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February 25, 2009

Millville Library inundated

nj.com

Wednesday, February 25, 2009
By JASON LADAY
jladay@sjnewsco.com
MILLVILLE - The more residents cut back on their personal spending in a weakened economy, the more they come to rely on municipal services that may had previously been taken for granted.

At least that's what Irene Percelli, the relatively new director at the Millville Public Library, says.

It seems she's right.

Between October 2007 and December 2008, the public library here has acted as a kind of barometer for the state of the economy for all those who knew where to look.

According to Percelli, computer use at the library has jumped 523 percent from late 2007 to two months ago, as people turned to its free public Internet access to seek jobs.

"There's been an enormous jump in demand for our services lately, and it's taking a lot of staff time and energy to meet all of this demand," said Percelli, who signed on as director at the library in May of last year.

"People realize they can apply online for jobs; the elderly come in more since they learned they can save on postage through e-mail.

"In times of economic stress, people go back to their libraries."

The Millville Public Library, located on Buck Street, is also seeing up to 60 to 70 people per day taking advantage of its on-site GED classes.

"They know they can't get jobs without that kind of education, and they're all just coming in, taking the classes," added the director. But can the current facility support the skyrocketing foot traffic?

There are leaks in the roof, and limited shelf space has meant the building is no longer able to accomodate newer releases.

"For every new book we bring in, we have to take another one away," said Percelli. "Currently, we are at a point of no return.

"We either have to fix what we have or go to something new because we don't have the space to deliver all the services people are expecting of us."

To help answer that question - whether to renovate, move or reorganize - library officials have begun organizing focus group meetings and have announced a public "town meeting" for Thursday, at 6 p.m., to provide residents an outlet to explain what they want their library to be.

The focus groups - there have been three so far, as of Tuesday - have solicited the ideas of city educators, library volunteers and fundraisers, as well as area business and civic leaders.

However, Thursday's town meeting, to be held at the library, is aimed at the opinions of average residents.

"It's to help generate support for the library, but also to help determine what our priorities should be," said Percelli.

As part of what library officials are calling their "strategic planning process," they have also hired a consultant to help them map out their future.

"This is not just about what we're going to be doing tomorrow or next month," added the director. "This is looking toward developing a plan for today and 20 years from now."

Posted by tumulty at February 25, 2009 6:25 PM

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