Nearly five million North Carolinians are card-carrying library users, and their use of libraries is up sharply, according to a report from the State Library.

Growth in materials being checked out, customer visits, and especially Internet use at libraries continues a trend.

"Some counties report as much as a 45 percent increase in computer use since the holidays, compared to last year," said Pam Jaskot, library consultant at the State Library.

People seeking jobs, filling out applications, and exploring educational opportunities are joining students doing research at the computer terminals.

Public librarians are busier than ever, assisting customers with Internet searching and directing individuals to accurate resources for their information needs, a news release said.

Jazz musician Branford Marsalis, the spokesman for the State Library's current campaign for The Smartest Card, said, "One of the first things I did when I moved to North Carolina six years ago was to get my library card."

In North Carolina, 55 percent of the state population own a library card, and in the last fiscal year, more than 37 million residents visited their library, the news release said.

The national figure for library card holders is 68 percent of adults in the United States, the greatest number since the American Library Association began collecting this data in 1990.

The State Library is a division of the Department of Cultural Resources