Public Library Insights Q2 of 2022

The second quarter of the year saw the continued higher usage of WiFi among libraries of all population sizes. There was a steady, sustained increase for each of the months in the second quarter of the year. This resulted in a 31% increase when compared to the prior quarter of Q1 2022. This also resulted in a 93% increase when compared to the same quarter of the prior year, or Q2 of 2021. The same quarter prior year increase is particularly encouraging because it indicates that seasonality…


How Lisa Used Data To Advocate For Her Library And Secure Grant Money

Lisa Johnson is the director of the Orange City Public Library. Like many library directors across the country, she adapted the library services when the COVID-19 pandemic hit and libraries closed their doors to the public. What became the new normal brought about new patron behaviors. She noticed patrons would often sit outside on the ground, on a ledge or in their cars to use the library WiFi. This trend continued as the months went on. With more people needing the library’s WiFi services,…


Library Automation Software For Small Libraries

Public libraries offer great value for communities of all sizes. There's no question that the services provided are needed, but libraries may struggle to account for the community impact they have. If you’re looking for clarity on how many patrons use your services, or proving the value of the connection your library brings, you could benefit from library automation software for small libraries.  How can Library Automation Software Help My Library? Simply put, library automation software can…


Public Library Insights Q1 of 2022

The first quarter of the year saw broad based increases in WiFi usage among all population sizes. In previous quarters, rural population areas had an increase in usage much sooner than urban areas. Then over time we saw urban areas begin to catch up with rural areas on a percentage basis. This is the first quarter since the pandemic began that WiFi usage rates for all population areas experienced continued increases. This could be attributed to a variety of things and events that coincide with…


Get Better Results and Save Time With Library Automation Software

The past two years have proven that libraries are invaluable. It’s a truth already known, and was further cemented during the Covid-19 pandemic. While libraries continue to serve communities and go above and beyond during times of crisis, their resources are stretched thin. One way to alleviate some of the workload is to automate certain tasks, like data collection. Libraries can improve their services and gain valuable insight by implementing library automation software.  How can library…


Community Calendar Branding Customization

The Community Calendar features just keep getting better! Community Calendar was developed because our library partners wanted a way to create events once and publish directly to their library website. This would eliminate the need for multiple entry of events and free up valuable time. Now, your Community Calendar integrates directly with your website and you can customize it for your own branding.  First, email our support team at support@whofi.com to let us know you want to create your…


WhoFi Announces Launch of New Community Calendar Service To Help Libraries Streamline Program Management

WhoFi announces the launch of its new service, Community Calendar, to help libraries streamline the many aspects of programming.  Community Calendar is an all-in-one library program planner that makes it easy to plan, track, and report on programs for the Public Library Survey.  It also simplifies the promotional aspects of notifying patrons of future events. This is done by publishing programs directly from the Community Calendar to the libraries’ websites. There is no longer a need for…


Publish Library Events To Your Website With Community Calendar

Scheduling and publishing your library’s events is getting much easier! Now you can streamline your event planning processes and eliminate double entry with the WhoFi Community Calendar website integration — a new feature that allows you to publish events from your WhoFi Community Calendar dashboard directly to your library’s public facing websites. Website Integrations are now generally available for WhoFi customers using the Community Calendar tool. Integrate the Community Calendar onto your…


2021 Annual Analysis of Public Library WiFi Usage

WhoFi analyzed data from our library partners to identify WiFi usage trends. This report includes our findings for 2021.  Public Library Insights for 2021 When analyzing WiFi insights data and looking for usage trends over the past year, we’ve identified clear fluctuations in use that seem to correlate with particular service areas, important timelines in the pandemic, and/or library outreach efforts. As we look at the data for 2021, there are some interesting changes to these numbers, along…