Support, Appreciation for Public Libraries Rock-Solid

By Sheila Gibbons Hiebert

 

St. Mary’s County Library patronage is right in line with the results of a new national survey that shows public libraries are highly valued community cornerstones.

The Pew Research Center’s survey of library users, conducted in the Fall of 2012, found that the vast majority of parents of minor children — children younger than 18 — feel libraries are vital for their children. Their beliefs about libraries’ importance carry over into their own patronage – the parents not only bring their children to check out books and DVDs and to participate in library programs, they themselves are avid users of library services, the survey showed.

The Pew survey elicited impressive support for community libraries:

• 94% of parents say libraries are important for their children and 79% describe libraries as “very important.” That is especially true of parents of young children (those under 6), some 84% of whom describe libraries as very important.
• 84% of these parents who say libraries are important say a major reason they want their children to have access to libraries is that libraries help inculcate their children’s love of reading and books.
• 81% say a major reason libraries are important is that libraries provide their children with information and resources not available at home.

It’s not only parents who love the library. The survey found that adults without children agree with parents on their value as well.

St. Mary’s County Library Director Kathleen Reif sees the enthusiasm the Pew survey discovered confirmed by the amount and type of traffic flowing through the county’s three libraries.

“We see lots and lots of families in our libraries. We have the two busiest libraries in Southern Maryland, Leonardtown and Lexington Park,” Ms. Reif says. “Our daily count for all three libraries is about 1,000 visitors a day. Our last annual count was for FY 12, with 645,000 visits. And of course, we have thousands visiting us through the web site.”

It’s a misconception that the surge in personal electronic devices and e-books is depressing community involvement with libraries. In St. Mary’s, the arrow is going up, not down, Ms. Reif says. Patrons check out 1.4 million – 1.5 million items annually, the fourth highest per-capita library circulation in the state. Circulation declined only when the libraries were forced to end Sunday hours –“the only time a lot of families have for family time,” Ms. Reif says — and the decline was by the precise amount of materials that customarily had been checked out on Sundays. “The libraries really do need to be open seven days a week,” Ms. Reif says.

Kids are driving a lot of the interest, Ms. Reif says. A rule of thumb for public libraries is that 30% of their circulation will be youth items. In St. Mary’s, it’s 43%.

Traditional books are still the most popular items, but Ms. Reif says the St. Mary’s County libraries are moving rapidly into the world of online services and apps. The libraries own various models of e-readers and offer classes on how to use them. They are also purchasing e-books, though that effort has been stymied because not all of the largest book publishers, concerned about profits, according to Ms. Reif, are selling e-books directly to libraries at this time.

Lexington Park’s Assistant Branch Manager, Sara Stephenson, developed a mobile web site friendly to patrons who want to visit via their smart phones. Launched in January, it already is getting 3,000 average monthly visitors, compared with the main web site’s 25,000. Ms. Reif says her staff also helps parents sort through “the tsunami of apps coming out marketing themselves as the latest, greatest learning tool for your kids.

“All of this is exciting to me and I’m totally confident our staff can handle it and deliver it,” Ms. Reif says.

The online services offered through the library web site are impressive. There is the TumbleBooks Library, a “read-online” feature for parents and children. TumbleBooks brings up a book on the computer screen, complete with illustrations and a narrator (there’s a mobile version as well). Patrons with homework and research assignments can access “Homework Help,” a live interactive tutoring program, and “Ask Us Now,” a 24/7 chat service that connects patrons with reference librarians around the world.

The new bells and whistles are enticing more patrons to use library services, but two nagging problems remain, Ms. Reif says: carving out more physical space for the interactive programs library patrons increasingly demand and reaching people who don’t visit the library.

“My struggle is to reach families who’ve never used a library in their lives,” Ms. Reif says. “They don’t know what’s behind these walls. If they work up enough courage to walk in, they’re intimidated by it. Those are the folks we have a special responsibility to reach out to, no matter what time period of their life they encounter us. That’s why you see us at all the community fairs so we can let people know it’s their library, not just the library for the people used to using us.”

Adding physical space is essential for supporting the active learning centers the library staff has established. Renovations are scheduled for the Leonardtown branch. “One of the main reasons we have got to renovate Leonardtown is to get more space for the children’s area,” Ms. Reif says. “Hundreds of families are coming in with their children in spite of the cramped, old environment they have.” A 2007 library facilities studied recommended a fourth library, which Ms. Reif hopes will be built in the Hollywood area.

In the meantime, Ms. Reif and her staff will be talking up the library every opportunity they get. They were just at Earth Day and the Chamber of Commerce Expo. Look for them at Juneteenth next month, the St. Clement’s Island Museum Children’s Day in August, and the County Fair in September.