It’s a hot, humid summer afternoon, a time when local libraries used to be languid sanctuaries of quiet and solitude. But no more. Today’s local libraries in the summer are more like accountants’ offices at tax time. Elementary schoolchildren are coming in by the droves to record the books they’ve just finished for the summer-reading program. Teenagers are working on the computers or signing up for video-game tournaments. And parents, already looking as if the summer has gone on too long, are finding respite in comfy chairs, looking through stacks for a good read or taking a moment to plan the next activity in their never-ending summer challenge to entertain the children.“It’s truly amazing the number of people coming in,” said Alice Knapp, director of public services for the Ferguson Library here. “It used to be back 20 years ago, circulation in the hot, hazy days was slow. We’d circulate 2,000 books a day. Now, systemwide we are circulating between 3,500 and 4,000. We are getting complaints that the library is too loud, which we love because it means we are well used.”
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