There’s not too much lending during a credit crunch

stellt eine aktuelle AP-Meldung zutreffend fest, um gleich darauf eine naheliegende Ausnahme aus dem Hut des Wortspiels hervorzuzaubern:

- except maybe at the library.

Und so kann man Folgendes erfahren:

Public library officials in Ontario say they saw a 7 percent uptick in the number of visitors during the last fiscal year, which ended July 30. They also say the number of books, movies and tapes loaned out rose 8 percent.

Der Buchhandel wird es nicht gern lesen:

Ontario’s Associate Public Library Director Gloria Freel says people are more likely to borrow books than buy them when saddled with high gasoline prices.

und sollte schon einmal überlegen, wie er die späten 1920er, frühen 1930er Jahre überstanden hat:

That’s pretty typical in tough economic times. In an oral history interview recorded in 1974, former Ontario librarian Alberta Schaefer said she remembered a jump in circulation during the Great Depression.