2023 Annual Report

2023 ANNUAL REPORT

2023 was a year of expanding the footprint of the Gwinnett County Public Library, and we continue to restore our services to pre-Covid numbers.

In October, we opened our new Elizabeth H. Williams Snellville branch. It is twice the size of the previous branch and includes two learning labs, a meeting room, and study and collaboration rooms

Construction is underway on the Hooper-Renwick Library, a one-of-a-kind, themed library in Lawrenceville It will pay tribute to the only African American high school in the county prior to desegregation and include memorabilia, special collections, and enhanced programming.

Our Learning Labs, in nine branches, are only growing in popularity with access to 3D printers, sewing machines, podcast and video production equipment, and more.

We partnered with schools, the county, cities, and local organizations to deliver content and promote library resources to the community, often using our mobile library van for outreach opportunities

Five of our branches provide passport services and are open 7 days a week with extended hours and no appointments necessary.

We continue to expand our pioneering Open Access service which allows us to offer extended hours to the public and was the first service of its kind in North America. Grayson became the newest Open Access branch in 2023.

Our mission is to serve our amazing community by providing spaces and services that inspire us all to connect, learn, and grow

Charles Pace Executive Director, Gwinnett County Public Library

THE YEAR IN NUMBERS

Major Systemwide Statistics from 2023

3,632,737

Materials Checked Out

1,478,505

Website Usage/Visits

2,056,681

Customer Visits

224,679

69,271

AskGCPL Phone Calls

2,153,080

63,578

New Accounts

Registered

Computer Sessions Program Attendance

1,746,716

Wireless Sessions

19,800

Adult & Teen Volunteer Hours

OURINVESTMENT

We are extremely proud of our return on investment at the Gwinnett County Public Library.

For every $1 taken in, we return an estimated $4.26 in services and economic impacts.

YOUTHSERVICES

In 2023, our Youth Services team held 4,543 programs for children attended by 130,448 people.

21,791 teens came to 572 programs.

We had 4,547 visitors to the mobile library.

STORYTIMEINTHEPARK

MARVELOUS MARCH

YULE BALL

NEWSNELLVILLEBRANCH

DUALLANGUAGES

We expanded our Dual Language Immersion (DLI) programs at Gwinnett County schools in 2023. Grayson branch offered a monthly French Club and a French Summer Camp. Our Lilburn branch conducted a Spanish Summer Camp. Suwanee branch supported the Korean DLI program with a Korean language reading club and a storytime series. Centerville branch offered recurring Spanish language storytimes.

We continue to offer a tiered series of English classes that help individuals transition from their native languages to Intermediate English.

ADULT SERVICES

We hosted 54 Author Talks and Writer Workshops. These programs accounted for a large percentage of our total program attendance numbers of 5,465 guests.

MEET THE AUTHORS

Authors included New York Times bestselling authors Lisa See, Rick Riordan, and Tananarive Due.

We also hosted TV host Matt Paxton, AJC journalist Greg Bluestein, and other regional and local authors covering important social, educational, housing, and legal justice and wellness issues.

SPECIALNEEDS

Working with multiple community organizations, we offered two programs specifically designed for those in the I/DD community. The Open Your World Book Club provides a safe and welcoming environment to practice reading and comprehension. The Your Best Life program offers life skills development for teens in the I/DD community.

Our Dacula branch hosted monthly Sensory Browsing Hours before regular service. Other branches offered Sensory Storytimes to Gwinnett County Public Schools special needs classes.

Our Adult Services team held two virtual author talks and four programs with The International Dyslexia Association (Georgia branch), Rita Young and Associates, authors Robert Stark & Betsy Hill, author Meg Zucker, and Gwinnett County Public Schools Transition Fair organizers.

SOCIAL PROGRAMS

The Gwinnett County Public Library offered 118 programs in 2023 that support social services, such as foster parent information sessions, Medicare, and caregiver support, among other programs.

BRANCH PROGRAMS

Our branches provided more than 4,400 programs for early educational development, including Storytimes, reading practice, and Kindergarten readiness. School-age children benefited from homeworkhelp programs and STEM activities, including coding and robotics.

LEARNING LABS

We have maker spaces called Learning Labs in nine of our branches that give the community access to 3D printers, sewing machines, podcasting equipment, Cricut Easy Press, Adobe Creative Cloud, Arduino IDE, Blender, Circuit Playground Express, iMacs, soldering equipment, Glowforge, and more.

Our Learning Labs specialists held 2,929 educational sessions in 2023.

TECHNOLOGY

A Governor's Education Relief Fund II grant supplied us with an additional 332 Chromebooks, 86 hotspots, and 135 LaunchPads available for checkout.

Chromebooks circulated 1,770 times in 2023.

Students used in-library computers 128,617 times in 2023.

