CHECK IT OUT!

Circulation of books at the county’s public libraries and through its Books By Mail program increased 3% from 1988 to 1989 after a 5% increase between 1987 and 1988. At the county’s 27 branches, 15 had increases in traffic between 1988 and 1989, the largest by far being the 63% jump at Irvine’s Heritage Park branch. (The library’s Books By Mail program, which serves shut-ins and others who for one reason or another cannot get to a library, rose 162% during the same period.) Elsewhere, eight libraries had decreases and four had changes of less than 1%.

Irvine’s Heritage Park branch not only had the largest increase in book circulation from 1988 to 1989 but also had the heaviest traffic at any library--more than 300,000 volumes. Between them Irvine’s Heritage Park and University Park branches accounted for 14% of the county’s circulation--the most in any one city. Garden Grove’s three branches handled 10%, Costa Mesa’s two circulated 6%.

Percent Percent of Branch 1988 1989 Change 1989 Total Brea 92,432 97,547 +5 3 Costa Mesa Main 93,136 89,948 -3 3 Costa Mesa-Mesa Verde 115,612 121,425 +5 3 Crown Valley 153,905 168,793 +10 5 (South County) Cypress 130,917 133,047 +2 4 Dana Niguel 95,415 90,336 -5 3 El Toro 275,459 282,427 +3 8 Fountain Valley 143,222 145,795 +2 4 Garden Grove-Chapman 70,711 70,790 *** 2 Garden Grove-Regional 169,182 169,569 *** 5 Garden Grove-West 102,149 103,830 +2 3 Irvine-Heritage Park 194,843 316,905 +63 9 Irvine-University Park 219,670 191,584 -13 5 La Habra 141,847 141,302 *** 4 La Palma 88,260 90,176 +2 3 Laguna Beach 81,977 81,706 *** 2 Los Alamitos/Rossmoor 125,412 135,679 +8 4 Mission Viejo 183,528 186,604 +2 5 San Clemente 131,084 132,806 +1 4 San Juan Capistrano 150,762 168,864 +12 5 Seal Beach-Leisure World 77,424 68,152 -12 2 Seal Beach-Mary Wilson 68,590 68,233 -1 2 Silverado 9,283 10,168 +10 *** Stanton 49,357 45,482 -8 1 Tustin 208,785 186,798 -11 5 Villa Park 33,818 32,096 -5 1 Westminster 166,734 171,750 +3 5 Books by Mail 386 1,010 +162 *** TOTAL *3,373,963 **3,502,917 +4 100

* Includes 63 books circulated from county library headquarters ** Includes 95 books circulated from county library headquarters *** Less than 1% CIRCULATION COMPARISON (In millions) 1987: 3,224,628 1988: 3,373,963 1989: 3,502,917 Source: Orange County Public Library