Libraries, residents not on same page, study finds

(Correction: Because of an editing error, a Page One story about Boston's public library system on Saturday misstated when the original building for the library's Copley Square headquarters was completed. It was completed in 1895.)

The Boston Public Library system is underperforming most big city library systems, even though it has a bigger budget, more staff, and more books per capita than most, according to a study performed for the city.

Of 77 large public library systems across the country, Boston's ranked 59th for the number of times books or other materials were checked out per capita, according to data from the report, compiled by Wellspring Consulting of Boston. While most other libraries were showing steady growth in circulation, Boston was flat, and had slightly more than half the average circulation rate of the other big city systems.

In a survey of Boston residents contained in the report, fewer than half said they use a library at least twice a year. Nearly a third said they would not use the library at all.

Preliminary findings of the report, commissioned by Mayor Thomas M. Menino and Boston Public Library's board of trustees to help determine the need for changes to the system, were presented to city officials this week. A final report, with recommendations, is due later.

The results hit hard in a city that has long coveted a tradition of erudition and boasted innovation in its library system; Boston says it is the first large library to loan books for free, the first to open branches, and the first to have a space specifically for children. Its historic Copley Square headquarters was hailed at its 1985 completion as a ''palace for the people," and Menino has spent liberally on library branches, proclaiming that ''libraries strengthen our neighborhoods, and neighborhoods are the strength of our city."

''Boston is a great library city and we are in this situation? It doesn't make sense," said City Councilor Paul Scapicchio of East Boston. ''We're a center of education and culture and have the first public library in the country. We've got to get people thinking about reading again and make it exciting."

Menino and library officials declined to comment yesterday.

A city watchdog said the report suggests that Boston must consider consolidating and closing some of the city's 27 branches.

''The city of Boston has always prided itself on its library system," said Samuel R. Tyler, president of the Boston Municipal Research Bureau, a business-funded group. ''This is a knowledge-based economy and access to libraries and its resources are important in the city. Having said that, this raises questions as to whether, in certain areas of the city, there could be consolidation of branches and whether it makes sense to build additional branches."

The city has plans for a new branch in Mattapan, and a combined school and city branch library at Burke High School in Dorchester.

The consultants compared Boston's circulation, defined as the instances in which items were checked out from the library, budget, staffing, and number of facilities with other major cities. They interviewed staff, current users, and national library specialists, and organized 10 focus groups to discuss Boston's libraries, according to city officials who spoke on the condition that they not be identified.

The report said Boston has more books per resident than any of the 77 large library systems looked at, more branches per resident than all but three, and a higher budget per resident than all but two. This year, Boston's libraries are operating with $26.7 million in city funds and $11.4 million from other sources including state aid, library trust funds, and donations. The system has 660 employees, including 144 part-time workers. Yet circulation has been stagnant, at a little more than 2 million.

Some may not use the libraries because officials do a poor job promoting the libraries, the report found.

Fewer than half of the people surveyed said they were aware they could request books over the Internet or renew books by phone or online. About a quarter of the 306 respondents said they were aware that the libraries offer free wireless Internet.

''Advertise the amount of things that are going on," said a member of one focus group. ''I thought it's just people reading books."

Focus groups also said the libraries are difficult to navigate and that some staffers are ''unhelpful, unfriendly, and off-putting." They also said they thought libraries should display their offerings more like bookstores, with bestsellers and recent releases prominently displayed.

And city libraries are not always open when people want to use them, the report found. More than half of the respondents said they would like libraries to be open on Sunday afternoons. Branch libraries are closed on Sundays.

Respondents also said they would like to be able to use libraries on weekday nights. Few city libraries are open past 6 p.m. A third of the respondents said they would like to visit libraries as late as 10 p.m. on weeknights; no city library is open after 8 p.m.

Don Haber, cochairman of the Friends of the Jamaica Plain Branch Library, said usage of the nearly 100-year-old facility is good, but could be much better.

''If our branch were renovated and made attractive and had more programming, circulation would increase dramatically," he said.

City Councilor John Tobin, whose district houses the popular West Roxbury branch, said he thinks Bostonians don't visit libraries because they're tied to their computers.

''You have less people patronizing libraries because of the Internet," he asserted. ''I would argue that we probably have more households connected to the Internet than other cities."

Andrea Estes can be reached at estes@globe.com.