FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE)— The Allen County Public Library released it's 2024 Community Impact Report Tuesday, which showed an increase in usage across many different types of programming. According to the report, across the library's 14 branches, there were more than 1.7 million visitors in 2024 . In comparison, that's enough to fill 209 sold out TinCaps games at Parkview Field. "We're really pleased that we're seeing growth in some areas," Director Susan Baier said. "We had an increase in the amount of items checked out from our library across the system. We circulated more than 4.6 million items to our community." Out of the 4.6 million items borrowed, 1.4 million were digital items. There were also more than 24,000 new library card holders registered in 2024, bringing the total number of registered patrons to 199,223. That is 51% of Allen County's population. In 2023, the average percentage of registered patrons in counties with more than 100,000 residents was closer to 40%. "We think that's strong," Baier said. "We're proud of it. And also, there's room to grow. In our current strategic plan, our goal is that by the year of 2028 we'd like to see that percentage go up to 75%." A goal for the library in 2025 is to see even more visitors than the year before. The library will host a number of "major" genealogy conferences. They also plan to expand their Storyscape children's area and their new studio. In 2024, the Allen County Public Library put 14.1% of its operating budget toward library materials. "We're very proud of that," Baier said. "The state standard is 8%, and the national average is 11%. So, we are exceeding that and we are putting the taxpayer money where they can see it, in the materials that they can check out." ...read more read less