The public we serve has come to expect certain services from us. While it is true that the public cannot be the final arbiter of which services we provide and which we do not, by definition public libraries belong to the public and are obligated to do what they can, within means and reason, to meet public expectations. The mission statement of the Nelsonville Public Library has acknowledged this for many years, by making it clear that the Board intends our library services, "to be as satisfactory as possible to all inhabitants of the county as is possible with the funds available."
The services which are expected of us can be grouped into four (4) categories: collect and distribute literature and information; provide Internet access; provide information about the Library; and serve our communities. The following discussion addresses each of these general categories of service and describes what the Library is currently doing to meet the expectations of the public we serve.
Acquiring and storing materials that provide quality entertainment and information is a basic expectation of a library. The importance of this service is emphasized by a prominent statement in the Library's Mission: “It is intended the Library will make available material for reference, for education, and for recreation in a wide variety of formats.†Many tasks must be performed to satisfy this expectation.
Collecting materials is only one aspect of making them available to the public. There must also be ways to quickly retrieve and distribute the materials to meet public demand. This requires that several more tasks be performed.
All of these tasks are described in detail in the sections below.
Selection of books for the Library collection is a very important part of what libraries do. In the case of the Nelsonville Public Library, managing the development of the collection has always been the responsibility of the Director. The Director may delegate the task of materials selection to other employees, but they should make those selections under the Director's supervision and with the understanding that the Director has ultimate responsibility for book purchases.
In practice, this service is usually performed by reading reviews from trusted sources and then ordering from a wholesaler, or by selecting materials from vendors who visit the Library. While the public assumes that "good" books will be purchased, anticipated public demand for certain titles or types of books may override negative reviews and lead to purchases based on popularity rather than quality. The Director monitors expenditures for book purchases to stay within the Library's annual budget.
Purchasing books is only one way of acquiring them. The libraries also receive many book donations from patrons. These gifts are subject to the same selection process as items which are purchased. Books that are rejected, for whatever reasons, are generally sold to the public for a nominal charge.
Note that one thing the public does not expect is that we will regularly remove books from our collection. Nevertheless, this task (called "weeding") is a very important part of our efforts to maintain a current and attractive book collection.
As information formats continue to change and develop, audio and visual formats are becoming more prevalent. This category covers a broad range of physical formats and is constantly changing, so it requires not only the selection of good "titles," but also the selection of the formats which will be most in demand by the Library's users.
As with books, the Director is charged with conducting this task, but may delegate the task to other employees under the Director's supervision and with the understanding that the Director has ultimate responsibility for purchases. Our current practice is to avoid purchasing the most popular DVDs, since these are easily available at commercial video rental businesses throughout the county and tend to be high-loss items for the Library. The Director monitors expenditures for audio-visual purchases to stay within the Library's annual budget.
The Library also receives some AV donations from patrons. These gifts are subject to the same selection process as items which are purchased.
Magazine subscriptions supplement the Library's book collection by providing printed content that is more current or more focused than information available in books.
Annual subscriptions to magazines are currently maintained by using a commercial subscription service, which for a small fee handles such issues as missing or late copies, maintaining current lists of the Library's subscriptions, and communicating with publishers. The Director consults with branch managers late every year to determine which subscriptions should be continued, discontinued, or added for the coming year, then communicates this to the subscription service. The catalogers then handle the tasks involved with receiving the magazines and adding them to our catalog.
While the tasks performed by the subscription service could be handled in-house using computer software, this would significantly increase the staff workload. In particular, communicating with publishers whenever problems arise with subscriptions would require a considerable amount of time. The Library does receive a few "gift subscriptions" to magazines that are purchased by patrons; these subscriptions are not managed by the subscription service and are generally not renewed when they expire.
As an aside, it should be noted that magazines tend to go in and out of publication more and more quickly as reading tastes and the economics of periodicals publishing become less stable. This means that managing magazine subscriptions becomes more and more time consuming, whether that task is done by a commercial service or in-house.
It should also be noted that the Library provides access to a wide variety of magazine articles in digital format -- see the following section for a description. Many print magazines also offer a digital subscription to their print subscribers, but the Library has not investigated offering these electronic subscriptions to the public.
