By Brandi Watters, Herald Bulletin Staff Writer
ANDERSON — Karen Bass doesn’t have a job, or a computer, so when it’s time for her to tweak her résumé or do a job search for the 10th time that week, she heads downtown to the public library and joins dozens of other area residents doing the exact same thing.
She’s been visiting the Anderson Public Library for recreation for two years, but lately, when she goes to sit at one of the many computer stations, there aren’t quite as many empty chairs.
The library has been flooded in recent months with jobless locals looking for jobs and their working neighbors trying to save a dime.
Sarah Later, APL’s director, said the library has become very popular as the recession deepens. Rather than spending $20 to $30 to take the kids out to a movie, families are dropping in to get a DVD, participate in an after-school program or check out colorful board books.
The draw? It’s all free.
In 2008, APL and its branch in Lapel rented 52,542 DVDs and the overall circulation of library materials went up 3 percent from 2007.
Library card registration jumped 6 percent, Later said. Some employees noticed that many card registrations were from former patrons who hadn’t visited the branch in years. Their cards couldn’t even be read in the new system, and had to be re-registered.
Use of computers and information services jumped from 430,813 in 2007 to 469,192 in 2008.
“We had to add eight more public computers because of the demand,” Later said.
Overall, she said, business is booming.
Each morning when the library opens at 9 a.m., Later said, between 20 and 40 people are parked outside waiting to be let in.
On a recent Sunday when Later opened at 1 p.m., she said more than 75 people were waiting for doors to open.
It’s not uncommon, she said, for circulation to jump to between 800 and 1,000 materials checked out on Sunday alone.
On Wednesday, 32-year-old James Hammond of Anderson combed the aisles of the DVD section.
“I’m just bored. It’s something to do,” he said while picking up a new DVD. Hammond is out of work and comes to the library regularly to check out DVDs instead of paying to rent them.
Nat Johnson, a retired educator from Anderson, spent the day perusing articles in the periodicals section.
He has come to the library for over a decade since he retired and visits to read the latest newspaper and magazine articles, refusing to quit his career of learning. While his habits haven’t been affected by the economy, he’s noticed that his time in the library isn’t as quiet or solitary. Over the last decade, Johnson said he’s seen a 50 percent increase in patronage.
Bass agrees. “It’s a lot busier than I’ve ever seen before.”
Bass doesn’t expect it to slow down, at least not if the economic turmoil persists. Her own situation hasn’t improved much from the time she began looking for work at the library.
This, she said, is due to the fact that she is not alone in the search. On the last interview she went on, Bass was able to get her résumé to an employer on the day that the advertisement appeared in the classifieds.
The next day, she entered the office for an interview and was told that the local business, trying to fill a single vacant receptionist’s position, had received over 200 applications in one day from that one ad. “When you have this many people looking, there’s always going to be someone more qualified.”
Later said the library is prepared to meet the needs of Bass and everyone who’s become more dependent on the library than ever before, but times have gotten tough for librarians too.
When the Indiana General Assembly passed House Bill 1001, public agenbices were informed that their budgets would shrink.
For APL, over $1 million of the library’s $5 million budget will be lost in the next two years due to tax caps.
This, Later said, makes providing services more difficult. Changes to the way the library operates have been implemented and more are coming.
The board of trustees recently voted to raise card replacement fees by $1 and the temperature in the library has dropped 2 degrees in order to save on energy costs.
Plastic bags provided to patrons for carrying books will soon be a thing of the past, she said. The library will eliminate those and begin selling eco-friendly bags.
When a staff member at the library leaves, she said, many won’t be replaced.
As patrons experience hard times and the library’s wallet shrinks, Later is hoping they can all weather the storm. “We’re a gathering place for the community. We want to be able to continue to provide these services.”
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Services influenced by state caps
The Anderson Public Library recently announced plans to reduce spending due to state property tax caps. Among plans:
— Not filling some staff positions when vacant
— Reducing delivers from the main library to Lapel from five a week to three
— Using Abitibi for recycling to earn revenue
— Reducing online data subscriptions by 50 percent
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Library demand up, budget down
General circulation + 3 %
Equipment use + 30 %
Reference questions + 8 %
Program attendance + 16 %
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2008 Anderson Public Library budget: $5,127,139
Anticipated 2009 loss: $354,793
Anticipated 2010 loss: $729,346
Total 2-year budget loss: $1,084,139
