The volume of materials checked out of the four branches of the Flathead County Library System increased by 12 percent in the first six months of the current fiscal year, compared to the first six months of last fiscal year.

Library Director Kim Crowley said between July 1 and Dec. 31, 2011, a total of 274,907 items were checked out of the county libraries in Kalispell, Columbia Falls, Bigfork and Marion.

That compares to 245,413 items checked out for the same months of 2010. Crowley removed the number of items checked out of the Whitefish library last year from the total for an accurate comparison.

AN INDEPENDENT library has operated since last July 1 in Whitefish after Whitefish severed its ties with the county library system.

The biggest percentage increases showed up in check-outs of juvenile media and adult media materials, according to the library's quarterly report. Media materials include books on CD, music CDs and movies, but not books.

A total of 20,624 juvenile media items have been checked out this fiscal year, up 28 percent from the 16,068 items checked out the previous year.

And 65,583 adult media items have been checked out this year, up 19 percent from the 53,101 items checked out in the first six months of the prior fiscal year.

A double-digit percentage increase also was reflected in check-outs of juvenile fiction items. Some 19,740 items have been checked out this year, a 12 percent increase from the prior year's six-month total of 17,524 items.

THE SMALLEST percentage change was in the number of adult fiction items checked out. The 50,359 items checked out so far this year is a 3 percent increase from the 48,684 the prior year.

Every category showed an increase this year.

Crowley said the county libraries have had increased circulation numbers for the past several years, but the annual increases have been in the 5- to 6-percent range, except in 2010-11, when check-outs were nearly flat - about a half a percent below 2009-10 numbers.

She attributes the increase to a more attractive collection of materials in the libraries, the libraries becoming "more friendly" facilities and some rearranging of materials for improved display and access by users.

The total number of people visiting the county libraries also increased in the first half of this fiscal year, Crowley said. So far this year, 157,280 people have been in one of the four libraries, a 1 percent bump from the 152,760 visitors in that time frame the prior year.

The number of public computer sessions has also increased, she said, by 3 percent to 58,508, compared to 56,766 sessions in the first six months of the last fiscal year.

People no longer are required to have a library card to use a computer at a county library and Crowley expects that policy change to result in even more people using the library's computers.

Reporter Shelley Ridenour may be reached at 758-4439 or sridenour@dailyinterlake.com.