Crenshaw County’s libraries are bustling places, according to library officials.

Luverne Public Library Director Kathryn Tomlin said in the month of June some 4,010 people came through the doors.

“We had a door counter, and some of those are repeats,” she said. “But we average more than 2,000 per month.”

The abundance of people are checking out large some 30,000 items such as DVDs and books and using computers each year.

Down the road, Brantley Public Library Director Davina Mount said her library average about 263 patrons per month.

“Computer usage for a normal month is about 50,” she said. “Our patrons check out an average of 450 books per month.”

Both Tomlin and Mount said they see a mixture of ages come through the door.

“During the summer we have some children who spend the day,” Tomlin said. “Then we average about three person who use the computers for job-related purposes.”

Mount said her patrons are about 50-50 between adults and children.

“The adults mostly have a slight advantage,” she said. “We do lack in the teen department. We have two or three who check out books. We hope to bump that number up this year.”

Mount said most of the computer usage is job applications and some utilize the computers for schoolwork.

“We’re seen an increase in that area since the economy has been down, actually a huge increase,” she said.

Both libraries are following the nation trend on computer usage for job-related searches.

According to the American Library Association, libraries offer resources often unavailable elsewhere during an economic “recovery” that finds about 12 million Americans unemployed and millions more underemployed.

“Three-fourths of public libraries offer software and other resources to help patrons create resumes and employment materials, and library staff helps patrons complete online job applications.

“With most businesses moving to online applications, we help a lot of people fill out job applications,” Mount said. “The days of hand-delivered resumes and applications are practically a thing of the past. You can’t even apply for a job at a fast food restaurant without going online.”