In a news release Tuesday, the province said Islanders borrowed 735,151 library items over the past year — one of the highest circulation totals on record and a seven per cent increase compared to 2024.

The Grey Wolf by Louise Penny was the most borrowed title of the year.

Grace Dawson, P.E.I.’s director of libraries, said the growing demand reflects the financial pressures many Islanders are facing.

“I think you can see with the financial and economic climate as it is that people really are struggling in terms of being able to have that extra income to access resources,” Dawson told CBC News.

“So they’re turning to free institutions like libraries, where they can access things like free Wi-Fi, books, a lot of other types of free resources and programming that they might not be able to access otherwise.”

In addition to in-library services, the Community Care Facility Delivery Service delivered 4,359 books and items directly to community care facilities and nursing homes.

“A further 5,843 items were delivered to early learning and child care centres across the province, helping ensure access to books and learning resources for residents of all ages,” the release said.

Digital borrowing continues to rise

Dawson said libraries continue to see strong growth in the use of digital resources like e-books and audiobooks.

She noted that if the library system’s digital platform — OverDrive and its mobile app, Libby — were treated as a branch, it would rank as the second-highest circulating location in the province, behind only Charlottetown Library Learning Centre.

But she said providing digital materials comes with added costs.

“Libraries get charged more money to purchase e-books from publishers and different digital providers, and we also have limitations in terms of how many checkouts or circulations we can offer to that book,” she said.

“So we might only get it for a year. We might only get it for 26 checkouts. So that means that we have to keep purchasing the title to have it available. So that does put some strains on us in terms of our budget, but we try to offer resources in as many formats as we can to the public.”

With increased demand for digital content, Dawson said P.E.I. Public Library Services plans to continue allocating a significant portion of its budget to online resources.

Programs, non-traditional items draw interest

Beyond borrowing books, the P.E.I. Public Library Service also expanded its programming this past year.

Throughout 2025, the P.E.I. Public Library Service delivered more than 5,000 programs across 25 public libraries, attracting more than 50,000 participants, the release said.

Dawson said the programs span all ages and interests, including story times, toddler and baby sessions, Dungeons and Dragons clubs for teens, seniors’ cafés, technology sessions for older adults, and adult craft and sewing clubs.

Libraries also partner with community organizations, including the Community Volunteer Income Tax Program, which allows people to have their tax returns completed at library branches, she said.

In addition, Dawson said Island libraries offer a growing collection of non-traditional items.

New additions in 2025 include ghost-hunting kits and LaunchPads, which are tablets preloaded with educational games for children.

“They focus on different types of learning areas like math, music, phonetics, writing, arithmetic. So that’s been very popular.”

Other new items include Heart Health kits, which contain a blood pressure monitor, an oxygen monitor and healthy cookbooks focused on heart-friendly meals.

“We also added some cognitive care kits, which are for individuals who are going through the early stages of dementia and Alzheimer’s. So they have lots of different learning resources, but also some games and some puzzles for people who are going through those conditions.”

A full list of non-traditional specialty items is available on the province’s website.

Source: CBC PEI