Maidenhead & Windsor

It's an uplifting story for the Maidenhead Royal Borough as its libraries significantly buck national trends to make their own successful high-flying headlines.

"Well above average" is the latest report on the Maidenhead borough's popular library service in the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accounting annual survey of library use.

The most striking success story is in visits to borough libraries over the last five years, from 2001 to 2006 – with the Royal Borough notching up 738,089 visits in 2005/6 compared with 613,698 in 2001/2.

This increase is three times greater than the national average – and represents a whopping 20% increase compared to just 7.5% across the country.

Also on the up in the last year are:

· visits to libraries – up by 12% compared to a national average increase of just 0.7%

· active borrowers (people who had borrowed an item in the last 12 months) – a 2.8% increase compared to a national decrease of 2.2%

· the total book stock at borough libraries - increased by 19.5% while the national average went down by 2.6% - reflected in the fact that total loans went up by 0.5% compared to a decrease nationally by 2.2%.

Cllr Richard Fagence, lead member for Maidenhead leisure and cultural services, said: "This really is something to write home about – a story to be proud of.

"The figures are obviously helped by the fact that we were able to increase our book stock by nearly a fifth in 2005-6, reflected in the increase in borrowers using the new Cox Green and Datchet libraries.

"Our results from the User Survey carried out in the autumn also show that nine out of 10 people think that, overall, the libraries in the borough are 'good or very good', which is a strong testament to the staff working in them and the investment we have been able to make over the last few years.

"The sheer pleasure of reading cannot be over-emphasised and we are totally committed to providing the best possible service and opportunities for all our residents to enjoy. These latest figures bear out that commitment."

The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead