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GREENSBORO — Raleigh musician Beaux Foy joined a group of young poets at the McGirt-Horton Branch Library in Greensboro on Monday to help kick off a statewide campaign to encourage people to sign up for a library card.

“I’m very stoked to be a part of this. I’m very honored,” said Foy, who is lead singer for the rock band Airiel Down.

“I’ve always leaned on my creativity in everything. I don’t drink. I don’t smoke. I’ve never done a drug in my life. The things that have fulfilled me are the art and the expression, and you can find those here at the library.”

At McGirt-Horton on Monday, about 30 children and parents were in attendance for the start of the State Library of North Carolina’s Smartest Card Campaign.

Pam Jaskot, consultant for the state library, said the branch was chosen for the kickoff because it was designed with the involvement of teens.

At the event, Foy talked about libraries’ importance as community centers.

“Look here, there’s career information, job resources,” he said. “If you want to go back to school, there’s college information.

“It’s for the young. It’s for kids, but it’s for those in their 30s, those who are older. If you can’t find something online, come here and get the staff to help you out.”

Later, the event turned into a poetry slam, as local students Tavish Warren, Micah Graves and Trey Gass delivered a spoken-word performance.

The three take part in a poetry group that meets twice a week at the library branch.

“I see and I think, but I wouldn’t necessarily call it brainstorming,” recited the 18-year-old Graves, who recently took part in an international poetry festival in San Francisco. “You see, my thoughts are more like Category 5 hurricanes, leaving destruction in their wake, and there are quakes with my every waking moment.”

At the end, the three poets, along with Foy and several other students who recited their poetry, autographed posters for the campaign and gave them out to the children.

Since the recession started three years ago, libraries have seen a 10 percent increase in the number of card holders.

Greensboro Public Library Director Sandy Neerman said average attendance at the city libraries is on track to surpass 10,000 in the 2011-12 fiscal year, up from about 9,000 last year.

At McGirt-Horton, monthly attendance has increased 11 percent since last year.

The increases come as local and state governments are trying to cut spending.

But Neerman said that locally, libraries have been dealing with the challenges well.

“We had lost, in the last several years, some positions,” she said. “But we have gained in active volunteers in all our branches. People are more involved.”

Contact Robert C. Lopez at 691-5091 or robert.lopez@news-record.com