If you’d just lost your job or were feeling strapped for cash, would you rather pay for Internet access, entertainment and learning, or would you rather go somewhere where you can get them for free?
That place, of course, is the library, and while residents of Saratoga County technically pay for their services through taxes, more and more are seeking a return on that investment, resulting in a dramatic spike in library usage that has lasted for months.
Residents are not just there to check out what they used to buy at the store they are also taking advantage of library programming to hone their skills while in job limbo.
At the Saratoga Springs Public Library, the computer training center is often crowded with the recently unemployed, said Library Director A. Issac Pulver.
The computer use is really skyrocketing,` he said. The free training courses offered by the library run the gamut from basic to advanced use of cameras, Windows and Photoshop, just to name a few.
`A lot of people are taking advantage of those to keep their computer skills up, especially if they’re between jobs,` said Pulver.
While circulation at the SSPL has increased a healthy 7 percent year-to-date, computer use has gone up 21 percent, program attendance has risen 15 percent and questions to the reference desk (many of which involve job searches) have gone up 25 percent.
The story is much the same at the Clifton Park Halfmoon Library.
`We’re seeing 10 percent increases in our use each month,` said Library Director Alexandra Gutelius. `Our circulation is just skyrocketing.`
The library now serves about 41,000 cardholders and averages 300 new members each month. One area that has seen a marked surge has been periodicals, where use has risen about 20 percent from levels a year ago.
`The only thing I could attribute it to was people canceling their subscriptions and coming to use the library,` said Gutelius.
As in Saratoga Springs, more and more CP-HM users are honing their computer skills at the library, and while officials are maintaining roughly the same number of programs, they’re looking for solutions that will fit more people into classes. In the coming months, a special program on job searching is planned.
According to Round Lake Library Assistant Director Nancy Shehan, money issues influence a great number of library users these days. As with other libraries, Round Lake’s summer reading program is booming.
`It seems like with the economy the way it is, they’re looking for free things to do,` she said. `I think money has been driving decisions by the average family for a while.`
One area library bucking the trend of increased circulation is the Town of Ballston Community Library, where circulation during the first six months of this year has fallen almost 9 percent when compared to the same period in 2008. At the same time, however, the circulation of items being lent to other libraries has increased by about the same ratio.
But despite seeing fewer materials leave the building, the number of people coming in the door has definitely increased, said Library Director Karen DeAngelo.
`I feel like we’re going full out as far as the number of people who are showing up for programs,` she said. `We’re doing tremendous business for July because of our summer reading program.`
Preschool reading sessions tend to be jam packed, and 500 children have already signed up for the summer reading program, said DeAngelo. There’s also been a significant jump in people enlisting library staff to proctor exams for online college courses they are taking.
With children and teen reading programs, free classes and audiobooks and reference materials being placed online, all libraries have become anything but book lenders where librarians shush patrons.
`It’s a very busy place. You come in here any day of the week and you can really feel it,` said Pulver. `The way people use a modern library is a lot different than the traditional view of the library.`
Of course, with all those new duties and a slew of new business, libraries’ staffs are naturally finding themselves busier. For many, that’s hardly a bad thing.
`It’s wonderful,` said DeAngelo. `There’s nothing I’d rather see than people coming to use the library.“