NEW — 12:27 p.m. Jan. 6, 2010
Shane Marston hunched over the North Bend Library computer, his calloused fingers resting on keys almost too small for his fingertips. It’s been four months since the North Bend resident has had a job.
Marston used to work in construction and demolition as a laborer in Seattle.
Now, he is “just trying to do the right thing. Get a job and stay out of trouble,” he said. He comes to the library to look at job listings on the Internet.
Marston said he started visiting more often once the recession hit last year. He’s not the only one.
The North Bend Library’s usage has grown by 5.5 percent in the past year, and usage at Snoqualmie’s library has grown by 3.6 percent, according to Marsha Iverson, a spokeswoman for the King County Library System.
Irene Wickstrom, the managing librarian at the North Bend and Snoqualmie libraries, said the libraries seem busier.
“They’ve been flocking to the library in these times,” she observed.
North Bend grew from 19,773 checked out items in September 2008 to 20,861 checked out items in September 2009 and Snoqualmie’s library went from 14,391 checked out items in September 2008 to 14,915 checked out items in September 2009.
Other libraries in east King County saw a similar increase in usage.
At the Sammamish Library, there were 54,956 checked out items in September 2008 compared to 81,218 in September 2009.
At the Issaquah Library, the number of checked out items went from 41,130 in September 2008 to 65,275 in September 2009.
“We attribute most of the growth to the economy,” Iverson said. “Collectively, libraries across the nation have seen a dramatic increase in use. We started to see the spike in September of last year, when the financial crisis hit.”
People began turning to the library more because it’s a free source of information, and here in King County, Iverson said, librarians took that to heart and launched a program last spring called Look to Your Library.
The program kept libraries open extra hours, provided special seminars about re-education, job searching, resume building and how to financially plan for tough times.
It also featured an extensive online component, which linked people with such services, reference materials, books and databases.
“It was mostly to help our patrons,” Iverson said. “We’re here and we work to provide the resources we’ve always had.
“Our librarians recognized a need and they were profoundly determined to help,” she said.
Reporter J.B. Wogan contributed to this report.
Chantelle Lusebrink: 392-6434, ext. 241, or [email protected].
Filed Under Local News