Appleton Public Library patrons checked out
over a million items during 2002, the first
year the library ever reached that milestone.

On Saturday, November 30, library patron James Klimek of Greenville checked out the millionth item. To commemorate the event, Klimek received some gifts from the library, certificates from local bookstores, and his picture in the Post-Crescent.

Spurred by the library’s popular summer children’s and young adult reading programs, all previous monthly circulation records were broken in June with over 95,000 circulations. Then that record was broken in July with more than 107,000 circulations. Popular collections included all children’s materials, particularly DVDs, a new addition to the children’s collection. Other popular collections were adult media, mysteries, and young adult materials.
Total circulation for 2002 reached 1,075,010, which was a 9.5% increase over the previous year.