Times Are Tough, and Libraries Are Thriving
By JOSEPH BERGER
Nytimes.com
TEANECK
SHIRA WEISS, a 34-year-old publicist, showed up one day with her two children at the Teaneck Public Library for the first time in years after her husband had gently inquired why she needed to spend so much on books.
She applied for a new library card and — after taking out two chick-lit novels, an illustrated “Star Wars” book for her 5-year-old, Jake, and two animal books for her 2-year-old, Ben — she instinctively pulled out her wallet to pay.
“I guess it will take an adjustment period until I realize that some of the best things in life are indeed free,” she said.
Ms. Weiss’s cheerfully erratic return to her local library illustrates a surprising upside to the economic downturn: Libraries are booming.
Indeed, the bad news on the economy is good news for libraries across the New York region, so long as they can escape the budget ax that is falling on many municipal services as cities and towns struggle with declining revenue.
People are flocking to libraries after forsaking Barnes & Noble or ditching their HBO service and subscriptions to Netflix, library officials said, because libraries’ books, DVDs and CDs have a significant advantage: They are free.
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