By: Alyssa Ochss | St. Clair Shores Sentinel | Published February 18, 2025
ST. CLAIR SHORES — The St. Clair Shores library is thriving with an increase in programming and items checked out each year.
St. Clair Shores Library Director Stephanie Fair said they had 236,454 items in circulation last year. They had 198,730 in 2023 and 197,308 in 2022. This includes all physical items as well as digital items such as audiobooks.
“We really have increased our checkouts,” Fair said. “Primarily physical items but also with our audio and e-books.”
The increase could be due to people coming back from their routines during the COVID-19 pandemic and more people enjoying the library.
“We’re trying to increase our programs and stuff,” Fair said. “So as we’re increasing those, people are coming in and then they’re utilizing the library for other services like checking out items.”
Fair said she’s happy with the increase in activity and checkouts. She said she also follows statistics from other local libraries and believes the St. Clair Shores library is similar to those communities.
Over the last fiscal year, they had 138,388 visits to the library.
“That was a good turnout for our patronage, and we just feel like it keeps increasing. We can see those trends where we’re getting busier on certain days,” Fair said.
St. Clair Shore City Councilman Ronald Frederick said the library has been booming and they’ve seen increases in every department. Frederick also said the increase in activity is one of the reasons they decided to redo the footprint of what’s important to residents.
A federally earmarked grant in the amount of $1.5 million and separate private donations help to pay for the scheduled renovations.
“Our basic design development right now is somewhere in the neighborhood of about $2 million, so we’re a little bit short yet,” Frederick said.
He went on to say they are going through plans to see what the library needs to fit the budget.
The library will be open during the summer and renovations are expected to start in September. Renovations will include a new makerspace, new children’s areas including one for younger children and one for teens, redoing the circulation desk, a genealogy area and more.
Everyone is pretty excited for the renovations. Frederick said the library does a lot for the community.
“We’re trying to sort out how to keep the library exciting during the renovation,” Frederick said. “Because we’ll be closed.”
He said they’re thinking of popping up at different places throughout the community. Online services will still be available.
Fair agrees that it’s important to keep libraries in a community.
“Libraries are a vital resource for any age really,” Fair said.
She added that they hope to get children involved in the library when they’re younger and hopefully they continue to visit as they grow.
“Everyone utilizes the library a little differently,” Fair said. “Mainly just being that community hub that people can come to and use it for whatever their needs are.”
Frederick estimated that residents save around $3.5 million by using the library. Databases such as Hoopla and others were used around 53,000 times during the previous year.
“That’s pretty impressive,” Frederick said.
The library is preparing for its summer reading program. Fair said she thinks the renovations will make a big difference in the community.
The St. Clair Shores Public Library is a part of the Suburban Library Collective, a conglomeration of more than 27 libraries in and around Macomb County.
“Some people think the library is just books,” Frederick said. “It’s way more than books.”
For more information about upcoming programs or library services, visit the library’s website at scslibrary.org.