No.76 Central Library reaches 7 million visitors

The Inagi City Central Library opened on July 1st, 2006, and on February 7th of this year, a commemorative ceremony was held to commemorate the 7 millionth visitor. I gave you a souvenir.
The Central Library aims to be a citizen's library that can be used by anyone, anytime, anywhere, and is the first public library in eastern Japan to adopt the PFI system in order to serve as the central facility of the city's six library networks. Private Finance Initiative (PFI project) is based on the "Act on Promoting the Development of Public Facilities through the Utilization of Private Funds, etc." This is what you do.
This PFI project is operated by Inagi Library Service Co., Ltd., an SPC (special purpose company) established with investment from NTT Data, Kumagai Gumi, and others. I believe that by outsourcing to the private sector, issues that were difficult to deal with with conventional public facilities and public management have been resolved, and it has become easier to use.
The facility is open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., almost every day of the year, 345 days a year, and is equipped with IC tags, automatic lending machines, 24-hour rental lockers, and wireless LAN access points.
Many of the museums were the first in Japan to introduce IT technology when they first opened, and they have dramatically evolved not only to improve service to users, but also to streamline operational management, such as shortening the time taken to take inventory.
Thanks to the new building and IT technology, the museum has been used by many people since its opening, with annual visitor numbers hovering around 550,000. According to the "Library Yearbook" published by the Japan Library Association, the number of books lent out in cities with the same population size has been the number one in the country since its opening. Unfortunately, it came in second place last year, but this does not mean that the number of users of the Central Library has decreased.In Obu City, Aichi Prefecture, a library in a new complex has been constructed, and the number of visitors exceeded that of the library. We remain number one in the nation in terms of numbers.
In the 2016 library system update, we set up a ``reservation pick-up corner'' where you can check out books on your own at the reservation shelf, and introduced a new service called ``Reading Passbook.'' A record book similar to a bank passbook is issued, and when inserted into a machine, the title, author's name, and loan date of the borrowed material will be printed.
As a measure to address children's lack of interest in print, we issue free copies to children under junior high school age who live in the city, attend kindergarten, or attend school. This reading passbook has been very popular, and we have received requests from high school students and adults alike. We have now expanded our service and are now issuing copies for a fee to all who wish to receive them, even those who were not previously eligible, so please take advantage of this.
At Inagi City Library, we aim to be a facility that all citizens, from infants to the elderly, can enjoy by promoting a variety of initiatives such as story-telling, various lectures and lectures, lucky bag and blindfold exhibits, and backyard tours.