Swipe your card, and the library stays open after closing

The Wyoming, Minnesota branch of the East Central Regional Library now lets cardholders in after staff have gone home, part of a growing effort to keep rural libraries useful when their hours are shrinking. Users swipe a library card to unlock the doors, sign a form, and sit through a short presentation covering the defibrillator and emergency exits. So far, 55 people have registered and used the building more than 800 times this year. Usage has grown 66 percent since April. For Ryan Stigile, a local pastor, the appeal is simple. The town has no coffee shops. "It's this or McDonald's," he said while working on his laptop in the evening. Michael Sayen, who was finishing a novel the day after Labor Day, uses it to file court documents and cool off on hot afternoons. Similar programs run from Utah to western Washington. Staffed hours have not been cut. The building just stays open later, for anyone with a card.