More Than Books: Library Use Diversified
Video, Computer Access Among Services Offered
Last updated Thursday, January 1, 2009 5:08 PM CST in News
By Dan Craft & Skip Descant
THE MORNING NEWS
FAYETTEVILLE -- John Bollinger decided a few months ago that paying for DVD rentals just wasn't worth it when he could get them for free.
Bollinger, of Fayetteville, ditched his Netflix account in favor of the movie collection at his local library.
"Why pay for it when I don't have to?" he said. "I can walk here from my house, and there's plenty of selection. It was sort of a no-brainer way to save some money."
Bollinger isn't the only one turning to his city library. By Christmas the Fayetteville Public Library hit a million annual checkouts for the first time.
The library is expected to end 2008 with about 1,008,000 checkouts.
"It seems like it was yesterday when we were celebrating checking out a half-million books," director Louise Schaper told an excited crowd last Friday as Jim Blair, longtime library supporter, checked out the millionth book.
The number of items borrowed has increased each year since 1997, when total number of check outs was 271,187, to 951,872 checkouts in 2007.
In Bentonville, job-seekers are using the library's public computers heavily, said Heather Bullock, a reference librarian.
"They're working the computer, looking through classified ads, even pulling books on how to write a resume," she said. "I think people are starting to realize how much libraries have to offer and what an asset they can be."
More traditional services are also up, she said.
"We're trying to get as many people in as we can, and once they're here, we just want to help them do whatever it is they're trying to accomplish," she said.
In Greenland, library usage is up, despite the tiny, 400-square-foot building, said board member Gary Ricker.
"We've always struggled for people, but with the economy in the tank, it doesn't cost anything to check out a book or a movie," he said.
He's looking forward to the day when a recently purchased, 1,800-square-foot house comes available. The city purchased the home and three acres to expand the city park, with the agreement that the homeowner could continue to live there as long as she wished. Whenever she leaves, the city plans to convert the house into a new library.
"It's not huge, but it's a big expansion for us whenever it does happen," Ricker said. "I don't think we'll hit the million-checkout mark any time soon."
Circulation about doubled in Gentry after a former hardware store was renovated into a new library, said manager Darla Threet. Wireless Internet access brings in a lot of customers, and audio books have been especially popular, she said.
One way to encourage people like Bollinger to keep using libraries is to grow Blu-ray DVD collections, and that's a priority for Fayetteville, said Shawna Thorup, operations director.
"We'll probably have to start small with just 100 or so, but we will build this area, just like we've grown other areas of the library," Thorup said.
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