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Sh-h-h-h-h? Forget it at South Sound librariesJul 25, 2010 (The News Tribune - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- It's a brilliantly sunny, rare gem of a day in the South Sound, but that's not enough to keep some three-dozen teens from heading inside the downtown Tacoma Public Library. In a darkened meeting room, teenaged boys deftly flick their thumbs on Wii controllers as they stare at a pull-down wall screen displaying their round of Super Smash Brothers Brawl. They're so engrossed making Donkey Kong, the gorilla, somersault over sword-slashing Leer or pounding green dinosaur-like Yoshi, they ignore the racket a few feet away: Teens tapping a plastic drum set and singing off-key renditions of "Eye of the Tiger" to the soundtrack of Rock Band II. The youth are black, white, Latino and Asian, as young as 9 and as old as 19. Some are joining the library's game session for the first time; others have become friends through the array of youth programs at the library. As librarians like to say, the library has become their "third place" -- behind the first two places where people spend the most time: home and work or school. Libraries increasingly are the place where people of all ages gather to learn and create, have fun and connect with others. "I come here for anime (movies), video games and pretty much to hang out with my friends," CJ Hardy, a 17-year-old with braids and a black Steve Austin T-shirt, said as he propelled Leer into the virtual air. During the school year, friends he's met at the gaming sessions help him with algebra at the library. "We talk about stuff like the activities, as well as what we've been doing around town, and what we're thinking of doing," said another library regular, Remi Dela-Cruz, 19. "It's always so much fun to have more people coming in. You get the community to be part of us." There's simply so much to do at the library these days. Besides maintaining their traditional role as the public's key provider of books and information, libraries today serve as: --Job centers, where throngs of unemployed workers update resumes, learn interview skills and hunt through online job listings. --Tech centers, where patrons can update their Facebook pages on library computers or plug in personal laptops and connect to free WiFi. At home, library card-holders can log on to library websites to read magazines, get real-time homework help from tutors, and download audio books. --Education centers, sponsoring classes on computer skills and crafts, and talks running the gamut from genealogy to green household cleaners to creating publications called zines. --Entertainment and cultural centers, sponsoring movie showings, live performances and art exhibits -- all free of charge. Entertainment examples abound. On Saturday night, the Olympia Timberland Library hosted a somber, adults-only puppet show adaptation of John Steinbeck's classic "Of Mice and Men." More than 250 people flocked to the main Tacoma Library July 1 to see the 1924 silent version of "Peter Pan" accompanied by a live harpist. In March, 800 people gathered in Lakewood to hear "Garlic and Sapphires" author Ruth Reichl, the culminating event of the Pierce County READS program that encourages community members to read and discuss the same book. "People look to the library, especially now, for more than just books," Tacoma library spokesman David Domkoski said. "We had to add a storytime at Wheelock (branch in the Proctor District) because we were getting too many people. We now have to take reservations for some of our summer reading program events. "Anything free now is in demand." Certainly the recession has contributed to an uptick in library use. But some say there's something else at play, too. "People have really turned into themselves and are very solitary. They're communicating on blogs and Facebook, but they don't see people face to face. They don't even go to work on a regular basis; they telecommunicate," said Pierce County Library System spokeswoman Mary Getchell. "People are yearning for this community center." The theme emerged while the 17-branch library system surveyed patrons last year to develop its 2030 facilities plan. "We heard, 'Where better to have this community center than the library?' " Getchell recalls. " 'You're already open.' " Domkoski sees the desire for connection in the huge turnout for library events, whether it's family movie night or recent One World Taiko drum performances that drew standing-room only crowds. "It's social, it gets you out of the house, interacting with other people and it's free," he said. "It's about community." BUCKING THE TRENDS Libraries are seeing unprecedented demand both locally and nationally. In Tacoma, library circulation grew by 8.4 percent last year, as users checked out 2.3 million books, CDs, DVDs, audio books and other media. The Pierce County Library saw an even bigger boom: an 18 percent jump in circulation in 2009, with 7.8 million checkouts. In comparison, circulation nationwide jumped an average of 6 