With checkouts of materials from the Acton Public Library up more than half in one year, Director Jan Crozier thinks its may be a sign of tough economic times.

"We have had a 53 percent increase in check-outs just from August 2008 to August 2009, from 17,152 items to 19,331 items," said Crozier. "And in 2008, we averaged 50 computer users a day, but now we're running 90 a day."

And that's not the only indicator. Classified advertising sections this spring were torn out of the library's newspapers each day, leading Crozier to remove these sections and store them behind the circulation counter. Users must now ask for and sign out the classified advertising sections at the circulation desk.

Recognizing the ongoing job search needs of many patrons, the library also recently started subscribing to JobNow, a database developed and maintained by the state library.

"Nationally, library usage goes up during a recession," said Acton Library Board Chairman Walter Hirsch.

Crozier's statistics confirm this trend is also true for Old Saybrook.

"In 2008, we averaged about 30 to 35 people using various services in the building at a time. This summer, we averaged 50 people," said Crozier.

Families also spent more time staying at the library this summer rather than just checking out books and then returning home.

The higher usage has meant Crozier has had to step in and help the two circulation desk employees by serving as a third

person at busy times.

"I have never been as overwhelmed with a backlog of work as I am now," said Crozier, whose own work is left undone when she works the main desk.

One trend Crozier noted as soon as the recession began was that more men appeared to be using the library. As a result, over the past six to eight months, she adjusted her book purchases to substantially increase her purchase of non-fiction books on topics that the male readers tend to prefer: history and military history, airplanes, current events, biographies, and, more recently, how-to books on repairing and fixing things yourself. In one example, Crozier said there have been many more requests recently for books about how to repair older cars.

"In 2008, we had six, three-foot-long shelves of new books on display. Now we have 12 shelves of new books to meet the broader demands of non-fiction readers," said Crozier.

Some other improvements and updates are planned for this fall. A $4,000 donation from the Friends of the Acton Library will be used to buy the library more DVDs and audio books. Another donation of $9,000 from the friends will retrofit existing shelving with DVD display drawers and sleeves that will improve patrons' ability to browse the library's DVD collection. Another planned improvement will replace 11 aging computers in the computer area with new ones. And later this month, the library's children's room will get a facelift with fresh paint.

Clearly, if the results of the recent library survey are indicative, residents and patrons value the facilities and services offered by Acton Public Library and its staff. Hundreds of patrons voluntarily offered their comments over the three-month period the survey forms were available.

"We were impressed with the many positive comments by library patrons and by the hundreds of surveys returned. It was very enlightening," said Hirsch.

Hirsch said the board would be studying the survey results in the next month to identify what changes, if any, the survey results suggest the board should implement.