Computer stations in use at the Lancaster County Library on North Duke Street Thursday evening.

 

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That, Debra Rosser-Hogben, executive director of Lancaster Public Library, said Thursday, is bringing more people through her doors on Duke Street. In the library, borrowing books, CDs and DVDs, reading magazines and using the Internet are all free.

"You have no idea just how busy we are," she said. "We have seen a definite increase in traffic."

The average daily count of patrons has jumped from about 1,000 this time last year to more than 1,300 now, she said.

"And some days that really spikes, up to 1,700 or 1,800."

Rosser-Hogben said the library has tracked a 19 percent increase in circulation from September 2007 to September 2008. Last month, she said, the Duke Street library loaned out 52,975 items — materials valued in excess of $800,000.

"That's pretty impressive," she said.

Another significant increase is in the number of people using the reference desk for research help, assistance on the Internet or other services, Rosser-Hogben said.

"We are definitely getting busier in the library," she said.

Reading programs for children and teens are gaining more participants, too, she added.

"Everyone is concerned about prices," Rosser-Hogben said. "They're stepping back and drawing in the purse strings a bit. So people who might usually go out and buy a book are now going to the library to get it for free."

Nationwide, libraries recorded 1.3 billion visits and patrons checked out more than 2 billion items from April 2007 to April 2008, the Associated Press reported.

At the same time, the nation's three largest booksellers — Barnes & Noble, Books-a-Million and Borders — logged declining sales across the board, although Wall Street analysts blame most of the trouble on a shortage of hit titles rather than a new focus on library usage.

Rosser-Hogben agreed that the woes of Wall Street and the big book-store chains are not the whole cause of the boom in the local library's circulation.

"Library usage is up regardless of the economy," she said. "It's just increasing more because of the economy."

An increase in services means area libraries are scrabbling for funds, and representatives now are making sweeps of local municipalities asking for increased budgets in 2009.

The Leola branch of the library, for instance, doesn't have enough staff nor is it open enough hours to "meet the minimum standards" of the current demands, Rosser-Hogben said.

The library asks municipal leaders to contribute $5 per capita toward library services. "But in reality, we fall way short of that," she said.

The 14 municipalities served by the city, Leola and Mountville branches, for example, give an average of $1.47 per capita, she added. Some municipalities give only 30 cents per resident, she said; only Mountville gives the full $5.

A portion of the library's budget comes from the state, while additional funding comes from private donations. However, she noted, Pennsylvania ranks 43rd in the nation in terms of municipal support of public libraries.

"We do understand how hard it is," Rosser-Hogben said. "But if we can keep inching that number up, we'll eventually get there."

E-mail: tknapp@lnpnews.com