Central City Public Library, NE: Know IT, and All IT Entails
RSSLynn Manhart, Director -- Library Journal, 02/15/2009
We (our staff) cannot take all the credit since so many players are involved. My profound thought for the day: It takes MANY to achieve success, but it only takes ONE to cause failure. So, here are my thoughts as to why our library is accredited as being successful:
Our community demands Information Technology (IT) from our library. To be successful we provide IT through Leadership, Organization and Funding, and Community Needs.
Our leadership knows IT
Our board of trustees and city officials encourage our library employees to get involved with our community. Staff members may get involved in their churches, schools, and other non-profit organizations to give a constant reminder that our library is here to help. This involvement stimulates collaborative efforts to achieve collaborative goals. Organizations thus utilize our library for their technological demands using our staff expertise. Our library continuously brings in new patrons who never thought to use the library in that capacity. Examples of success include PowerPoint presentations, slide shows, videotaped events, burned CD/DVDs, fliers, banners, bulk email notices, posting events on the internet and Public Information Channel, downloading music on MP3s, assisting with resumes, uploading/downloading items from the Internet, creating free webpages, and much more. Our library has developed a reputation for being the Hub for information and technology.
Our organization and funding support IT
Our library is well supported by the community from local funding to donations. Our yearly city budget allows us to purchase equipment and maintain our operations comfortably. We have also established a contingency fund with the city for future repairs. These funds ease the budget when an emergency arises.
We received donations to build our current facilities in 1992. The Friends of the Library then collected money to establish a trust fund to be placed into our county’s charitable foundation. These funds are used for anything other than operational costs, and cannot be absorbed into the city funds.
The Merrick County Board of Supervisors purchases Merrick County residents (those outside city limits) library cards every year. This enables all Merrick County residents to utilize our facilities at no charge. Our friends, city, and county financially support us.
Our library continuously seeks other means of financial assistance. We apply for Erate discounts, state aid, and multiple grants. Grants come from local businesses, county foundations, state foundations, library associations, and national organizations. These organizations offer financial assistance or materials to allow our library to try new and innovative programs for our residents.
Our community needs IT
Our circulation reports tell us that every month our non-printed materials receive 40-50+ percent of our circulation. Non-printed materials may include computer usage, CD, DVD, Video, cameras, TV, MMP (multi-media projector), typewriter, and cassettes. Monitoring patron usage over the past several years we have found that old or outdated computers/audio/visual items drastically effected our overall circulation. Patrons got into the habit of NOT coming in. So, we update our computers on a continuous basis. We offer high speed Internet and WiFi access. We offer a computer and MMP for check out. Our equipment can digitize microfilm, slides, photos, and forms. We aid people with downloading music onto their MP3 players. Our staff is highly trained, and eager to be challenged with technology.
Our library also hosts and maintains our Community Information Channel. Our local cable company broadcasts this channel, which also serves surrounding communities. This project brings in organizations, clubs, schools, and any other nonprofit agencies that wish to announce any events or services to our community. This channel gives the library another avenue of approach to Information Services, and offers FREE advertisement for the library.
With IT our library has become the one-stop-shop for information. —Lynn Manhart, Director
