HERMANN – Of all the numbers contained in the annual report of Scenic Regional Library District, perhaps the most impressive are those found on the last page. More bang for the buck is the message delivered there to taxpayers and residents.

For every $1 in revenue taken in by the three-county district, $2.43 worth of library services were provided.

As explained last week to the Gasconade County Commission by Steve Campbell, executive director of the district, that number is based on a formula used by libraries to calculate the value of the various services offered.

Scenic Regional has nine branches in Gasconade, Warren and Franklin counties and operates under the watch of a 13-member Board of Trustees — four from Gasconade, four from Warren, four from Franklin and one from Crawford County. Board members from Gasconade County are Sarah Rothermich, Kathleen Hamm, Laura Hengstenberg and Robert Niebruegge.

The district’s annual report is chock full of statistics, such as the number of visits to the various branches. There were 335,184 in-person visits and 168,988 online visits. Community outreach programs involved 20,219 residents.

The report highlighted the art gallery at the Hermann branch, which hosted three exhibits during Fiscal Year 2025-26. Those exhibits saw 3,048 patrons visiting the gallery.

Growing in popularity are the non-traditional items that can be checked out at the branches. For instance, there were 733 headphones checked out, 772 charger cables and wall plugs for digital devices borrowed, 179 cake pans taken home, 31 blood pressure kits checked out, 1,202 board games borrowed, 75 fishing poles and 28 ukuleles checked out, among a host of other non-traditional items.

The district also makes available Parkinsons kits through a partnership with the Missouri Chapter of the American Parkinson Disease Association. Those kits provide information about the disease for family members as well as activities for those diagnosed with Parkinson Disease.

The self-check stations at the branches are seeing more use, the report shows. During the district’s last fiscal year, 98,920 items were checked out using self-check. That number accounted for 24.4 percent of all checkouts at the branches.

One of the more popular services provided at the branches are the meeting rooms. The report shows the meeting rooms were used 1,848 times by a variety of organizations — homeschool groups, blood drives, Chamber of Commerce events, churches, government organizations, Scout groups, among others. The meeting room at the Hermann branch was the site of a forum for the two candidates for the presiding commissioner’s office.

Five of the branches — Hermann, Owensville, Union, St. Clair and Sullivan — took part this summer in a food distribution program aimed at providing meals for young people in a partnership with Foundation for Strengthening Families of metro St. Louis. Food was distributed once a week from June 29 through Aug. 17. The report said 51,500 meals were distributed to 7,400 children.

Campbell pointed out that each branch now has a AED device, all funded with outside money totaling more than $19,000, including the Hermann Area Ambulance District.

Outreach programs continue to connect the library to residents. During the 2025-26 year, Scenic staffers made 262 visits to 5,389 senior citizens at nursing homes and senior centers in all three counties. During the past year, the district’s outreach program for youth made 306 visits to daycare centers and schools reaching 9,727 students and teachers.

Scenic also has a Teacher Assistance Program in which classroom items not covered by the school are provided by the district. In the past year, 704 items were delivered, filling 39 teacher requests.