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Statistics for libraries, registrations and archives

We have held the Customer Service Excellence Award continuously since 2010 and before that a Charter Mark since 1991. We currently hold 24 Compliance Plus points as part of the Customer Service Excellence Award, which signify best practice in many areas of Libraries, Registration and Archives.

Library statistics

Summary statistics - these figures reflect Libraries, Registration Archives’ output during 2023 to 2024.

  • Customers borrowed 5,746,000 items in total.
  • 3,100,000 visits were made to our libraries and mobile libraries.
  • Over 120,000 customers borrowed a physical item from a library, while over 29,000 customers borrowed an e-item online.
  • Customers borrowed over 80,500 items from our mobile libraries.
  • 6,275 mobile library stops were completed.
  • Books were delivered to 760 housebound customers.
  • There were over 1,360,000 engagements with our online platforms and services.
  • Over 890,000 e-books and e-audiobooks were borrowed.
  • Over 350,000 e-magazines were borrowed.
  • Over 1,217,000 e-newspapers were borrowed.
  • Over 1,241,000 items were available for customers to borrow.
  • 364,200 enquiries were responded to by library staff and the Ask a Kent Librarian team.
  • There were 193,400 attendances to our events and activities. Our most popular events are Baby Rhyme Time, with over 65,800 attendances, and Talk Time, with over 22,600 attendances.
  • The top issuing Adult Fiction book for 2023 to 2024 was The Bullet that Missed by Richard Osman.
  • The top issuing Adult Non-Fiction book for 2023 to 2024 was The Salt Path by Raynor Winn.
  • The top issuing Children’s Fiction book for 2023 to 2024 was The Smeds and the Smoos by Julia Donaldson.
  • Customers used our PCs for 171,000 hours, and our Wi-Fi service was accessed on 75,100 occasions.

Go to the libraries section of the website to find out how to access these services.

These summaries show the rates of use for our library services in individual Kent districts:

Kent Archives statistics

The Kent Archives service is based in our Kent History and Library Centre. We have:

  • retrieved 131,000 documents from our archives in order to carry out collection work and deal with customer enquiries
  • responded to over 8,700 customer enquiries
  • welcomed over 2,650 visitors to the Archive search room
  • had 86,600 engagements with the Archive website and social media platforms
  • welcomed 315 attendees to 10 Archive Talks throughout the year.

Registration

The registration service is available through our libraries and gateways. We have:

  • registered 16,567 births and 16,745 deaths
  • conducted 7,271 ceremonies
  • welcomed 3,755 new citizens to the United Kingdom
  • issued 19,268 repository certificates from the Certificate Centre.

Customer satisfaction

Our yearly surveys have found that a significant proportion of our customers have indicated that they were very satisfied or satisfied with our services:

  • Libraries 95%
  • Registration 95%

Archives and Records Association customer satisfaction survey

The ARA National Surveys, previously the Public Services Quality Group (PQSG), coordinates 2 important surveys for the sector:

  • the Survey of Visitors
  • the Distance Users of Enquiry Services Survey.

The surveys take place between September and November in alternate years, so each survey takes place every 2 years. We take part in the surveys to understand customers’ thoughts and to help shape the service with customer feedback. It also provides us with a benchmarking tool, comparing results across all archive services who take part in the survey. In 2023 to 2024, the Distance Enquiry Services Survey was carried out. Customer satisfaction with this service in Kent was 100%.

Read all previous results of the surveys.

Go to our Kent archives section of the website to find out how to access these services.