With all the doom and gloom we hear these days about how nobody ever picks up a book anymore, it’s heartening to see that our local library is not closing, not cutting back n but expanding.
We would like to extend a hearty welcome to the new Frenchtown Library, which celebrated its grand opening last week. The library in Frenchtown is actually an extension of the Missoula Public Library n the third branch, in fact, with the other two located in Seeley Lake and Swan Valley.
In fact, it seems to us that this great amount of information is part of the reason why n even in our digital age, with so much information a mouse click or two away n libraries continue to play an important role in our lives. And why more and more people are finding reason to visit their local library.
The nation’s public libraries saw 1.4 billion visits at last count, according to the Institute of Museum and Library Services. That’s not counting private or academic libraries, by the way.
That works out to about 5 library visits per capita. Compare that to 10 years earlier, when the nation’s libraries logged less than 982 million visits, or about 4 per capita.
In Montana, we have 79 public libraries, and together they saw more than 3.6 million visits in fiscal year 2005, the most recent year for which data are available through the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
Part of the reason for the rising number of visits nationwide probably has to do with increasing popularity of the reference desk. After all, with so much more information to wade through, we need expert advice to help us sort the good information from the bad.
As anyone who’s visited a library recently knows, there’s so much more than books to peruse. There are also maps, music and movies, not to mention computers with Internet access. Libraries have to keep up the most current methods of accessing information if they’re going to remain useful tools.
The Missoula Public Library appears to be ahead of the curve. It offers a variety of “traditional” programs, including children’s activities, but it also hosts some cutting-edge events as well, such as a monthly game day for teens. As they rock out to “Guitar Hero” or play other games, the library staff gets to know these teens a little better n and find out the latest in information trends.
Did you know the Missoula Public Library has a MySpace page? It’s listed as a 100-year-old female; single, in case you were wondering.
It counts 746 friends through the site.
Only 746? Come on, now. We know our library has more friends than that. In fact, according to the library’s own fact sheet, it has 473,000. That’s how many people visited the brick-and-mortar building at last count.
And now, its friends out in Frenchtown area won’t have to travel as far to visit.
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