Libraries launch apps to sync with iPod generation

Associated Press

GRANDVIEW HEIGHTS, Ohio

Libraries are tweeting, texting and launching smart-phone apps as they try to keep up with the biblio-techs — a computer-savvy class of people who consider card catalogs as vintage as typewriters. And they seem to be pulling it off.

Since libraries started rebranding themselves for the iPod generation, thousands of music geeks have downloaded free songs from library websites. And with many more bookworms waiting months to check out wireless reading devices, libraries are shrugging off the notion that the Internet shelved them alongside dusty books.

“People tend to have this antiquated vision of libraries, like there’s not much more inside than books and microfiche,” says Hiller Goodspeed, a 22-year-old graphic designer in Orlando, Fla., who uses the Orange County Library System’s iPhone app to discover foreign films.

The latest national data from the Institute of Museum and Library Services show that library visits and circulation climbed nearly 20 percent from 1999 to 2008.

Since then, experts say, technology has continued to drive in-person visits, circulation and usage.

Public-library systems have provided free Internet access and lent movies and music for years. They have a good track record of syncing up with past technological advances, from vinyl to VHS.

“They’ve always had competition,” says Roger Levien, a strategy consultant in Stamford, Conn., who also serves as an American Library Association fellow. “Bookstores have existed in the past. I’m sure they will find ways to adapt.”

Now, the digital sphere is expanding: 82 percent of the nation’s more than 16,000 public libraries have Wi-Fi — up from 37 percent four years ago, according to the American Library Association.

Since the recession hit, more people are turning to libraries to surf the Web and try out digital gadgets.

A growing number of libraries are launching mobile websites and smart-phone applications, says Jason Griffey, author of “Mobile Technology and Libraries.”

Online services point to technology as a cheaper means to boost circulation.

The Cuyahoga County Public Library near Cleveland laid off 41 employees and cut back on hours after its budget shrank by $10 million. But it still maintains a Twitter account and texts patrons when items are about to become overdue.