While the Internet can be a source of a wide variety of free information, there is still a need for the kind of detailed and accurate information that comes from a commercial electronic database. The Library is currently able to provide access to many such sources of electronic information through the Ohio Public Library Information Network (OPLIN). A good example of such a database is the extensive EBSCO collection of magazine articles. Other databases are purchased by the Library itself, ranging from student homework resources to auto repair information. These database purchases are almost always made in conjunction with other libraries in Ohio under contracts negotiated by OPLIN, thus reducing the cost to each individual library.
Effective delivery of this service to the public requires that staff be well-trained in its use.
The Library serves as a repository for a wide variety of government information, ranging from voter registration materials to blueprints of planned public projects. Most visible of all these materials are the income tax forms that we collect and distribute every Spring.
While this is arguably the Library staff's least favorite service, it is nevertheless a service that provides information to the public, and thus falls within the Library's mission.
Much of this information is deposited with us automatically, while some is actively collected by the Library. Chief among this last group are tax forms and application forms for special government assistance programs, such as HEAP. Government agencies have increasingly moved toward electronic delivery of forms and information, but all libraries still maintain a collection of paper copies of the most popular forms, as well as providing computer access to digital copies of all forms and information. Obtaining sufficient numbers of paper copies and accessing digital forms can involve significant staff time, especially as tax filing deadlines approach.
For many years the Library has accepted suggestions from the public as to what materials they would like the Library to purchase. Recently the Library has taken steps to automate this process, trying to reduce the significant amount of time needed to process written purchase suggestions. The Library currently provides the public with an Internet interface for adding suggestions directly to a purchase list maintained by our primary book wholesaler. The Director periodically reviews this list and orders those items he judges to be appropriate purchases for our collection. This automated process is currently limited to books.
In practice, the public has generally found this automated system to be too cumbersome. Instead, they ask staff to place suggestions in the automated system for them, or use the "New Title Waiting List," which is really designed only to allow patrons to place reserves on items the Library would be purchasing anyway.
We still accept written purchase suggestions for audio-visual materials, but do not encourage this, since most suggestions tend to be for popular entertainment videos which we would be reviewing and purchasing anyway.
There is a need to somehow find a way to easily allow patrons to make suggestions (for all types of materials) without placing more demands on staff resources. The Library will continue to try to improve its automated system with this in mind.
In order to be good stewards of our funds, the Library takes steps to protect new materials from damage and to repair damaged items which cannot be economically replaced.
New items are covered with a plastic coating (books) or packaged in sturdy containers (audio-visual materials) by the cataloging staff before they are sent to the branch libraries.
Books with light damage are typically repaired at the branch libraries, and damaged audio-visual materials are usually returned to the catalogers. Individual missing or broken audio tapes can often be replaced for a nominal fee. Heavily damaged books can be sent to a bindery for rebinding, but the Library has not done this for many years, finding that it is usually quicker and easier to replace an item, and that rebound items are not very attractive.
Audio-visual materials are usually shelved and/or packaged in such a way as to deter theft. The Library has not gone to the expense of installing any anti-theft security systems, which would require a very large initial outlay of funds and staff time to implement.
Maintenance of all library materials requires some special training of staff.
Once materials are ordered from a vendor, they must be cataloged so information about our holdings is available to the public for retrieval. Poor cataloging makes it difficult to find materials when they are needed, so good cataloging is a basic necessity of a good library.
The Library uses standard MARC 21 catalog records. Even though the basic records are usually retrieved from a reliable source, the catalogers proof-read them carefully before use and then make any needed corrections and add locally specific information (such as a barcode number, the branch location, etc.). In a few cases, usually when dealing with audio-visual or locally produced materials, the catalogers have to create completely original MARC records. Cataloging thus requires extensive training and/or experience if it is to be done well.
Once each day, MARC records that were created during the previous work day are uploaded into the Library's computerized catalog. At the same time, the materials themselves are shipped to the branches which will be their "home" locations.
Finding library materials depends not only on good catalog records, but also on a good computer network providing Internet access to the Library's Online Public Access Catalog (OPAC).
Catalog records contain what information professionals refer to as "metadata" -- data about data. For example, a book about giraffes is a piece of data which the library owns. The catalog record contains the data about that data -- the title, the author, the subject headings, the format, the publication information, the call number, etc. -- that enable a catalog user to make an informed decision as to whether or not this particular book will fulfill their particular needs. This metadata information is delivered from the Library's catalog computer to any other computer (worldwide) which connects to our computer.
The Library has employed a full-time computer systems administrator to keep our network functioning efficiently. This task involves: configuring the routers, switches, and servers that connect all of our computers to each other and to the Internet (and keeping those configurations current); monitoring network security to prevent outside attackers from disrupting the network; maintaining and improving the Library's Integrated Library System software, the server software, and the network software; and maintaining backups of all data. The Library currently uses open source software throughout the network, which increases the Library's flexibility and decreases the cost of licensing software, but also requires a systems administrator with programming skills.
The open source software also allows the Library to tailor the appearance and configuration of the web pages that display the catalog information on a computer. The Library's webmaster is responsible for making changes and improvements to these pages to make sure the catalog is presented to the public in an efficient format.
Maintenance of individual computers generally is the responsibility of the staff at each branch. The systems administrator rarely has spare time to devote to hardware repairs.
It should be noted that the Library once offered a dedicated catalog computer with magnification capabilities in the Athens Public Library for use by patrons with visual impairments. Because the public computers the Library received from the Gates Foundation in 2000 all had large-print capabilities, this dedicated special-needs catalog was not replaced when it finally broke.
The Library has participated for many years in InterLibrary Loan agreements with other libraries. With the advent of the statewide resource sharing system (MORE) several years ago, the Library began handling borrowing of most materials from other libraries through this automated system. Our older InterLibrary Loan system should be completely discontinued by January 2006.
All circulation desk staff spend a considerable amount of time handling MORE requests. The Library has no limit on the number or types of requests which it will process for a single patron, which is in keeping with the MORE goal that "any library user can request any item from any Ohio library." Tracking requests and receiving materials from other libraries takes additional time on the part of selected staff members. Unfortunately, patrons all too often then neglect to pick up the materials they requested, so they are shipped back to the lending library without being circulated.
While the MORE system allows "unmediated" borrowing of materials from other libraries, in which the patron requests items from other libraries without any staff involvement, we follow the more common of permitting only "mediated" borrowing. This reduces the number of inter-library transactions which could actually be filled from our own collections. The Library currently does not have all the software necessary to offer unmediated borrowing, namely NCIP software, but probably will have this software before the end of 2006. Staff are reluctant, however, to allow unmediated borrowing. They believe that even more patrons will request items that they do not then pick up, increasing the staff workload on the "back end" of the process (tracking and returning such frivolous requests).
Although it is not something that the public necessarily expects of us, it should be noted that all borrowing agreements with other libraries entail lending many of our materials to other libraries.
All but seven staff members are currently involved in this task on a regular basis -- it is the core of our service.
This task does not simply involve checking materials out to patrons and checking them back in when they are returned; it also involves passing along any messages that have been attached to patrons' accounts, placing reserves on materials for patrons, renewing loans on materials previously checked out, processing payments for items that have been lost, preparing items for shipment to other libraries, and issuing library cards.
Circulation desk staff are also expected to: answer the telephones; orient new patrons to the library; handle any payments for photocopies, used book sales, etc; assist patrons with use of the OPAC or self-checkout computers; handle meeting room reservations; assist patrons with photocopy and fax machines; set up displays of library materials; and schedule use of the public computers. In most branches, they are also responsible for keeping a count of visitors to the library.
Reserving materials is an increasingly expected service. The Library allows patrons to place reserves on materials that are currently checked out by another patron. Patrons who have registered a Personal Identification Number (PIN) with the Library are able to place such reserves online, using any computer with access to the Internet. All other patrons can ask that circulation desk staff place reserves on their behalf. Patrons can request that reserved items be sent to the library branch which is most convenient for them.
Since patrons can also place reserves from home on items that are not checked out and are therefore available, branch libraries monitor a computerized "reserve list" daily, pull any such reserved items from the shelves, and hold them for the patron. Periodically the libraries print out a list of all reserved items for all branches in order to catch any oversights. Patrons are notified when reserved items are ready for pick-up; reserved items are held for three business days for pick-up, then removed from reserve and made available to all patrons.
