It's the one place I could find where inflation and a tough economy have led to more business: the Louisville Free Public Library.
While the national average for library book use is a rise of about one percent, the Louisville library system saw a nearly six percent increase in the fiscal year that ended on June 30. This is not a rise in the number of books a library has on its shelves, but in the number of books borrowed.
When I was covering the ill-fated Library Tax referendum last year, local union leaders stressed how libraries had become much more about providing internet access for the working class than a source for books. But LFPL Director Craig Buthod tells me computer use makes up 25% of library visits, with the remaining 75% for books.
Something I didn't know: If you have a book club and don't want to buy the books, call your librarian and they can arrange enough of the same book to be shipped to your local branch, and even can include an audiobook version of the book, if available.
It all comes in one canvas bookbag.
Some numbers:
250,000 more books borrowed in Louisville system last fiscal year over previous year
In 1998, the Main Library downtown had 485,000 visitors. In Fiscal Year 2008, it had 750,000 visitors.
440 public computers in library system
Four boxtruck truckloads of books are transferred from branch to branch each weekday.
65% of library users are adult, 35% children
Buthod says Louisville readers borrow more non-fiction than fiction books, especially history books. He says the LFPL tracks book use system wide and not individual users.
Buthod says Louisville has a "great" book return rate.
In April 2002, the American Library Association released this press release:
Librarians have long believed that when the economy goes down, public library use goes up. But no one has been able to substantiate this belief with data - until now. The ALA contracted with the University of Illinois Library Research Center (LRC) to study library use over the last five years at the 25 U.S. public libraries serving populations of 1 million or more. Using data from 18 of those large libraries, the study found that circulation has increased significantly since March 2001, when the National Bureau of Economic Research pegged the beginning of the latest recession. Using statistical analysis, the LRC found that circulation in March 2001 was 8.3 percent higher than would be expected from the trend observed since January 1997. Following the events of September 11, circulation in October 2001 exceeded the trend by 11.3 percent.
"This data confirms what librarians have seen from experience - that in times of economic difficulties people turn to their libraries and librarians," said ALA President John W. Berry. "Libraries are America's great information equalizers - the only place people of all ages and backgrounds can find and freely use such a diversity of resources, along with the expert guidance of librarians."
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