GREENFIELD — In its first two weeks online, the city’s newly built public library welcomed 200 new patrons and reactivated the expired patron cards of 300 others, according to the library director’s latest report.

“It’s been fantastic seeing that. I think a lot of that [new patronage] is the draw of seeing the new building,” said Library Director Anna Bognolo.  “We’re really seeing the benefits of that.”

Local leaders, city and state officials celebrated the grand opening of the 26,000 square-foot building on July 13. This was more than a decade after the new library was first discussed and nearly four years after Greenfield voters approved building it, with a 61% positive vote. 

The $19.5 million appropriation accounted for construction costs as well as those of the architect, project manager, and furniture and fixtures, according to Library Building Committee Co-Chair Ed Berlin. In addition to a $9.4 million grant from the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners, the Greenfield Public Library Foundation said it would contribute approximately $2 million. Berlin shared at last month’s grand opening that the project came in $1.4 million under budget. 

Though check-in volume, or the volume of materials returned to the library, has not returned to pre-pandemic numbers since the library opened, it has returned to and exceeded numbers in recent years, according to Bognolo’s report. 

According to data tracked by the library’s management system CWMars, the average check-in volume in 2019 was 5,430 items, compared to 3,100 to date in 2023. The average check-in volume was 2,497 in 2022 and 2,585 in 2021. 

This data specifically relates to physical materials, she noted. That includes books, as well as DVDs or audiobooks. 

“We’re still not up to 2019, but one thing that happened with COVID was that we had a much stronger presence of our e-resources,” Bognolo said. “This [data] doesn’t take into the equation what all those e-resources are going out.”

The spike in material returns could be linked not only to the draw of a new building but to the fact the library was closed for the month of June while materials were moved from the old library to the new one. Bognolo said she doesn’t think the return of library materials will decline. 

“If anything, it might plateau, but we also haven’t been buying as many materials because we were preparing for the move,” she said. “Now we’re going to start picking that up again, and that will anticipate more borrowing, not just with local patrons, but we share everything with the CWMars network. There will be more items circulating.”

In any case, Bognolo said, staff continues to figure out the best way to manage the larger space with similar staffing levels to the previous year — amounting to three fewer staff members compared to 2019 — while also handling the influx of check-ins. 

The three study rooms, which are suited for two, four and six people, respectively, have also been active, she said. 

“In the first 16 days of opening, we had 115 recorded uses of those study rooms,” she said. “That doesn’t include people who walked in and sat down because they were empty.”

Bognolo said she and the library staff are looking forward to being able to offer more programs as they continue to adjust to the change of a new space. 

“We’re a work in progress,” she said. “It’s a really exciting time to be here. We welcome suggestions and feedback … That’s what helps us to better serve our community.”

Reporter Mary Byrne can be reached at mbyrne@recorder.com or 413-930-4429. Twitter: @MaryEByrne.