Rediscovering the library

YAKIMA, Wash. — There are the traditional reasons why people continue to visit the library: To check out the latest best-seller, take the children to storytime, flip through magazines.

And then there are the reasons librarians have more recently heard: To file for unemployment, learn how to make a resumé, read the newspaper they can no longer afford to buy.

The Yakima Valley Regional Library system reports a 3.5 percent increase in visitors during the first four months of 2009, compared with the same period last year. Librarians here and across the country believe the recession is leading residents once unfamiliar with their library's free offerings to seek help from the local reference desk.

"I enjoy it here," said Walter Commodore, a new library card holder who recently stopped by the main Yakima branch to check his e-mail, look for jobs online and find a book. "And as far as the Internet goes, it's cheaper to use it here than going to a café."

Increased interest in the neighborhood library is apparent throughout the Yakima Valley's 19 branches.

Every morning in Selah, for example, a handful of patrons wait at the library's door before it opens, each hoping to ensure one of four seats at a computer terminal with unlimited Internet access. Visitor traffic at that library grew by 15 percent in 2008, compared with the year before.

Lower in the Valley, a librarian finds herself explaining the concept of "lending" and "borrowing" to more Mexican immigrants who never accessed libraries in their home country, but now visit Buena's cramped, book-filled trailer with their children.

And in a Yakima Valley Regional Library administrative office, Cynthia Garrick rethinks the twice-weekly computer lab she helped launch recently to help the unemployed learn computer skills.

"It's interesting. It had a good response initially, but it has kind of tapered off," said the reference service librarian, considering the pilot program's two-month run through WorkSource. "We still have people coming into all the libraries who need help filling out job applications and resumés and that kind of thing.

"But when they come in, they need the help right then."

Valley residents are not alone in their rediscovery of libraries during hard economic times. At the national level, library visits increased by 10 percent in 2008 compared with the previous year, according to the American Library Association.

At a meeting for Washington's library directors in January, librarians related similar experiences of feeling "inundated" with patrons affected by the economic downturn.

Directors shared stories of patrons reading magazines at the library after canceling their subscriptions or tapping into their library's high-speed Internet from their cars outside after hours. Others needed more immediate help.

"There was a phenomenon of people coming in, seeking jobs, and having to learn how to find jobs online, how to apply for jobs online," said Rand Simmons, who manages a project by the Washington State Library called "Hard Times" that came out of the directors' meeting.

The project aims to compile job-related resources for the Washington library community -- through a Web site and blog, making connections with WorkSource, training library staff and lobbying for federal aid through the stimulus package.

In Yakima, Garrick hopes shifting her focus from classes for patrons to educating library staff themselves will be more successful. By ensuring library staff is familiar with the online job search tools that are out there, maybe they can, in turn, direct patrons.

Meeting increased demands with fewer resources is always a challenge, said Clara Eustis, librarian and acting director of the main Yakima branch.

"When we're out on the reference desk, we're juggling different things," she said. "It's hard if someone comes in and they have no computer experience and they want to fill out a resumé online."

Echoing other librarians in the Valley, Eustis said there is a very positive side to having patrons come in and ask for help during the economic downturn.

In order to meet changing needs, the library has evolved from what some patrons might remember. Apart from the popular Internet stations, patrons can check out DVDs and CDs for free, and even bring drinks inside -- covered please, Eustis reminds.

"People's image of the library changes a little," she said. "We'll catch them any way we can."

The library may have caught Michelle Martinez. On a recent afternoon, the 26-year-old was using a computer at the main library branch.

"It's the first time I've been here in years," said Martinez, who canceled her own high-speed Internet connection to save money. "There's a lot of changes here. Maybe I'll start coming in to check out books."

19 to choose from

The Yakima Valley Regional Library system has 19 branches, with locations in Buena, Nile, Tieton, Granger, Selah, Toppenish, Harrah, Union Gap, Mabton, Wapato, Moxee, Sunnyside, White Swan, Naches, Terrace Heights, Zillah and three in Yakima.

* Melissa Sánchez can be reached at 509-577-7675 or msanchez@yakimaherald.com.