Manchester Library Forum

On Florida Libraries

2009-04-17T07:03:00.000-04:00

I'm writing you, to tell you about our library experience traveling all over Florida. We need to get on-line where ever we go.

Remember when Cable TV was predicted to be the death knell for the Movie industry? Well the libraries we visited were bustling with people of all ages. What is flying off the shelves were DVD's and Audio Books and of course regular books, but the big attraction were the unbelievable number of new flat screen computers, mostly all in use.
We had to register with an ID and a library card. A password number is given to us, then we wait for an open computer.

The one we frequent the most is the Coral Springs main library where there are computers on 2 floors, about 150 computers. And a teaching room with computer operating classes every day with different software classes. It’s marvelous. It's the old
camera with film meeting the 10 mega pixel digital. A lot of retired people taking up the chairs. I don't know what they're looking at maybe porn! or the bible, who knows.

Florida is full of people from somewhere else, like us, but that's only partially why the libraries are bustling. Many or most of the patrons live in the area and now the library has become the center for cultural information, a social meeting place within each town. A market place where people, young and old are sharing ideas and stories. A noticeable difference is the noise level. It's up with much chatter.

One more quick story, we were in a little town, Homosassa, 50 miles north of Tampa and I needed a library to transfer some cash into a Florida bank. We had trouble finding the library as the Town center was hiding from us, nowhere to be found. We stopped and asked where is the library? Off we went on the back roads where our GPS was of no use. There on a side street was this brand new huge library. I chuckled, saying to Pam. "What the hell do they need this big building for, they don't have a town center?" We drove around back, the parking lot was full. This is the wonderfully new library Renaissance. A marvelous transformation due to computers and technical marvels.

Tom Grady, Manchesterite, SnowBird.

Library use in tough economic times

2009-01-05T11:44:00.003-05:00

from Boston.com
THIS STORY HAS BEEN FORMATTED FOR EASY PRINTING

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The Boston Globe
DERRICK Z. JACKSON

The library - a recession sanctuary

By Derrick Z. Jackson, Globe Columnist | January 3, 2009
IN A SPEECH a month ago to the nation's governors, 41 of whom he said were likely to face budget shortfalls, President-elect Obama said, "Jobs are being cut. Programs for the needy are at risk. Libraries are being closed.
Libraries are a rhetorical anchor for Obama, from his 2008 campaign promise to "connect our schools and libraries" to the Internet to his 2004 Democratic convention speech where he said, "we don't like federal agents poking around our libraries."
This week, senior Obama advisor David Axelrod said support for libraries is still part of the stimulus package, "refurbishing the nation's classrooms and labs and libraries so our kids can compete."
That is, if the libraries first avoid being trampled.
Obama's library lament to governors came in Philadelphia, where Mayor Michael Nutter says he must shutter 11 of 54 branches in cuts of "epic proportions." This is part of a silent tragedy. Library systems across the
nation face cuts and closures at the very moment they have become recession sanctuaries.
Checkouts of books, CDs, and DVDs are up 15 percent at the main library in Modesto, Calif. In Boulder, Colo., circulation of job-hunting materials is up 14 percent. Usage of the Newark Public Library in New Jersey is up 17 percent. Library card requests have increased 27 percent in the last half of
2008 in San Francisco. The Boise Public Library reported a 61 percent increase in new library cards in 2008. In Brantley County, Georgia, library computer usage was up 26 percent in the last quarter. "Some have said their computer at home was all torn up," Brantley library manager Kathy Moody told the Florida Times-Union. "Others have said they don't have Internet service or they had to drop their service."
In Washoe County, Nevada, library director Arnold Maurins credited early voting for a 9 percent or 10 percent increase in library usage that has stuck. "I think it's kind of a common-sense conclusion that people are looking for less expensive ways to meet their reading or recreation needs,"
Maurins told the Associated Press. "They can go to a program that's free instead of paying $20 to go to the movies."
In Kern County, California, where Diane Duquette has been library director for 22 years, library checkouts were up 19 percent in the last quarter. She told the Bakersfield Californian, "We've never had that kind of increase
before. Wow. In my time here, we've maybe had a 1 percent or 2 percent increase in good years."
The Boston Public Library is no different. New library cards are up 32.7 percent from July to November of 2008, compared with the same period in 2007. Visits are up 13 percent, from 1.4 million visits to 1.6 million. Checkouts of books, CDs, and DVDs are up 7.2 percent overall over the last fiscal year. More telling is that checkouts have soared between 27 percent
and 37 percent at the Egleston Square, Fields Corner, Jamaica Plain, and Orient Heights branches.
New BPL president Amy Ryan said a baby story program at the Copley library has grown from fluctuating between 60 and 80 families to well over 100.
Monthly visits to a free Internet homework tutoring service have doubled from 300 to 600. She said anecdotal reports indicate a spike in people using branch libraries to research new careers or returning to school. This is despite the BPL probably facing cuts, too.
"Libraries are unfortunately used to this," Ryan said. "But the essential role of the library cannot be duplicated in anybody's home, when you consider the combination of manuals, books, and librarian expertise," Ryan said. "In down economic times, families aren't going out to spend a lot of money on books and movies. This is when the branches can shine as a
community gathering place and at a time when people are seeking answers to life improvement."
Libraries are shining so brightly in this recession, the nation's politicians - from Obama to the mayors - must keep their lights flickering.
Obama says he wants to link all libraries to the Internet. You cannot connect them if the doors are locked.

Derrick Z. Jackson can be reached at jackson@globe.com.
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New York Times Company

Websites for Avid Readers

2009-01-01T09:51:00.004-05:00

When you come across an interesting site about books, share it here.

Library use soars across the nation.

2008-12-28T13:31:00.001-05:00

As the economy cools off people are rediscovering the advantages of using their local library. Link to the NBC Nightly News segment on public libraries.

Happy New Year from the Trustees and Staff

2008-12-21T14:12:00.004-05:00

The Library Trustees and staff ring in the new year with a new library blog, an opportunity for discussion, feedback, questions from the community. Please use this forum to make suggestions, ask why we do some of the things we do, or just share a good book suggestion with your neighbors. For starters, please share your resolutions for the new year.