The Library also provides a "New Title Waiting List" on its web page. This allows patrons to put their names on an "advance" reserve list for items which have not yet been published, but will probably be acquired by the Library when published. This list is monitored by staff who verify title details and then place reserves on the items when acquired.
The Director currently monitors any reserves that have gone unsatisfied for more than 60 days, and also looks for items which have more than four reserves per copy. When needed, additional library materials are ordered to correct these problems. The Director e-mails details of reserved items which are checked out and overdue to branch mangers, so they can contact the current holder of the item and request that it be returned as soon as possible.
Note that while the activities associated with this service are many and varied, almost all of them (with the exception of scheduling time in meeting rooms or on computers, or assisting with faxes or photocopies) are related in some way to the broadly defined task of "checking out materials."
In this Library, we often refer to this service as "outreach." It involves delivering library materials to people, rather than requiring that people come to the Library buildings.
The most traditional part of this service is the Bookmobile. While most people no longer use the Bookmobile, preferring instead to drive to a full-service library building, they still seem to expect to see it on the road. It is a symbol of the Library, and acts in many ways as a "mobile billboard" for the Library.
The Bookmobile is currently used for some deliveries to individuals who are permanently or temporarily "homebound," but our preference has been to use a van for this service in order to reduce wear on the Bookmobile from traveling over small roads and driveways. Interestingly, people are still surprised to learn that the Library offers this homebound service, but are usually supportive once they learn of it. (Perhaps the assumption is that some other social service agency would take care of getting books for those who cannot get out of their houses.) Note that this homebound service also extends to patrons confined to nursing homes.
Thus while people expect to see a Bookmobile traveling around the county, they generally do not use it. They also do not seem to expect the Library to make personalized visits to the homes of those who cannot get out.
There are several other unexpected outreach services which the Library currently provides:
delivery service to the Hocking Valley Community Residential Center (for juvenile delinquents);
delivery service to the Southeast Probation Treatment Alternative Correctional Facility (for adults);
providing Library of Congress "Talking Book" machines and tapes to qualifying individuals; and
providing "Reading and the Young Child" kits to area Head Start centers.
The Library does not charge fines for overdue materials, but retrieving overdue items is nonetheless important.
Currently the Library sends out about 500 overdue notices to patrons once each week. Half of those are sent by e-mail, and the other half are sent as postcards generated and mailed through the US Postal Service's "NetPost" service. Patrons with e-mail addresses and overdue items receive a notice each week, until the overdue materials are returned or are 30 days overdue. Patrons without an e-mail address receive two postcards (if necessary) during this same 30-day period. The Nelsonville Library staff receive all postcards returned with bad addresses and make the necessary corrections to our patron records.
Library staff also routinely call patrons if they notice that an item the patron has checked out is overdue and has been reserved for someone else. Branch managers may also send special letters to patrons who have a great number of items that are long overdue. Some staff make it a habit to check local pawn shops and thrift stores for Library materials; others retrieve Library materials in the course of their visits to schools. Patrons have even been known to retrieve and return Library materials that they find at yard sales or on eBay.
Once items are 30 days overdue, patrons are blocked from using library services until the items have been returned or they have paid the list price for any lost materials.
While reference service has been a mainstay of traditional library service, we have found that public demand for "traditional" reference service has decreased as Internet search engines have become more popular. This trend is also seen in students' school assignments, which often ask the student to find information from the Internet rather than a printed source. Unfortunately, many students simply come to the circulation desk and ask a staff member to find these sources. While this is certainly part of our job, it leads staff to believe that schools are not preparing students as well as they could for finding information resources. On the other hand, this gives staff an opportunity to teach methods of finding accurate information, something which studies have shown is not generally a high priority for most Internet users.
Many of the questions we now receive from the public are more aptly described as "reader's advisory" or "directional" questions -- advice on which books are good, information on where we shelve a general category of books for browsing, etc. Quite often staff who are occupied with re-shelving books are the recipients of these questions; people seem to prefer approaching staff away from the circulation desk when they have such questions.
Many other questions relate to use of our public computers, with patrons requesting help on specific computer problems, or assistance with using the OPAC.
