MORE PATRONS CHECKING OUT CAPE'S LIBRARY

Library users are checking out items from the Cape Girardeau Public Library at a much faster clip than last year, a year when library usage fell.

Longtime users like Martha Bender are excited by what Bender said is a marked increase in the number of people she sees in the library when she visits.

Last year, patrons took out 1,000 to 1,200 items a month, said Phyliis Jackson, the library's administrative assistant. This year, patrons are taking items out at a rate of 1,500 to 1,600 a month, she said.

"Our circulation of videos has really gone up," Jackson said, adding that all other categories have increased as well.

The library keeps its statistics on a fiscal year -- July 1 to June 30. In the fiscal year that ended last June 30, the number of items checked out actually fell.

Betty Martin, the library's adult services coordinator, said that could be due to the opening of Barnes & Noble Booksellers. "In other places when big bookstores came in, it affected a library's circulation," Martin said.

Martin said that this year, library patrons are more aware of video and audio tapes. She's noticed more truck drivers and salesmen checking out books on tape to listen to when they are driving. The library doesn't keep separate statistics for books on tape and books on paper, she said.

At least a few teen-agers have found that they can hang out at the library after school. The library provides the Hirsch Meeting Room as a teen center from 3 to 5 p.m. weekdays. They can watch videos, play games or surf the Internet and make as much noise as they want there.

Paul Hagler is one patron whose said his library use is up from last year. The Schultz School seventh-grader spent part of Wednesday on the Internet at a library terminal.

"I get in chat rooms and just talk to people about music, what they like to listen to."

Hagler said he checks out fantasy books and uses the library for help with school work.

On Wednesday, Chad Williams, an eighth-grader at Central Junior High School, played Sorry in the Hirsch Room after school with his buddy Josh Foeste. "I come here just about every day," Williams said. "I like using the internet terminals. When the teen center isn't open I come here and read books."

The Jackson Library reports increased usage as well, said Sally Pierce, library director.

Geoffrey Roth, director of the Riverside Regional Library said he hasn't noticed any increases. Users there are still adjusting to the new policy of charging for overdue books and fees for those who live outside the library's taxing district.