The number of people who visited the Park City Library between mid-2008 and mid-2009 trailed the counts recorded in four other mountain towns that Park City leaders often use as comparable communities.

Linda Tillson, the director of the library, this week presented the numbers to Mayor Dana Williams and the Park City Council as part of a broad report about the library.

According to Tillson’s research, the library counted 142,100 visits in the 12-month period between mid-2008 and mid-2009, the most recent data available. The 142,100 were the fewest of the group of communities, which also includes the Colorado cities of Aspen, Steamboat, Telluride and Vail.

The number of visits to the Park City Library on a per capita basis, nearly 18, also was the fewest of the group.

Steamboat topped the visitation category with 394,092. Telluride, meanwhile, had the highest number on a per capita basis, with just more than 41 visits per person.

Tillson said the others might record higher numbers since they serve both their home city and their surrounding county. Summit County has its own library to serve local patrons who live outside the Park City limits.

She also said the numbers recorded at the Park City Library would compare favorably with similarly sized cities elsewhere in Utah.

Meanwhile, the Park City Library spent the least on its collection in the 12-month period, the report indicates. The local library spent $84,738 during the period on items like books, DVDs and CDs, well below the other libraries. The library in Steamboat spent the most in the period, putting $319,225 toward its collection, the research shows.

Tillson said the money the Park City Library spends on its collection has increased in recent years, however.

“We’ve made a lot of progress in that category over the last five, six years,” she said.

The number of paid staffers at the library, approximately 11, was the second lowest among the group, topping only the approximately nine paid staffers at the library in Vail.

The Park City Library has long been a point of pride for many, with longtime Parkites recalling the move into the converted schoolhouse on Park Avenue where it is still located.