Accordingly, the Library no longer staffs any "Reference" desks, but instead may provide an "Information" desk or simply handle questions directly from the circulation desk.
It should be noted that there is a trend toward providing shared reference and homework services over the Internet, involving either many libraries that staff the service around the clock (such as Ohio's KnowItNow service) or commercial databases.
Some of the most popular electronic databases which the Library has provided contain information useful to genealogy researchers. Because of costs for these databases, they are generally only available to patrons who come to a library building and use a library computer to access them; "remote" access from home is not available.
The Library also maintains collections of materials published by the Athens County Historical Society. The ACHS is the primary research facility in Athens County for genealogists and local historians; however, they have limited hours of operation. Maintaining collections of their published materials makes some of their information available to the public when they are closed but the libraries are open.
The Library also maintains some unique collections of local history materials. The Nelsonville Public Library (Nelsonville building) maintains an extensive local history collection that goes well beyond the materials published by the ACHS. One staff member there manages this collection, provides basic assistance to researchers, and answers the daily e-mails the Library receives requesting research assistance. The Coolville Public Library has a small photo collection of Coolville history, and the Wells Public Library has many Albany artifacts on display throughout the building. The Library also produced the Life As A Kid video series, which contains a wealth of local history information.
Some libraries have begun using genealogy research as a revenue-generating service to offset the cost of assisting researchers. This is a possibility that the Library has not yet explored.
In addition to programs for children, most libraries in our system offer informational and cultural programs for adults. These programs usually take place in the libraries' meeting rooms (though not always), and are organized and facilitated by library staff. Presenters are offered a small honorarium for providing these programs to the public. In Athens, the Friends of the Athens Public Library provide extensive support for such programming.
By offering such programming, the Library acknowledges the value of information conveyed by means other than in print, on video, or electronically. This programming also helps to establish the libraries as community centers and providers of lifelong experiential learning.
Note that the Library is also an active provider of informational programming to other libraries, with staff members presenting workshops and information sessions at conferences and meetings around the state.
In the so-called "Information Age," access to the wealth of information and communication available on the Internet is considered imperative for everyone. Discussions of the "Digital Divide," the separation of those who have access to the Internet from those who do not, generally look to public libraries as a primary solution to the problem. Increasingly, travelers and others who pass through our libraries expect to get quick and easy access to the Internet and e-mail. In order to meet these expectations, the Library must do several things, described in the following sections.
The Library currently offers approximately 50 computers that are freely available to the public for accessing the Internet and using general productivity software. Many of these were provided to the Library by the Gates Foundation in 2000 and are rapidly nearing their end of life. The Library is committed to maintaining a reasonable number of public access computers that have adequate hardware capabilities for Internet access.
As noted above (section 2.1.9), much of the burden of maintaining these computers falls on the staff of each branch library. Of necessity, most branches have staff who have learned basic computer maintenance techniques; if need be, more skilled staff is usually available at other branches to help.
One other aspect of maintaining publicly accessible computers is ensuring that nobody dominates a computer for an unreasonable length of time, preventing others from using it. The Library therefore permits patrons to reserve a computer for only one hour per day. If no one else is waiting to use a computer, a patron may continue to use a computer beyond this one hour time period, but must relinquish the computer as soon as someone else needs it. The responsibility for monitoring this policy falls on the circulation staff.
The Library currently receives access to the Internet through a T1 data line provided by OPLIN. This line connects the Nelsonville building to the Internet through a state network and is provided free of charge. Connecting all of the remaining branches to the Internet is the Library's responsibility.
Our branch connections have gone through several changes over the years, always with the goal of providing faster and more reliable connectivity. We currently connect the Athens, The Plains, and Coolville buildings to Nelsonville by way of T1 lines, ultimately accessing the Internet through the OPLIN-provided connection. The Albany and Chauncey buildings connect to the Internet by way of wireless connections through Intelliwave, and the Glouster building has a DSL connection through Sprint.
Note that there is also a considerable amount of hardware involved in maintaining all of these connections: routers at each building, Ethernet cable within each branch, hubs, switches, etc.
