Times are tough for Lawrence Marshall. His salary as a part-time security officer in Evanston is too high to receive unemployment benefits but too low to live comfortably. To cope with his stress, he comes to the one place where he can find peace of mind: Evanston Public Library.
“I come to the library just to focus and read and keep myself busy, because I’m to a point where I can’t be around negative stuff,” the 56-year-old said. “I’m sick of dead-end jobs and not getting anywhere.”
Besides the relaxed atmosphere of the library, Marshall also comes to use the computers, look up full-time job opportunities outside of Evanston and read books about jobs.
Marshall is not alone. In the past fiscal year, circulation at the Evanston Public Library has risen nearly 11 percent, said Lesley Williams, the library’s head of adult services, while the Skokie Public Library has seen a 7 percent increase in circulation last month alone, said Carolyn Anthony, Skokie’s library’s director.
Northwestern University Library’s circulation has actually decreased slightly in the past year, said Suzette Radford, head of circulation services. But even though fewer students are checking out books, more students have been coming to the library’s study areas. Students have especially been taking advantage of the library’s online databases, reference services and print copies of periodicals, Radford said.
This increased circulation trend is reflected in libraries nationwide, according to the American Library Association.
“I had one gentleman come in who said he hadn’t used a library in 17 years,” said Connie Heneghan, branch manager of the North and South branches of Evanston Public Library. “When I asked him why, he said, ‘I can’t afford to buy books anymore.'”
But people aren’t just checking out more books and DVDs. From career counseling sessions to Internet access, more and more unemployed workers – most of them recently laid off – are taking advantage of jobs resources at the library.
Due to a spike in popularity, the Evanston Public Library has doubled its free career counseling sessions with Jewish Vocational Service to Mondays and Thursdays, Williams said.
“Up until a couple years ago, there were no long waiting lists, and people would sometimes blow off appointments,” Williams said. “Now, they’re booked whole weeks in advance (and) nobody ever cancels.”
Computer usage at libraries nationwide has skyrocketed. An American Library Association study released in March revealed 73 percent of libraries report they are the only source of free Internet access in their community, although Evanston is not one of them.
The heavy computer traffic has even caused congestion at Skokie Public Library, Anthony said.
“There’s a group of 14 computers in a room with a staff member, and those computers are so busy every hour that there have been complaints about the heat in the room,” Anthony said. “Two years ago, that wasn’t an issue.”
To accommodate the surge, Evanston Public Library expanded Internet access to most of its second floor computers instead of using them solely as catalogs.
The library also offers basic computer skills classes to teach adults how to use career sites, said Stacy Hill, a software trainer who volunteers to teach computer practice sessions at the library. Because of the high number of recent layoffs, Hill said the class has transformed from an Internet practice session to a workshop on how to post résumés online.
During a May 6 session, Hill taught one man how to apply for jobs through Monster.com while fielding questions about the difference between Hotmail and Gmail.
“A lot of it is people who are working the same job for so long, and suddenly they don’t have the computer skills to apply for a job, and the only way to get a job now is on the computer,” Hill said.
The library has also seen dramatic increases in its free summer program for children, said Janice Bojda, head of children’s services at Evanston Public Library. The library’s youth job fairs are also becoming more competitive and more heavily attended, Williams said.
The library encourages NU students to take advantage of the career counseling sessions, and Williams noted the library offers free practice tests for exams including the LSAT or the MCAT.
Residents should not doubt the quality of libraries’ services just because they are free, Williams said.
“There’s a natural human tendency to think that because something’s free, it’s not as good,” Williams said. “That’s why we have the bottled water industry. Libraries are like tap water, but tap water is pretty darn good and sometimes better than bottled water.”
Williams said that while libraries are often under-appreciated, most people realize the value of libraries when they need their services.
“When people are suddenly facing economic reverses, we’re there for them to fall back on,” Williams said. “We’ve always served as a safety net for people. That has always been our role.”
