Area includes roughly 678,000 individuals in El Paso County; these individuals hold more than 301,000 active library cards (meaning the cards have been used in the last 3 years).
- In El Paso County there are just over 285,000 Households; at least one active library card exists in 65.7% of these households (187,650 households).
- Over the last 12 months, the Library has registered an average of approximately 2,397 new library cards each month.
See the included 2024 PPLD Statistics Snapshot for more details.
View accessible version of this information
During the first three months of 2025 (January – March), PPLD experienced several accomplishments:
- Launching a redesigned website
- The PPLD web team worked for more than a year to review, assess, refine, and redesign the Library’s website, ppld.org, with input from staff and the community. It was made more user-friendly, accessible, and informative for its visitors. The website launched on January 13 and was received enthusiastically.
- Reopening of Manitou Springs Library
- Nearly 500 individuals joined the Library District on Fri., Feb. 7 for the reopening of Manitou Springs Library that had been closed for four years. Since its reopening, the Library has seen an average of 200 more checkouts per week than in the last three years; the expanded Children’s Area made it possible to add an additional children’s program, Toddler Time, to the schedule; and Manitou Springs Elementary School has made use of the Library’s community room weekly since the opening. The community room has also been used as a co-working space and the community is looking forward to enjoying the Library’s summer concerts from the new patio behind the building.
- Renovation and reopening of Penrose Library’s Children’s Area and Computer Lab.
- After an approximately 2.5-month closure for upgrades and renovations, Penrose Library reopened its Children’s Area and Computer Lab on March 31. These renovations completed phase two of the Penrose Library renovation project. Since the renovations began, Penrose Library has seen increased attendance in its children’s programs six-fold and adult programming, as well as a decrease in incidents.
- Winter Adult Reading Program
- For the fourth consecutive year, the annual Winter Adult Reading Program engaged the El Paso County community to read and learn for 30 days between February 1 – March 31, and registered a record-breaking number of participants. In 2025, 5,774 adults participated in the program, 700 more participants than in 2024. Below are the participation figures for the last four years showing increased interest and engagement:
- 2022 3,428
- 2023 4,076
- 2024 5,074
- 2025 5,774
- For the fourth consecutive year, the annual Winter Adult Reading Program engaged the El Paso County community to read and learn for 30 days between February 1 – March 31, and registered a record-breaking number of participants. In 2025, 5,774 adults participated in the program, 700 more participants than in 2024. Below are the participation figures for the last four years showing increased interest and engagement:
- Library Card Design Contest
- After 10 years with the same designs the Library District needed new library cards. This need prompted the District to hold a Library Card Design Contest. This contest’s intent was to engage the community in the process of determining new cards and to celebrate the talent in the region. Eight-hundred and fourteen designs were submitted, including 53 from District 2’s Centennial Elementary School and several from a UCCS art class. Six innovative designs were selected as winners.
- After 10 years with the same designs the Library District needed new library cards. This need prompted the District to hold a Library Card Design Contest. This contest’s intent was to engage the community in the process of determining new cards and to celebrate the talent in the region. Eight-hundred and fourteen designs were submitted, including 53 from District 2’s Centennial Elementary School and several from a UCCS art class. Six innovative designs were selected as winners.
Thank you for your time,
Teona Shainidze-Krebs
PPLD CEO