CHICAGO LIBRARY CIRCULATION UP 30% - One Silver Lining Amidst Recession Dark Clouds!
CHICAGO PUBLIC LIBRARY CIRCULATION UP 30% OVER LAST YEAR!
Looking for some good news amidst the savage jobless figures, falling home prices, sliding retail revenue numbers?
Despite the recession, circulation of Chicago Public Library books and other materials (including CD's and movies) is up considerably over last year - 30% higher, as a matter of fact!
According to a Chicago Sun-Times Story by Staff Reporter Mary Wisniewski, Chicago Library Commissioner Mary Dempsey sees many people borrowing books and entertainment material from their local library branch, rather than purchasing it outright retail.
The Commissioner reports that online holds of library material - reserving books, movies, or CD's to pick up at their local library branch, has nearly doubled over last year. Libraries across the U.S. are reporting similar increases in circulation and library visits, especially as the recently-unemployed use library computers and other resources to seek out new jobs.
Here in Chicago, 53 Neighborhood Library Branches have been rebuilt or extensively renovated over the last 20 years, according to Dempsey. A new branch in the South Side Chicago Neighborhood of Beverly just opened this weekend. New branches have been started, or are planned, in the Chicago Neighborhoods of West Town, Irving Park, Greater Grand Crossing, Dunning, Little Village, and West Humboldt Park.
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