Deseret Morning News, Monday, February 06, 2006 Provo library is best seller Circulation jumped after move to Academy Square

By Tad Walch Deseret Morning News

PROVO — Know somebody who fought to save Academy Square? How about someone who voted for the bond that paid for its restoration and conversion into the Provo city library?

Well, next time you see that person, give him or her a big hug for Provo Mayor Lewis Billings.

Four years after it opened, the $24 million Provo City Library at Academy Square has fueled a major increase in the number of items checked out each year. And based on one statistic, it appears Provo residents use the library twice as much as the national average.

"What do we owe this to?" library director Gene Nelson said. "I think the building draws people. We have a better layout and more shelving, so the books are more approachable. It looks really sharp, and users can find things faster."

Provo's library circulation exceeded 1 million items in a year for the first time in 2000, the year before the city closed shop at 425 W. Center and moved the library to Academy Square. Circulation is expected to pass 1.5 million this year.

That would mean that after a five-year period of slow growth before the move, circulation will have skyrocketed roughly 50 percent in the five years after the move.

"We haven't seen Provo's population jump 50 percent," Nelson said. "It's been just a few thousand."

And that's what has Billings feeling warm and fuzzy.

"Those responsible for (Academy Square), we should all give them a big hug and a kiss," Billings said. "It's another indication of the heart and soul of this city."

The new site was first constructed in 1892 as part of Brigham Young Academy, which later became Brigham Young University. BYU sold the property in 1975 and the buildings fell into disrepair. Then-Mayor George Stewart wanted them torn down.

Most of the buildings were demolished after voters approved a $16.8 million bond to convert the site into a new library in 1997, but the property's main building was preserved. Donors raised the other $6 million to pay for the project.

Now, Provo residents check out 13.5 books per person each year, about double the national average of 6.8, according to the American Library Association.

Orem's public library also has a healthy circulation, steady at about 1.3 million items per year, library director Louise Wallace said. Orem library users check out 17.5 books per person each year.

"Whenever I hear statistics that high I know those are libraries that are buying the right things," said Leslie Burger, president-elect of the American Library Association.

"People going there are finding things they want to read or listen to or view. I think it's terrific they're reading that much. That trend, reflected in many libraries around the country, is contrary to the speculation that people aren't reading any more because people supposedly are spending so much time on computers and surfing the Web."

Burger is also the director of the Princeton Public Library in New Jersey, and she said that at 13.5 books per person, "Provo's beating Princeton."

Provo and Orem employ electronic media — Internet access, music CDs and movies — to lure potential readers.

"We draw them in to get DVDs and then get them to read," Provo support services manager Carla Zollinger said.

Nelson said his goal is to boost the number of Provo library cardholders from 77,000 to beyond 100,000.

"I'd like to see everyone in Provo have a library card," he said. Provo has more than 112,000 residents.

Circulation in both Provo and Orem is driven in some measure by people from neighboring cities with small libraries. About 3,700 homes outside of Orem have cards to the city's library, Orem Mayor Jerry Washburn said.

The cities have a reciprocal agreement that allows residents in one city to have a card for the other city's library, so if one doesn't have an item, users can try the other. Orem's library is well-known for its collection of movies.

Both libraries also see heavy use by children. About 55 percent of Provo's circulation is generated in the children's department, Nelson said.

There was some controversy about moving the library at such a high cost. The property tax bond passed 58 percent to 42 percent in February 1997, with opponents worried about the amount of interest, which is significant.

When the $16.8 million bond is paid off in 2014, Provoans will have paid an additional $7.95 million in interest, city finance director John Borget said.

The Center Street site was open for just eight years before the bond election and a dozen years before the move. It has served a mishmash of purposes and is now being converted into a performing arts theater at a cost of about $7 million — without a property tax increase.