National news stories from all over are commenting on increases in circulation at libraries all over the country. Many are reporting increases of 10 to 12%.
Here in Maine, a look at public library circulation for the month of January 2009 shows increases of 16-18% with some libraries reporting 20% increases. These are above the reported national figures but there may well be libraries with circulation increases far above 20%.
What this indicates is that library use is going through the roof and not only because people can save money by not buying books. As an aside, I’ll be very interested to see what the publishing industry’s sales figures look like for the first quarter of 2009 to see if they’ve decreased and by how much.
Libraries didn’t just start offering materials for loan, programs to attend, computers to use, reference and research assistance and spaces for meetings in 2008. They’ve been doing this for decades. What’s become more noticeable is that libraries are adapting to the recent wave of layoffs and hard economic times by tailoring programs to the unemployed, assisting people with job hunting and career development, offering high speed Internet service and inviting small business development specialists to libraries for business start-up programs.
Actually, none of these are brand new either. Libraries did this in the late 1970s, the late 1980s and the early 1990s. It is a pity that library budgets are being cut just when their services are needed most. I hope that this economic recession has at least one silver lining – the importance of well-supported public libraries as a community’s lifeline not only in hard times but for all times.
