As the economy continues to implode and family discussions turn to new ways to celebrate Christmas this year in a more thoughtful and less commercial way, libraries across the country are seeing steep increases in traffic. According to a Sept. 1, 2008 article by AP, there have been 1.3 billion visits to US libraries with 2 billion items checked-out from summer 2007 to summer 2008 — there has been a 10% increase in use of libraries compared with 2001, the last time that there was a significant spike in use.
Not only are libraries resources for checking out hours of free entertainment — books, CDs, DVDs — but also some are addressing the issues facing folks in these uncertain times by providing seminars such as the ones offered in The Queens Library (the system with the highest rates of check out in the country) — helping people facing foreclosure.
Although local community budget squeezes may affect libraries adversely, this could be a golden opportunity for families to re-discover their local resources during the suddenly popular “staycations.”
(tourairstream.com cartoon)
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