Credit for the record number of cardholders is due to the Central Library opening two years ago.

AUSTIN, Texas — According to the Austin-American Statesman, more Austin residents have a library card than ever before, all thanks to the modern Central Library.

Austin Public Library cardholders increased by about 68,000 since the Central Libray opened in October 2017, an 11% increase.

There are about 685,000 Austin library cardholders to date, said Roosevelt Weeks, director of libraries.

Prior to the Central Library opening, the system issued an average of 2,300 new cards per month, said Rachel Nguyen, library spokeswoman. After the new library opened, it has issued about 3,600 cards per month.

“It’s a beautiful thing to see. We’re averaging about 100,000 people coming through our doors a month,” Weeks said of the Central Library location. “And we love it. We absolutely love it.”

System-wide library attendance in Austin jumped from roughly 261,500 visitors a month in 2017 to 290,660 in 2018, library officials said. It rose to about 300,000 in 2019.

The former Faulk Central Library that it replaced only saw about 34,000 visitors a month, library officials said.

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Visitor numbers have translated to the revenue received at the library. According to Weeks, the Central Library gift shop has so far brought in about $250,000 a year, parking revenues bring in about $450,000 a year, and people who rent library meeting rooms provide about $250,000 a year.

One major factor in the cardholder numbers increase is due to a partnership with Austin ISD. Students automatically sign-up for a library card when they enroll, though parents still have the option to opt out, Weeks said.

In the 2018-19 school year, the Austin library system signed up 25,000 students, according to the Statesman. The library system has implemented automatic opt-in for the upcoming school year and has so far already signed up about 45,000 students.

To learn more about how to be a library cardholder, you can find out more at the Austin Public Library website.