By Victoria Hurley-Schubert, Staff Writer
As economic times have tightened, people have been forced to look elsewhere for resources such as books, music and movies. This means a boon for the local library, which has seen dramatic increases in usage over the past year.
The Princeton Public Library’s annual report was delivered to Borough Council on Tuesday night.
”The library is something we can all be proud of and a reflection of our community,” said Councilwoman Jenny Crumiller. “The towns’ values show.”
The biggest goal of the past year for Leslie Burger, library director, was raising $10 million for an endowment. “It’s a pretty extraordinary thing to stand before you and say we accomplished that,” she said.
To keep costs down, vacancies were not filled and retiring staff were not replaced. The library was able to maintain a 72-hour service week with six days closed due to inclement weather, which was a factor in some of the numbers because people had less days to come, said Ms. Burger. “You can’t borrow if the library isn’t open to borrow.”
Year-end numbers were impressive:
789,000 people entered to visit from January to December.
33,000 people have library cards, which is more than the town population. This is a 1 percent increase from 2009. Complimentary cards are given to teachers and non-residents can buy memberships.
513,000 items checked out last year, a 9 percent decrease from 2009, which is directly related to the inclement weather closing. This means some 2,000 items would have been checked out each of the six days the library was closed.
90,000 reference questions answered last year.
900 items were requested and delivered through the library by mail program where materials are sent to people who are homebound or those who can’t get to the library during normal business hours. Volunteers also bring books to people’s homes as a social visit in addition to the materials being delivered.
1,870 volunteer hours were given, which is equivalent to a full-time employee. This figure does not include the Friends of the Library, a membership organization.
ESL attendance had a 54 percent increase to more than 2,200, a 54 percent increase from 2009.
There was a 27 percent increase in Springboard, the after-school tutoring programs, with 1,788 tutoring sessions over the course of the school year and summer support.
$90,000 in income from used books with the Friends of the Library’s ongoing and annual book sale.
A third book drop was added at the Dinky station. Ms. Burger would like to put a book dispensary at the station for commuters and people who can’t get to the library during regular hours.
Ms. Burger reviewed some of the services the library provides such as space for SCORE counselors, resume writing workshops and more.
”There’s always something going on, it’s the busiest place in town,” said Mayor Mildred Trotman.
Technology is also changing the way the library serves its patrons.
”The biggest challenge for us, even though our budget is stagnant, is we are now buying in different formats,” she said. “Now we have to buy in downloadable content.”
Clearly, patrons are turning to the library for digital content. Last year 5,000 audio books were downloaded from the library’s website, a 50 percent increase from the 3,300 downloads in 2009.
One downloadable service the library has had much success with is Freegal Music, a subscription-based music download service that has Sony’s 500,000-title catalog. Individual songs can be downloaded by patrons, with 6,969 songs downloaded since the subscription started in on May 4, 2010.
”I suspect at this time next year, I’ll be standing before you saying we no longer buy CD’s,” Ms. Burger said.
Electronic book devices, such as Kindle, Nook and iPad, are a challenge. “Publishers have not been willing to sit with libraries to figure out how we can provide e-book content,” she said. “They like when you sit there with your Kindle or iPad and press the buy button.”
Technology is also changing the way the library hosts its collection of books and reference material. “The reference collection as we all knew it growing up is going away and well be able to reclaim that space,” she said.
Another boon for the library is the space available for the public to rent, such as the community room. “The need for social space outside the home where people can meet and socialize is really, really important to this community,” she said. “I could double the space and have it all rented every day.”
The library is also considering putting cell phone antennas on the roof. “You can get paid a lot of money for that,” said Ms. Burger.
Working at a library in a community like Princeton is extraordinary, she said. “I feel like we’re changing their lives every day,” she said.
”It’s a library, but it’s more than that, it’s a community resource,” said Councilwoman Barbara Trelstad.
Ms. Burger was named Community Leader of the Year by the Princeton Regional Chamber of Commerce in 2010.

