When the going gets tough, the tough go to the library where the books, movies and internet are free and the information empowers.

During these tumultuous economic times, libraries are experiencing an influx in use, according to local news reports. In urban and rural enclaves alike, people are turning to their local public libraries for support.

“When the public’s buying power shrinks and household expenses grow, people tend to rely more on their public libraries for free reading materials and services like literacy programs and computer training,” says Michael Borges, executive director of the New York Library Association.

“The other day, one of our members from a Capital Region public library e-mailed me a story about two young women in their twenties who renewed their library cards because money was too tight to go to a book store. We see people flocking back to our libraries,” Borges adds.

Indeed, the library is the Ellis Island of ideas and research. Information on everything from an abacus, an antiquated calculator, to Zoroastrianism, an ancient Iranian religion, is cataloged between its four walls.

In fact, most libraries are so endowed with information, the only thing one might not find while visiting their local library is a librarian from an underrepresented minority group.

In a 2006 study, titled “Diversity Counts,” the American Library Association (ALA) found that 90 percent of professional librarians in 2000 were White. Only 8 percent of librarians that year were Black. Hispanics composed 3.2 percent of librarians.

The issue of underrepresentation is particularly acute for Black males. Black men compose less 1 percent of credentialed librarians.

“What was showed [in this report] was that this [the librarianship] is mostly a White profession, mostly a female profession and aging profession,” says Jim Rettig, president of the American Library Association. “A lot of retirements are on the horizon. As society becomes much more diverse, it becomes that much more important to recruit a more diverse work force. We’re in stiff competition with a lot of other profession, and we don’t pay as well as some of those other professions.”