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Internet boosts library use Mail Tribune / Bob Pennell Mary Hulstrom, 18, sends e-mail from a 15-minute express computer station at the Jackson County library in Medford. Hulstrom lives in Ruch but stops by before or after work most days to send e-mails and keep in touch with friends who've left the Rogue Valley. Librarians say the introduction of such Web-wired computers has increased public library use. By DANI DODGE Mary Hulstrom's glittery eye shadow sparkles in the light of a glowing computer screen as she e-mails a Portland friend from the Medford library. "I used to come here all the time to read books, but now I come for the Internet," the 18-year-old Ruch teen said. "I found out the 'Blue Book' price on my car when I sold it and then I got a good price for it." Workstations The Jackson County Public libraries have about 80 public workstations in 15 branches. About half are limited to the library catalog and magazine and newspaper services. The other 40 are used by the public to access the Internet. Depending on the branch and public demand, there are a combination of "express" Internet workstations, which patrons may use without an appointment for about 15 minutes at a time, and workstations which patrons may reserve for a half hour or 1 hour per day. Number of public workstations by branch: Applegate - 2 Ashland - 13 Butte Falls - 2 Central Point - 4 Eagle Point - 4 Gold Hill - 3 Jacksonville - 3 Medford - 21 Phoenix - 4 Prospect - 1 Rogue River - 10 Ruch - 3 Shady Cove - 4 Talent - 4 White City - 4 As Hulstrom chatted with friends, a homeless man checked his e-mail two terminals down. Other people surfed the Web. An hour later, the terminals were still full with a man looking for a better job, a woman writing her legislator, and a 26-year-old Missouri man e-mailing the girl he met in Vancouver, Wash., the day before. "It's pretty much busy around the clock," said Christine Perkins, a Medford reference librarian. "It's a really powerful information resource ... and it's a good fit with the library, a place where you go for information. "It also rounds out the library as a community meeting place." Not only has the Internet boosted visits to libraries locally, but it also has pumped up visitation to libraries statewide. "I hear lots of speculation that the Internet is killing public libraries," said State Librarian Jim Scheppke. "In fact, the Internet probably has a lot to do with the fact that libraries grew 8.9 percent in 1999-2000 (fiscal year), the highest growth in a decade." Oregonians borrowed 34.8 million books and other materials in the 1999-2000 fiscal year. That's more than double the number of check-outs in 1985. The state ranks third nationwide in check-outs per capita, according to 1998 data from the National Center for Educational Studies. "We know that about a third of Oregonians do not have Internet connections and many of them are coming to the library to get online," Scheppke said. "When they do, they bring family members and they check out books and audiovisual materials as well." The Jackson County library system started with just a few Internet connections at the main branch five years ago. Now there is public Internet access at every library in the county. And while the Internet has drawn more people to local libraries, it also has caused previously unheard of traffic jams as people try to get on. Sometimes it can be difficult for librarians to play computer time cop and teach first-timers how to surf the Net, as they work to answer reference questions, but the rewards far outweigh the frustrations, librarians said. "We've had people come in for the first time just to use the Internet," said Tish Manley, a library assistant in the Rogue River branch. "Sometimes they come in and look around and say this is pretty neat and start checking out books. "All in all, I think it's been good for the library." And most of the time, everyone is civil about their cyberspace, said Ashland reference librarian Amy Blossom "If there are people waiting, then we make an announcement that people are waiting," Blossom said. "Then people move on." Hulstrom, the 18-year-old Ruch teen e-mailing from the Medford library Monday, said she had to wait a half hour before getting a turn on the terminal at 11:30 a.m. She usually drops by on her way to or from her job at Dairy Queen, she said. "I come in here at least two times a week," Hulstrom said. "I usually wait 15 minutes to a half hour. Today I waited a half hour." But for Hulstrom the wait is worth it. Over the years more than a dozen of her closest friends have moved from the Rogue Valley. But because the public library has Internet access, she hasn't had to lose touch. "It's easier to e-mail than snail mail," she said with a grin. Reach reporter Dani Dodge at 776-4471, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.