Tough economic times boosts library use
By CARRIE FRILLMAN cfrillman@daily and KATE SCHOTT kschott@daily
SYCAMORE – Trish Thibault became a library cardholder for the first time this year.
Thibault, 62, was at the Sycamore Public Library at about 11:15 a.m. Thursday, checking her e-mail and catching up on the day’s news.
Thibault, a Sycamore resident, doesn’t have a computer at home, and she visits the library at least once a week to use the computers and check out movies.
“I actually didn’t have a card until I wanted to use the computers,” she said. “It’s nice that they post information about the upcoming programming, too, because I like to see what will be offered. I come for programs, too. It’s just a nice place to get away, get out of the house.”
Thibault wasn’t the only one to get a library card. From May to November of 2009, there were 878 new cardholders at the Sycamore Library, Director Sarah Tobias said. In that same time, 127,062 items were checked out, she said, up from 124,657 in 2008.
“Because Sycamore was growing so much before the economy had changed, our circulation has been really great throughout,” Tobias said, noting that when people were moving into the town at a higher rate, the library was issuing 130 new cards per month. Now, it’s about 120 a month. “We’re constantly getting new patrons.”
Library usage tends to increase during tough economic times, according to the American Library Association, as people turn to libraries for everything from traditional items like books and movies to access to computers and online resources.
At the DeKalb Public Library, 400,000 materials were checked out in 2007 and 470,000 materials in 2008. The numbers for 2009 are not yet calculated but “I just know it’s going to go up,” library Director Dee Coover said.
“Every month it is going up, and I know that will continue.”
The number of people coming through the door is up as well. In September 2004, 17,000 people came through the doors, Coover said. In September 2009, there were 28,000 people.
“In July 2009, we had 37,000 people. That is a record for us,” Coover said. “I think it’s because we had a lot of our children’s programming. It shows the change in the economy and the demand for our services, especially programming for children.”
Barb Coward, director of Cortland Library, has seen a 24 to 30 percent increase in circulation this summer, as well as increased attendance. That led to Cortland increasing its hours this year, Coward said, noting the library is now open 62 hours a week instead of 54.
“That’s because we’ve discovered if we are open, they will come,” she said.
At the Sandwich Public Library, Director Jennifer Burke is seeing more people coming in to use computers. The demand was so great, the library started teaching beginning computer classes for those who were not as familiar with the machines.
Grants from the DeKalb County Community Foundation and state Rep. Robert Pritchard, R-Hinckley, allowed the library to rearrange the computer section and add more computers, she said, to make offering those classes possible.
Both Burke and Coward said patrons come in to fill out job applications or government benefit forms, many of which have to be filled out online. Others, though, are checking e-mail, shopping online or visiting online social networking sites such as Facebook.
“People who have lost their jobs have disconnected their Internet at home, so they come in to check e-mail,” Coward said.
The demand, however, comes as local governments struggle with their own funding issues. Sandwich, for instance, cannot add too many new services because they are capped as to how much they can tax, Burke said.
“It’s harder for us to keep up because we don’t have as much money coming in,” Tobias said. “But peoples’ expectation have not gotten any lower. That’s a good thing, though. It really keeps us on our toes.”
