BEFORE the recession, Mr Robert Cerbas did not have much time to go to the library. If he was there, it was usually because he needed a place to wait out the rain. Now, thrice a week, you can find him there.

Mr Cerbas, 36, a supervisor in a manufacturing firm, has more time on his hands now.

In January, his company implemented a shorter work week with Mondays off. Employees were also made to take two days of leave every month, and this was increased to six days last month.

So Mr Cerbas spends the extra time at the library, where he reads and uses the Internet. When we met him last week, he was flipping through a book at the Toa Payoh Community Library. Are there others like Mr Cerbas?

Figures from the National Library Board (NLB) showed an increase of nearly 10,000 visitors a month since the start of the recession last year.

More visitors

From April 2007 to March 2008, libraries here averaged 129,933 visitors per library each month. But from April to December 2008, it went up to 139,088. The figures for the first three months of this year are not yet available.

But the recession may not have caused the spike in the number of visitors.

Ms Fatimah Sulaiman, NLB's assistant director of public library services, said: "There is insufficient evidence from the data at this point to conclude that the increase is due to the current economic downturn."

There were other factors at play, such as two libraries in Yishun and Choa Chu Kang re-opening last November, she added.

She also noted that visitor numbers tend to go up in November and December because of the school holidays.

Borrowing also saw an increase in the last few months, with business books showing an increase of 1 to 5 per cent a month since last November.

More people also borrowed self-improvement books - 6 to 10 per cent in the same period.

Elsewhere in the world, US and Canadian libraries have also seen borrowing and visitor numbers rise, and experts have attributed them to the downturn.

Mr Gerry Meek, director of Calgary Public Library, told Canada's The Globe And Mail: "We're kind of a recession sanctuary."

In the second half of last year, the Toronto Public Library saw its number of visitors go up 8 per cent. Usage of materials increased 12 per cent while computer usage went up 13 per cent.

The Boston Globe reported that the Boston Public Library issued 33 per cent more library cards from last July to November, compared to the same period in 2007. Visits were up 13 per cent.

The library's president, Ms Amy Ryan, said libraries are used to seeing more visitors in bad times.

"This is when the branches can shine as a community gathering place and at a time when people are seeking answers to life improvement," she said.

A former Singaporean librarian, who declined to be named, wrote in her blog that she worked in a small community library from 2000 to 2003, when Singapore was recovering from the 1997 Asian economic crisis and had been hit by Sars.

She recalled seeing men in shirts and ties with briefcases at the library every morning. They spent the whole day there, at a time before laptops and wireless Internet were prevalent.

A fellow librarian suggested that perhaps these were people who had been retrenched but kept up a pretence that they were still employed.

She wrote: "Now, where can they go to spend their day after they have left their homes? Where else but the library - a sanctuary that is quiet, air-conditioned, comfortable, with plenty of reading materials and most importantly, it's free.

"They can hang out the whole day here and nobody will judge or disturb them."

Haven

Indeed, the library can become a refuge for some during the recession.

Mr Daniel Ng, a sales distributor in his 30s, said he now goes to the library twice a week. He had seen his income fall by 20 per cent since the downturn.

"I don't have anywhere to go. If I go elsewhere, I must spend money," he said.

Mr Victor Wong, 45, self-employed, said he goes to the library thrice a week. He used to buy cooking books, but now reads them in the library.

Previously, he visited the library only once a month.

In April, the NLB will roll out the Economic Survivor Series, a year-long series of monthly programmes to address the needs of retrenched workers and professionals, mid-career job-seekers and new graduates.

Ms Fatimah said the libraries can handle any increase in visitorship or borrowing.

"In good times or bad, libraries will continue to serve as beacons of information, knowledge and lifelong learning," said Ms Fatimah.

129,933 - Average visitorship per month in Financial Year 2007

139,088 - Average visitorship per month in Financial Year 2008

This article was first published in The New Paper.