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Friday, December 01, 2006
State Library prepares to shift efforts
By Kate Turnbow
Capital Journal
PIERRE - Thursday was busy for those at the South Dakota State Library as it was the last day the library would send out large-print titles to nursing homes and other public libraries.
This is just one of many changes being implemented at the state library in an effort to redirect its focus from a public library to one that services public libraries across the state.
As of Jan. 1, 2007, a state library card will continue to allow users to access online resources at home and at the library but will not allow them to check out print books.
The exception to this rule will be for those who have a visual impairment and are registered through the federal government to access the library's braille and talking book collection.
"When we announced the changes being made at the library, we had a few people call who thought the Braille and talking books collection wouldn't be available and they were relieved to find out that those services will remain the same," said Dorothy Liegl, state librarian.
While this change won't take place until January, the library has stopped purchasing fiction and general non-fiction titles not fitting with the collections it will carry in the future.
According to Liegl, those who visit the state library at the end of its transition process will find just a portion of the printed collection the library currently has.
Mainly the collection will consist of materials on South Dakota, the upper Midwest and Native American tribes, in addition to a collection designed to support the research needs of state government.
In conjunction with its goal of providing services and support to public libraries across the state, Liegl said the state library will also have expensive materials needed by public libraries but not generally accessible to them.
Liegl also explained, "Our doors will continue to be open, we're not going to lock the doors and keep people out.
"People will be able to do research on site, but they won't be able to check the materials out."
The library is now in the process of dispersing most of its collection to libraries across the state, and Liegl said that the response from other libraries has been "pretty much positive."
As far as response from library patrons, she said, "We've actually received less phone calls and letters than I expected that we would get, but understandably some people in the remote areas of the state are concerned about where they will get their services, and we are trying to find libraries willing to serve them by mail as we have in the past."
While mail services were provided at no cost to remote residents, Liegl said nothing has been finalized in the process of finding other libraries to take over those services.
"When you live 65 or 70 miles from a library, you usually get library services by mail, and in the future, because we're sometimes dealing with a smaller library in these cases, I'm not sure how that service will be delivered," Liegl explained.
With these types of services being cut, one service that will be improved is the library's electronic online resources.
"When we originally did the study that recommended these changes, it was done because the circulation of materials in the state library was declining and the demand for electronic online resources was increasing," Liegl said. "So we had to look at how we deliver our services and place more emphasis on electronic resources."
And for those local residents displaced by the state library's changes, Liegl said, "Residents will need to go to Rawlins, and for those who have never used Rawlins, they'll be surprised to find that there are more resources there than they had expected."
