From shipment to the shelves at the library

Thursday, January 28, 2010

GREENCASTLE -- Books and other materials found on the shelves at the Putnam County Public Library have a lengthy process to make it there.

"I think of our department as the caretakers of the collection," said Pat Newman, head of technical services at the library, during her presentation to board members Wednesday.

Processing new materials is the bulk of the department's work. Pat and three part-time employees enter a minimum of 500 items per month into the system.

Aside from getting the new materials on the shelves for patrons to start checking out, the department repairs damaged items, including the use of a disc-cleaning machine to renew its DVDs and CDs.

"The machine paid for itself in the first year," Newman said. "It's pretty amazing how clean the machine makes the discs."

In addition to the typical duties of the technical service department, the group of four will cover public desks, and Newman acts as the system's administrator.

"We spend about 30 hours per month filling in at the public desks," Newman added.

She talked about the various ways books can be cataloged and how numbers are assigned to collections. PCPL strives to keep a well-maintained and organized collection for easy browsing by its patrons.

"I think we have a great collection," Newman said.

Following Newman's presentation, the board voted to purchase four new servers related to its Polaris system. The system memory upgrade is valuable to the staff and patrons.

Board president Becky Phillips asked if the money for the $24,000 replacement cost had been budgeted, to which PCPL director Alice Greenburg said, "Yes."

In other business:

* A counter has been installed at the two public entrances of the library. The counting began last week, said Greenburg. The numbers will be reported to the state library.

* The Food for Fines program was a great success, reported Greenburg. There were 416 items collected, which doubled the 213 items collected during the program in June 2009.

* PCPL had a decrease in circulation numbers for 2009, but the use of the library is growing.

Greenburg said patrons are utilizing the Internet and processing lab.

"Interlibrary loans are up a lot," she said.

* During the December board meeting, the resolution for employee compensation in 2010 was approved by a unanimous vote. The strategic plan was also unanimously approved along with the resolution to transfer funds within the library operating fund.

In addition, the board voted to move $20,000 from the operating fund to the rainy day fund.

"The rainy day fund is the most accessible and it could be used for about anything," said board member Ken Heeke.

* Board members signed an agreement keeping Mark Hammer as the library's accountant.

* Hammer told the board approximately 5 percent of the library's 2009 budget was unspent and the library no longer has any bond payments.

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  • the library deserves the credit along which is in essence its fabric i encourage all citizens to take advantage

    -- Posted by 5catsondrugs on Mon, Feb 1, 2010, at 11:50 AM
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