18
in other words
may11
2010
On The Shelves: What’s Happening at the Vernonia Library
By Nancy Burch
A citizen recently asked the rea-
son for Vernonia’s library not having a
procedure for obtaining materials by In-
terlibrary Loan. I was caught off guard
by the question because it has been ad-
dressed over the years, but evidently
not recently, so even though the bottom
line involves $$$$, the historical back-
ground concerning the situation might
be in order at this time. The Oregon
State Library originally served as a “big
brother” to areas with limited library ser-
vices by providing materials and refer-
ence service including “traveling librar-
ies” (groups of books that traveled from
one library to another). They became
sort of a clearing-house for interlibrary
loans allowing libraries to make written
requests for materials from any library
in the United States and filling those
requests. Shortly after I was hired in
1988, the State Library gave libraries the
opportunity to receive computers with
which they could make requests for ma-
terials from other libraries. This was a
rather interesting process because at that
time the library had no telephone line of
its own and, of course, we in Vernonia
were just being introduced to Internet--
dial-up Internet, only. The other inter-
esting fact for that year was that since
we had not previously budgeted for a
phone line which cost $500.00 a year,
our book budget was reduced by that
amount ($500.00), making it $1,000.00
for the year. (It was quite a scramble to
find books-- many of them used paper-
backs to provide reading material for the
public that year.)
In 1991, the roles and mission of
the State Library were re-examined. Be-
cause most libraries in Oregon had be-
come part of some kind of co-operative
or district within which they could ex-
change materials, the State Library made
the decision to de-emphasize backup
services to local libraries and end service
to the unserved. When the librarians of
Columbia County heard that the state
would no longer be facilitating loans to
libraries after July 1, 1993, we met to try
to find an alternative way to provide this
service to our patrons. A possible solu-
tion centered on having one library join
a Northwest database with all five librar-
ies sharing the expense, with the pa-
trons making these requests paying the
telecommunication and postage costs
involved. This did not happen when it
was determined that this cost would be
prohibitive to our library patrons.
At that time, none of the county
libraries had been automated and it was
determined that this would be absolutely
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necessary before any sharing of materi-
als county-wide could be considered. A
grant to automate all five libraries was
prepared with the Longview Public Li-
brary agreeing to use their resources to
greatly supplement the combined hold-
ings of Columbia County libraries.
This grant was not approved. During
this time, we also met with Washington
County regarding sharing their library
resources and though they were willing,
the bottom line was that “we would not
be able to afford it.”
A feasibility study took place in 2004
and 2005 to determine the possibility of
Clatsop and Columbia Counties form-
ing a two-county district. At that time,
we had just completed our new library
and were the only facility with the State-
recommended square footage for our
community. When this study was pre-
sented to Vernonia’s City Council, they
and the public voiced concerns ranging
from loss of local control, loss of local
private collections, loss of tax dollars to
the City’s general fund, the makeup of a
district board, the cost to property own-
ers, and fear that Vernonia dollars would
end up elsewhere. The bottom line to
this extensive and expensive study was
that the communities involved said, “No
thanks!”
So, here we are!! Each library
in Columbia County has now automated
its collections, but with different soft-
ware. Scappoose and Clatskanie have
library districts that correspond to their
school districts, while Rainier, St. Hel-
ens and Vernonia have city libraries and
charge user fees to out-of-town patrons.
Most libraries will loan materials to an-
other library if a request is made for an
item in their collection. This involves
postage fees, at the very least. When
patrons make requests here in Vernonia,
the significance of adding that particular
item to our collection is evaluated and
if it is determined that the likelihood of
other patrons also wanting that item is
high, and if budget permits, that item is
purchased and added to our collection.
If a request is made for something very
expensive or so obscure that the chance
of anyone else ever using that particular
item is miniscule, it probably will not
be purchased. We do the very best we
can to fill patrons’ requests within the
yearly budget constraints. Be sure and
ask. We’ll do the best we can to fill your
request and if a way for our library to
efficiently and economically participate
in interlibrary loan is found, we will cer-
tainly offer it to our patrons.
Upcoming library events for May
2010 are as follows:
Saturday, May 22 at 2:00 P.M.-- Movie
Matinee with Curious George II: Fol-
low that Monkey to be shown.
Monday, May 24 at 5:30 P.M.-- Book
Discussion with The Guernsey Literary
and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary
Ann Shaffer being the topic for the eve-
ning.
Thursday, May 27 at 6:30 P.M.-- Mature
Movie Night with The Bucket List star-
ring Jack Nicholson and Morgan Free-
man to be shown.
Ballots for Oregon’s Primary Election
may be dropped at the library until 8:00
P.M., Tuesday, May 18-- any time the li-
brary is open, from 12-8 P.M. on May
18.
(Individual & Small Business)
N
VER ONIA, OR
Something To Think About
Edi Sheldon
503-429-1819
LTC#29629-C
edisheldon@gmail.com
503.429.0850
503.816.2265
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hate. Hate brings misery to hu manity so the wise man knows
no hatred. ~ Buddha
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