They're open to the public, full of thousands of books and it doesn't cost a dime to check them out.
"It's just a phenomenon that is across the entire country at this point. Library use is up just about every place across the country," Siouxland Library Director Sally Felix said.
The Siouxland Libraries in Minnehaha County are no exception. Last month. the library system in Sioux Falls saw a 12 percent increase in the amount of items checked out.
"I was a little surprised the numbers are that high but also delighted," Felix said.
The economy could be one reason for the increase. Matthew McKenney tries to make it to the library three times a week to do research on how to land a better job. "Tough economic times, I think free information is a great thing to have," McKenney said.
Raul Meza stops by the library almost every day to page through books before he decides to buy them.
"Before you go spending $20, $30, $40 on a book, let's take a look at it and the library if they don't have it in stock they'll get it for you. So, I really appreciate that service," Meza said.
But people aren't just using the library as a free source of information. They're also using it to escape the everyday worries of the economy.
"We've also had customers tell us, particularly as the stock market kept going down and down and down, saying I'm in here to escape I want something really fun to read or something fun to watch and I don't want to think about the economy and all the things with the economy and the things that are going on," Felix said.
The free source of entertainment and information may be the reason more people reading during this recession.
The Siouxland Libraries also say it saw a nine percent increase in the number of items checked out at its rural libraries last month.
