Thousands of people visited Cumbria County Council's six main libraries between Christmas and New Year as they opened their doors during the holiday period for the first time in many years.
The libraries at Barrow, Carlisle, Kendal, Penrith, Whitehaven and Workington saw 11,418 check-outs and renewals and 11,669 check-ins over Wednesday 29th December and Thursday 30th December 2004.
The local and family history sections and the computer facilities offering internet access were also well used over both days.
Roger Bingham, county council cabinet spokesman for culture, said: "This is marvellous. I'm very pleased that the libraries received such a lot of interest over the Christmas and New Year period. It's a great example of how our libraries are serving their communities and it just goes to show it was well worth opening over the holiday period."