Thanks to state grant money, we were able to buy new 3D printers for all learning labs and all branches that don't have learning labs.

COMMUNITY RESOURCES

In 2023, GCPL concluded its Covid-related food distributions, having served nearly 1.5 million pounds of food over three years and helping nearly 50,000 families and individuals. We also continued partnerships with The Block Community Outreach Inc, Perimeter Church, and Norcross First United Methodist Church in Norcross to stock in-branch food pantries that were open to all customers.

GCPL also continued its partnership with Georgia State University's School of Social Work, bringing social work interns into branches to assist local residents.

VISION TO LEARN

We hosted the nonprofit Vision to Learn again during the summer to offer children under 18 free vision exams and, if needed, free prescription eyeglasses. Eight branches hosted exams and served 563 kids, 379 of whom received glasses.

LIBRARY FOUNDATION

The Gwinnett County Public Library Foundation is a 501(c) (3) organization established to generate funds and support, augmenting the conventional tax-based backing for the library. This empowers the library to enhance the excellence of programs and resources that promote literacy, imagination, and lifelong learning.

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

J.T. Wu Chairman

Adriana Andrade Vice Chair

Ted Koppel Treasurer

Dr. Kathy Lee Board of Trustees

Brian Carlson Board of Trustees

PROGRAM PARTNERS

Gwinnett Entrepreneur Center

The Gwinnett Entrepreneur Center is a County-sponsored facility designed to support entrepreneurs and nurture small business startups The Gwinnett Entrepreneur Center works with GCPL to provide business coaching, workshops, peer learning and networking connections. It has been instrumental in our thriving New Start Entrepreneurship Program and our RISE Teen Entrepreneurship Program, coworking space, and offices.

Helping Mamas

Helping Mamas worked with us on diaper and period product collection and distribution at our branches. The organization is focused on elevating the well-being and dignity of women throughout Georgia by providing diapers, period products, and other essential baby supplies.

East2West Media Group

The Teen Film Challenge was supported by a title sponsor, East2West Media Group, offering students $1,000 in prizes.

Ser Familia

Ser Familia is a non-profit organization that offers preventative family services and equips Latino families with the tools, resources, and skills they need to move from crisis to thriving Ser Familia worked with us on our grant-funded Digital Literacy Project at the Norcross branch, sharing information about the program and identifying potential partners.

WIC Mobile Clinic

Georgia WIC improves the health of families by providing nutritious foods, health education, breastfeeding support, and referrals to health care from staff dedicated to a healthy Georgia. Our branches hosted a series of visits to connect with families during our Storytimes.

Georgia Center for Opportunity

Georgia Center for Opportunity worked with us to offer parenting classes at our branches to strengthen and support Gwinnett families.

KARES4KIDS BOOKS GIFT

COMMUNITY PARTNERS

AAPiO of South Gwinnett County

ACE Women’s Business Center

Andersen, Tate, & Carr, P.C.

Art Thou Signs

Asian Americans Advancing Justice

Atlanta Writers Club

Aurora Theatre

Autism Speaks

Black Dot Cultural Center

Bobby Dodd Institute

Bookmiser

Brave + Kind Bookstore

Broadleaf Writers

Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta

Christ The King Baptist Church

City of Duluth

City of Lawrenceville

City of Lilburn

City of Norcross

City of Snellville

Charis Books & More

Community Foundation for Northeast

Georgia

Creative Soul Photography

Delta Community Credit Union

Division of Family and Children's Services

Duluth Fine Arts League

Dunamis Educational Foundation

Eagle Eye Bookshop

East2West Media Group

Emory University

Explore Gwinnett

Genesis Engineering

Georgia

Gwinnett College

Georgia Public Library Service

Georgia SHIP (State Health Insurance Assistance Program)

Georgia United Credit Union

Greater Eastside Chamber of Commerce

Greater Gwinnett Reentry Alliance

Gwinnett Building Babies Brains

Gwinnett Clean and Beautiful

Gwinnett County Public Schools

Gwinnett County

Gwinnett Daily Post

Gwinnett Discount Music

Gwinnett Forum

Gwinnett Stripers

Hong & Sessions Law

International Dyslexia Association

Georgia

Jackson EMC

Kares4Kids

Kuumba Storytellers

Latin American Association

Lawrenceville Arts Center

Lawrenceville Women’s Club

Live Healthy Gwinnett

Next Generation Focus

Northside Hospital

OneStop Centerville Community Center

OneStop Norcross Community Center

PATH Project

Peach State Credit Union

Peachtree Christian Health

Prospera

Primerica

Que Pasa en Atlanta

SCORE

Spectrum Autism Support Group

UGA Extension Gwinnett

U S Department of HUD

Walmart

To support and learn more about the GCPL Foundation, visit gwinnettpl.org/foundation