In Bad Times, Free Resources Are a Hot Commodity

Hannah Lee, 4, grabs a book during a visit to the Germantown library with her dad, Samson Lee, and sleeping 1-year-old sister, Jenna. (By Nikki Kahn — The Washington Post)

Nearly every study table is full with patrons sipping lattes and surfing the Web. Teens are curled up in easy chairs. In a worried knot by the doorway, job seekers gather around a sign-up station for the Internet, waiting for their turn.

Before the Germantown library opened in 2007, there was hardly any “downtown” to speak of in the Montgomery County community, where houses and strip malls grew before anything else. Now it’s an important civic anchor, a main street where none existed, and the busiest library in the county.

In the past few months, it has become even busier. The library, like most in the Washington area, has had a rising tide of users as patrons look for free computer access, DVD loans and activities for children during the recession. Circulation in the last six months of the year rose as much as 23 percent in libraries around the region, records show.

The influx comes just as county managers are preparing budgets for the coming fiscal year in a time of huge shortfalls. Libraries, like other services, face drastic cuts that could mean reducing staff and hours or even shuttering branches.

“It’s a cruel irony that use is going up and budget cuts are occurring simultaneously,” said Jim Rettig, president of the American Library Association and a librarian at the University of Richmond. “What I think doesn’t get enough recognition is the role libraries play in the economic vitality and development of a community.”

Cultural soothsayers once thought libraries would become obsolete in the Internet age. Not so. They have modernized, digitized, virtualized.

Patrons can bring their own beverages; Arlington County hopes to add a cafe in one of its branches. They can access databases, read Chinese newspapers or the latest graphic teen novel. Users have more and more access from home; they can text in reference questions to a Fairfax County librarian, for example, or listen to podcasts. Fairfax card holders can read an e-book online. Librarians are trying to tailor services to community needs, hoping to add more babysitting certification classes in Silver Spring or résumé-writing workshops in Prince George’s County.

More than 68 percent of American adults now have a library card, the highest number since the ALA began tracking the numbers in 1990.

“One thing I hear quite frequently is ‘Gee, it’s cheaper to come here than Borders,’ ” said Nancy Savas, the library manager at Germantown. “It makes me laugh, because we’ve always been here.”

Business Brisk at Area Libraries – washingtonpost.com.

Malia Obama takes pictures during an inauguration celebration Sunday. (Credit: Jim Young/Reuters)

Looks like there’s a digital camera enthusiast moving into the White House. President Barack Obama’s oldest daughter, Malia, was busily snapping photos before the inauguration ceremony began. Her camera of choice (on this day) appeared to be a grape-colored $150 Kodak EasyShare M893.

Kodak EasyShare M893.

But that may not be the only model in her camera bag. At several pre-inaugural events Malia was seen taking photos using a silver-colored point-and-shoot. On Saturday, she snapped photos in Philadelphia, although People.com reported that she was using a loaner camera. At the Kid’s Inaugural Concert last night, she was using a similar point and shoot to photograph the Jonas Brothers.

Let’s hope she has a Flickr account.

A New Photographer in the White House – Gadgetwise Blog – NYTimes.com.

At the Robert L. Ford School in Lynn, middle schoolers wrote essays about what advice Rev. Martin Luther King would give President-elect Barack Obama. What follows are some thoughts from students about how they view the two African-American leaders, and their hopes for the new president.

King would advise Obama to strive for peace, pupils say – The Boston Globe.

I am so very proud of and honored to know Jeff Jones & the Miracles Global, Inc.  family. This exemplary grassroots non-profit organization of students sets the standard for the selfless community service that President Elect Obama often speaks of. I encourage you to join and support them in their endeavors. Please follow @miraclesglobal on Twitter & Join their Facebook Group to keep abreast of all they are doing to make this world a better place, especially for children in need.