It is likely that more of our buildings will migrate away from the dedicated T1 connections as other alternatives become available throughout the county. The Library has applied for federal E-Rate discounts on these connections since the first year of the E-Rate program, and will continue to do so. (The Library qualifies for these discounts because it filters children's access to the Internet.) This program typically provides 60%-80% discounts on our telecommunications charges.
Since the first day that the Library provided public access to the Internet, we have made efforts to filter out materials harmful to juveniles. Our filtering solutions have changed over the years, but for the past several years we have been able to provide connections that comply with the federal Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA), meaning that all computers in all libraries are filtered, but adults may easily disable the filter on a specific computer while they are using that computer.
Since our Internet access currently comes from several different providers (see section 2.2.2), we must maintain filtering devices in every building, instead of at one central point. These devices have been configured by the systems administrator in such a way as to allow management of the devices via the network, saving considerable travel time when upgrades are needed.
Providing public computers often means that the Library is also put in the position of simultaneously providing public computer instruction. This is a new role for a librarian, but one which makes sense. When libraries only provided books, librarians were expected to know more about their books than the patrons. Now that libraries also provide computer access, we are also expected to know more about our computers than the patrons.
The Nelsonville building has a computer lab, provided by the Gates Foundation, and has hosted some formal computer training classes for the public in the past. Such training is now available from several other agencies in our county and has been discontinued by the Library. In its place, librarians find that they are often called upon to help patrons individually with specific computer problems as they arise. Depending on the "computer literacy" of the patron, such assistance can become quite time-consuming and demanding.
This is an issue of great concern to the staff. Some staff members shy away from offering such assistance, feeling that their computer skills are inadequate; this then increases the workload for staff who are confident in their skills and are willing to help, because problems routinely get referred to them. While all staff are willing and eager to have additional training in computer skills, the Library seldom can spare them from their regular duties to get training. As a result, staff try to learn from each other or take instruction in various forms on their own time.
As the general population becomes more computer literate in the future, this demand for basic computer instruction will ease, and presumably all the staff the Library hires will be very computer literate. That will not happen within the time period of this plan, however, so providing computer assistance will continue to be a problem for the Library during the next three years.
In addition to providing access to published information, the Library is also expected to communicate information about its activities and policies to the public.
Public relations, for purposes of this discussion, refers to the public's expectation that they will be informed of news and events relating to the Library. This generally takes the form of articles published in the local newspapers, but may also include appearances on local radio and television programs, announcements posted on the Library's web page, and presentations to civic organizations. Some other libraries also publish periodical newsletters -- this Library currently does not.
For the most part, the "formal" public relations services are coordinated by one staff member (part-time). All staff also provide a more informal type of public relations whenever, and wherever, they converse with patrons about the Library. It is important for staff to remember that such conversations go a long way toward shaping the public's perceptions of the Library.
Library events and policies are often communicated to patrons through posters or brochures. The Library has made efforts in the past to give such publications a consistent "look and feel" in order to convey the perception that all of our libraries are part of the same system. One staff member works part-time on such publications, and is generally able to produce all the needed brochures and some of the posters. Other posters, and the occasional specialized brochure (e.g. for the Nelsonville local history room) are produced by the branch staff.
Printing of brochures and posters is often done in-house. In cases where a significant number of copies or high-quality copies are needed, the Library typically sends the job to a local printer or copy service, often by e-mail.
The Library's public web page (http://www.athenscounty.lib.oh.us) conveys information about the Library to Internet users. While the page scores high on web page "usability" surveys, the Library is currently engaged in a major redesign of the page to make it even better. This long-range plan will affect some of the decisions that need to be made as part of this improvement process.
The web page needs to perform all of the tasks of "Public relations" and "Posters and publications." In other words, it should effectively communicate information about Library policies, news, and events as well as fostering the perception that all of our libraries are part of one system. In addition to these tasks, the web page must also function as a portal to the Library's catalog (OPAC) and electronic database resources, and must also provide a means for patrons to electronically communicate with the Library (currently e-mail). All of this is currently handled by the Library's webmaster, working part-time.
The Library currently accepts e-mail from patrons through the <nelpl@athenscounty.lib.oh.us> address. This account is closely monitored by the Director (or the Deputy Director in the Director's absence) and messages are either answered or forwarded to the appropriate staff member for action.