percent in 2009 over the previous year, according to a survey by the Library Journal. And folks aren't just checking out books and other media forms. They're using library computers to access those media. Nearly one-third of Americans 14 or older used a public library computer or wireless network to access the Internet in 2009, according to a University of Washington Information School study released in April. To compare, just 28 percent of libraries offered Internet access in 1996. Michelle Shula notices the swarms of library users at Pierce County's South Hill branch. South Hill surpassed 1 million checkouts in 2009, a rarity nationwide when it comes to a branch within a library system. When she stops by to pick up self-contained digital audio "Playaway" books, about the size of a thick credit card, the mother of three said, "almost every computer is being used by a wide array of faces. There's kids hanging out in the couch area. It's nice to know it's not just parents forcing their kids to be there. Kids want to be there." Access to technology and information in a welcoming climate is crucial for low- income people such as Hospitality Ward of Tacoma, laid off from a kitchen job in February. The UW study found 44 percent of families living below the federal poverty level used library computers and Internet access in the past year. Ward can't afford an Internet connection at home, so she rides the bus to Tacoma library branches to look for kitchen positions and check her e-mail for responses to job applications. She tries to get to the Moore Library in Tacoma's South End as soon as it opens Saturdays to beat the rush to the computers. "The people who work here are very nice," she said, sitting at one of Moore's computer stations. "If you need help, they always make sure you get it." Yet at the same time people need libraries the most, libraries are facing challenges of their own. The Pierce County Library System eliminated 24 positions this year to help cover a $1.5 million shortfall in a $28.6 million annual operating budget. The Tacoma Public Library is buying fewer books, DVDs, database subscriptions and other materials, and doing less maintenance to cope with a $1.9 million hit to its two-year budget, which now stands at $22.8 million. Because of those funding challenges, library supporters stress that live performances, author appearances and special activities are supported through grants, donations or foundations, not taxpayer dollars. REACHING OUT TO YOUTH In recent years, libraries across the country have increased services for teens and "tweens" to prevent the traditional drop-off in use between childhood and 20- and 30-somethings. Along with traditional storytimes, libraries offer an array of activities relevant to youth reared in a world of iPods, e-books and Black-Eyed Peas. In Pierce County Library branches, teens can make henna tattoos, create jewelry from comics and clothes from duct tape at library workshops. Teens at the Puyallup Library competed for Best Buy gift cards last month in a Rock Band II contest. Many libraries have manga and anime clubs for teens. Youngsters watch slack-jawed as Olympia magician Jeff Evans turns clear water blue and pulls an egg from an empty cloth bag, sprinkling in comments about the importance of reading. They delight in Bubbleman Gary Golightly's elaborate bubble creations. Traditionalists might ask what bubbles and video games have to do with libraries. Plenty, responds Sara Sunshine Paschal, teen services librarian in Tacoma's main library in downtown Tacoma. Video games, for instance, require reading and critical thinking skills and encourage interaction. "The older kids help the younger kids. You see people from different walks of life, different backgrounds, different socio-economic situations all playing together. There's no kind of weirdness at all," she said. Most of all, it's a way to get young people in the door. Those who initially come for Mario Smash Cart games or anime movie nights typically start checking out gaming magazines or graphic novels. They grow comfortable enough to ask librarians for help with homework. "This can be a gateway to exposing them to other things," Paschal said, "even though this has relevance in and of itself." GETTING A LEG UP The library has become an essential tool for droves of unemployed people. With the help of Washington State Library grants, libraries in Tacoma, Puyallup, Pierce County and the Timberland Regional Library system have added classes, speakers and online services to help their users find employment. This summer, for instance, Pierce County is opening Job and Business Centers in five branches, and a sixth when the new University Place library opens next year. Funded by $187,000 from donors and a state library grant, the job banks include new computers and a service allowing job hunters to connect online with job coaches who review cover letters and resumes, and conduct mock interviews via instant chat lines. Tacoma opened its Education and Job Center at its main library in February. The center sponsored a series of