The Bookmobile Revisited

Paulding County Carnegie Library
Bookmobile
Established 2011

We  have just completed the first summer of Bookmobile service to Paulding County. Actually, Paulding County enjoyed mobile library service decades ago -- a service provided by the State Library of Ohio, for a fee. But now, our library has its own Bookmobile.

After a tour month in June, the Bookmobile began a weekly schedule. Although the bookmobile would experience generator and a few mechanical hick-ups, the month was successful. Over 700 items were borrowed and over 50 patrons received new library cards.

At the end of August, we have seen over 1000 items borrowed and about 100 new cards issued. Our true measure of success was not the number of items borrowed, but the number of residents applying for  new library cards.

In September, we still have issues with the generator, but have begun a modified school schedule, serving the communities of Mandale, Grover Hill, Melrose, Broughton, Scott, Haviland, Latty, Briceton, Charloe, Five-Span, Junction, Cecil and assisted living facilities of Country Inn, Dallas Lamb and The Gardens. The Bookmobile has also begun periodic visits to area pre-schools.

As this new service evolves and grow, we appreciate the fact that we have begun a rather "old fashioned" type of delivery service in the midst of still evolving and adopting library services. On the Bookmobile, patrons can borrow everything from books to PlayAways and through the library website, access electronic books, video and music.

The children's song, "The Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round" is the tune we sing... and the wheels will continue to bring the Bookmobile round and round to your neck of the woods in Paulding County. Happy Reading!

9/11/11 -- Ten Years Later

Just a short note of remembrance.

Ten years ago -- to the date, we were being visited by a technology expert of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Ten years ago, over 20 computers were being installed throughout our library system. Ten years ago, 11 computers were being installed in one of Ohio's 13 training labs funded by the Gates Foundation.

Ten years ago, our library embarked on a new service of computer training and providing public access to online information. Ten years ago, patrons saw first-hand, how their public library was evolving into a true information center. Ten years ago, the spirit of our nation and her quest to be on the leading edge of technology, had filtered to our rural county.

No amount of hatred, no amount of discourse, no amount of fear, will prevent us from being strong and loving America. We continue to live in the greatest nation on earth. Our libraries will continue to grow and adopt new services to meet the needs of generations of citizens. As long as a breath remains in our land, our spirit of freedom and love of our God, will sustain us forever.

May God continue to shed His grace on our beloved nation, our state, our county and our libraries.

eBooks -- The Latest Container

It has been a wild ride in the profession of librarianship -- especially in the past thirty years. We have adapted to new technologies and formats of delivering information.

Linda Braun, a speaker at the Rural Library Conference held in Frisco, Texas in 2011, referred to the formats as "containers", and in a sense, the term fits.

At the Paulding County Carnegie Library, where the first "container" or book was borrowed in 1916, a book about agriculture, the formats in which we have delivered information has kept up with times. We  have seen vinyl long-play albums (LPs), 8-track tapes, cassettes, compact disks, movies on VHS, movies on DVD, books recorded on cassette, books recorded on compact disks, books recorded on PlayAways, and now; books, music and video delivered electronically and downloadable on an electronic "reader" device.

It has been said, or predicted, that the book is dead, that the written page bound between two covers, will no longer be viable or wanted in a society of gadgets, gizmos, electronics, bandwidth, and technological advancements. Perhaps there will come a time where a microchip need only be embedded on the body, and the simple "thought"  of a book or information will then be downloaded onto this microchip. Who knows what the future will hold? Those who served as librarians in the past could certainly never have predicted what the "container" would look like in the year 2011. After centuries of information being delivered via the printed page, now we are bombarded with changing technologies and information delivery methods that are evolving and changing on almost a yearly basis.

Although the Paulding County Carnegie Library has kept up with the times, and although the latest "container" in which to deliver information is "electronic", the foundation of the library -- as long as I am director -- will always be books. There will always be a need for the contact with the traditional format of information, books -- which followed the first mode of delivery of information -- the oral word. I pray that the day never comes when ironically, the oral word will be the only way to remember a quaint format called "a book".

Visit your historic Carnegie library in Paulding. See where it all started. Sit back among the thousands of books, close your eyes and imagine. Imagine the years gone by, the dizzying speed at which our lives have been transformed by technology. Then, open your eyes, reach out for a book, open the covers, and read.

New Year Ponderings

At the beginning of any new year, we have the tendency to look forward and plan for new projects. We try to set goals, which in turn provides us with a road-map - so to speak - of where we want to go. In 2011, the Paulding County Carnegie Library system will continue to improve services to all citizens of the county. Our major undertaking will be the implementation of full bookmobile service. In addition, we hope to complete a remodelling of the children's room at the Antwerp Branch library as well as improvements to both the Cooper and Payne branches.

Technically speaking, our collection will grow with the inclusion of electronic books, or e-books. The path we will take is still being mapped out, but the result will be the same. Those patrons who are now using new e-readers, such as Barnes and Noble's Nook, will be able to download e-books from the library's website for free.

Other changes will be new security safeguards implemented to help insure our youngest patrons have a good online experience by helping protect them from some of the unsavory aspects of the online world.

We will be providing computer classes for patrons with no computer experience as well as patrons who want to improve their online research skills. We will be providing classes for our new databases so that patrons can utilize the library's resources in a meaningful way.

This new year, 2011, will find the library moving in a direction that will be exciting and provide new dimensions of library service for all patrons. We hope you'll enjoy the ride!

Best to you in 2011 and Happy Reading!