Local communities look upon the local public library as a community resource and a source of pride. The presence of a library in a community is a symbol of sophistication. Increasingly, however, communities expect libraries to do more than broker literature and information.
When the public thinks about libraries, they general think of two things: books and children's story hours. While childhood development may not seem to be a logical function for a library, the fact is many parents depend on libraries to introduce children to books well before they are ready to begin formal schooling.
The Library currently provides a wide variety of programming for children and families. In some branches, the programming is done by staff who are identified primarily as children's librarians (although they also perform many other duties); in others, the programming is done by "regular" staff members; and in one branch (Chauncey), no regular children's programming is currently offered.
During the summer, all libraries participate in an intensive series of programs, collectively called "Book Camp," aimed at school age children. Throughout the rest of the year, most programming is intended for pre-school children. Some libraries do host class visits for elementary school children during the school year, and some children's librarians make it a practice to do programming in the schools. Such visits provide an easier way to make contact with school age children.
For older, teenage children, several libraries offering after-school programming. These programs tend to be more informal than other children's programming, often involving lots of input from the teens themselves.
It should also be noted that our area has a significant number of home schooling families. Increasingly, parents who home school expect the public library to have resources for them: recommendations for age appropriate literature, contacts for home schooling support groups in the area, and even the occasional special program.
Staff members who provide children's programming meet regularly to discuss and plan children's services under the leadership of the Children's Services Supervisor.
As libraries become more frequently used as a place for communities to congregate, this service becomes more of a public expectation. For many years, the Library Board has made it the practice to include a meeting room whenever remodeling or building a library building; as a result, every library except Chauncey now has a meeting room. By policy, these rooms are available for use by any non-profit or civic organization, so long as they are not used for fund-raising activities. The policy also controls how often a group may use the meeting rooms.
Library staff check the meeting room reservations daily and make sure the room is arranged as needed for each group.
This is certainly not something that most people would list when thinking of what they expect from the Library. But if our library buildings are shabby and dirty, people rightly think they we have allowed their library, a public resource, to fall into disrepair.
The Library currently employs two people full-time to clean and maintain library buildings and grounds. In addition, the Library employs outside contractors for skilled maintenance and for some routine tasks (such as mowing) at some branches.
This is a service which few people would consider to be a true "library" service, but which everyone expects.
To understand why this is the case, we need to remember that historically the Library acquired fax and copy machines for transacting Library business, then began allowing the public to use these machines for personal business because they were often the only publicly-accessible fax and copy machines in a community. The result is that we now find ourselves in the fax and photocopy business. Accordingly, the Library sets the charges for copies and faxes high enough to comfortably cover our costs.
While these services are still in high demand, particularly in some small communities, we should remember that we now find ourselves buying bigger photocopy machines than needed for exclusively Library use. Patrons do need the ability to copy library materials, but most of the photocopying done by the public is related to personal items, not to library materials. Patrons have no need to fax library materials; as far as the Library is concerned, fax machines are only needed for occasional staff use.
Undeniably, however, removal of fax service or restricting photocopying to library materials would upset many people.
This is a broad category of activity, which perhaps is not really a service and probably not expected by the public. Some branch managers and staff, however, do take an active role in the civic life of their community, serving as officers in chambers of commerce or other civic organizations, or helping plan community activities.
Because the Library recognizes the value of such community networking, it has been the practice to pay the membership fees of branch managers, as well as paying for their time, whenever they are representing the Library in civic activities. The Library does not pay other staff for time spent in civic activities, nor does it pay branch managers whenever they are active in organizations for personal reasons and not as representatives of the Library.
While it is expected that public libraries serve primary and secondary school students, our Library is located in the vicinity of two institutions of higher learning, and we therefore find ourselves serving college students who are also served by an academic library.
The Library's relationship with the academic libraries has always been close, and all the library administrators involved in these relationships recognize that each library can and does provide unique services to students. Students are not faced with competing libraries, but with cooperating libraries. This cooperation has taken various forms over the years; its latest manifestation is the partnership between Hocking College Library and our Library, which allows Hocking College students to use their student ID card as their public library card.
It should also be noted that, in turn, these students often serve the Library, doing valuable volunteer work.