Libraries Shelve Old Image

The movie was about to begin. The kids had settled into their seats, the pizza was ordered.

Rita Buckley stood at the front of the multipurpose room, adjusting the sound of "Independence Day" on the big-screen TV. "Loud enough?" she asked the group.

"Louder!" they said.

"Louder?" she asked again. "LOUDER!" they called back.

That's enough, she decided. "This is a library after all," the librarian said, with mock concern.

But all night long, nobody said "shhh."

Across the country, the public library is shaking off its dusty image as a hushed and intimidating place. With programs ranging from pajama parties with hot chocolate and story-telling to Friday night videos--such as the recent "Independence Day" screening at the Platt Branch of the Los Angeles Public Library in Woodland Hills--libraries are redefining their role in the lives of youngsters.

"We entice kids who might not otherwise know about the library," said Mary Somerville, president of the American Library Assn. and director of the Miami-Dade Public Library System. "We really have to market our services."

The library's less stodgy persona is no overnight metamorphosis. Pressed into action by competition from TV and personal computers, libraries have long been moving in the direction of the creative.

Now the trend is accelerating, pushed by twin concerns: the need to rescue reading as a habit by American youngsters, and libraries' recognition that their future hinges on a reassertion of their role as a center of community.

Today's marketing-minded librarians are trying to show that the worlds of recreation, education and information can intersect at their doors.

And in neighborhoods where recreational outlets are few, libraries are filling a bigger void than ever.

"The library is often the one place where kids feel secure and where they can dream," Somerville said. "It's a wonderful oasis for them. Libraries are often, in the lives of many children, the only place where they have access to a computer."

Or someone who can read them a story.

In recent years, libraries have stepped up the number of special reading programs offered to their youngest patrons. In 1989, 29% of public libraries surveyed by the National Center for Education Statistics offered group programs for infants through 2-year-olds. Now, 40% provide programs for this age group.