According to the Selma-Dallas county Public Library quarterly comparative report, more residents of all ages are making great use of the library’s many resources.

Becky Nichols, children’s library director, said she couldn’t have been more pleased with the report.

“I like to believe that every inch of this place is utilized,” Nichols said. Computers, books and programs for adults and children are just some of the many resources the library offers the community.

According to the report 107,557 adults and 46,252 children have used library resources within the past year. Nichols said this is an exceptional number.

“It’s a wonderful piece of information because it tells you that these kids are reading books,” Nichols said.

“Of the 46,252 children that have been to the library, more than 23,000 books have been checked out,” Nichols said. “That’s just great.”

The library has been seeking other initiatives to encourage local children to become members of the library too. Nichols said in an attempt to get all first graders in the county and city to become a member of the library, she invited area schools to the library throughout the month of September.

“You can really see our junior use spike during that time frame,” Nichols said. “And for me, being the children’s librarian, it makes me feel great because I know that this is the beginning of hopefully a good program of reading.”

Another area the library has seen a significant increase in is computer and technology resources. Nichols said many times adults use the library to create resumes and search for jobs.

“Jobs, resumes—people need to find out how to use the computer to do these things,” Nichols said. “These numbers show that people couldn’t have found what they needed without someone there to help them.”

Adult learning programs were another area that showed significant use. In the past year, more than 6,000 community members have used the library to earn their G.E.D. through programs sponsored by Wallace Community College.

And Nichols said the library’s benefits don’t stop there. She’s hoping to include e-books to the list of resources by mid-summer 2013.