employment workshops, including some led by nationally known career consultants. Keith Armstrong, an attorney who worked for the state 14 years before he was laid off, attended all the workshops offered between April and June. He learned about the automated "applicant tracking systems" that employers use to screen job hunters, and how to format resumes so they won't be discarded. He learned how to comb the Internet for job leads. Armstrong recently interviewed for two jobs, and feels good about his prospects. "The interviews went very well. It's not 'cause I'm a great interviewer," he said. "I just learned some things that helped me." That's not all he's gained from the library. Since he and fellow job hunters kept seeing each other at the workshops, they decided to form a support group. The Tacoma Library Jobs Club now meets weekly at the main Tacoma Public Library. And like the teens who initially ventured to the library for videogaming, the job hunters discovered a bounty of other offerings. "Many of us did not know of all the resources the Tacoma library had. Now, we're not only going to jobs classes, we go to the readings, meetings ... movies and speakers," Armstrong said. If all goes as planned, Armstrong soon will have a new job. He already has a new community of friends and a new third place. Debby Abe: 253-597-8694 [email protected] Been awhile since you've checked out your library? Public libraries are adding new media formats and services at a sonic pace. Here are a few: --Library computers for public use, including people who aren't cardholders. --Free WiFi access in the library for people with personal laptops. --Online databases allowing library cardholders to read newspapers, trade journals and magazines at home or in the library. --"Twin Peaks," "Battlestar Gallactica," "M*A*S*H" and other TV series on DVD at Tacoma and Pierce system libraries. --Basic computer skill classes at library sites. Pierce County Library's 17 branches, for instance, are offering 80 classes on Excel, Word and Publisher; creating websites; writing resumes and finding job resources; using investment websites and pricing your collectibles. --Online classes accessible via Pierce and Tacoma library system websites. The Learning Express Library, for instance, offers courses in Adobe Illustrator, Flash, Photoshop and PowerPoint, along with classes in algebra, grammar and reading. Users can study 21 languages -- including Tagalog, Farsi, Vietnamese and Russian -- through Mango Languages. --Individual help online to improve resumes and practice job interviews in real time with a job coach through the JobNow service via Tacoma and Pierce library system websites. --Individual homework help from real-time, online tutors through Pierce and Tacoma library websites. --Reciprocal agreements allowing library users in one system to obtain free library cards and services from another library system. Tacoma and Pierce County systems have such an agreement; Pierce County also has agreements with Puyallup, Roy, Timberland Regional, King County and five other library systems. --Downloadable e-books (electronic books that display text on a computer screen), audio books, movies and music that can be played on MP3 players or computers; media offerings vary among library systems. Some e-book titles can also be played on electronic readers, such as the Nook, Kobo e-Reader or Sony Reader. --Local history databases from the Tacoma main library's Northwest Room. At home or in the library, online users can search the history of Tacoma and Pierce County buildings built from 1883 to 1953, browse through a half-million local photos and order copies, and look through the "Unsettling Events" database to read historic accounts of massacres, ghost stories, UFOs and the like. --Historic yearbooks, including the 1933 carved-wood-covered Lincolnian from Lincoln High School; historic maps of Tacoma; and genealogy records and resources, including use of www.ancestry.com, in the Northwest Room. --Exhibits of local and regional artists at the Handforth Gallery at the main Tacoma Public Library. --A collection of online resources to help residents find jobs, pay bills, avoid foreclosure, shop for insurance and other assistance at the Washington State Library's Hard Times Resource Portal. --Delivery of library materials to homebound residents, nursing homes and day cares in the Pierce County Library system. For more information or help, contact: --Pierce County Library System at 253-536-6500 or go to www. piercecountylibrary.org. --Tacoma Public Library at 253-591-5666 or go to www.tacoma publiclibrary.org. --Washington State Library at 360-704-5221 or go to www.statelib.wa.gov. --Timberland Regional Library at 800-562-6022 or go to www.trl.org. Debby Abe, staff writer To see more of The News Tribune, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.TheNewsTribune.com. Copyright (c) 2010, The News Tribune, Tacoma, Wash. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com, e-mail [email protected], or call 866-280-5210 (outside the United States, call +1 312-222-4544). |