rural libraries readings

Service Trends in US Public Libraries: This article looked at a ten year survey of patron usage in urban and rural areas.

The thing that is easiest to see, especially in regard to rural libraries, is the increase in PCs/library visits, and the decrease in circulations. In so many ways this shows how libraries are staying vital in these changing times of technology. I also appreciated that the authors pointed out that clearly urban and rural library users have different library needs, and should be approached as such.

Changes in Rural Libraries and Librarianship: This article is a summary of a survey done with rural librarians in 2000 and 2007.

It was fairly exciting to see how many of these librarians view their role as being part of their geographic community, and helping it. I was further stoked to see that librarians found their jobs to be fulfilling and intellectually stimulating. What I found to be odd or perhaps troublesome- especially in the context of the last article- was that only 26% in 2000 and 36% in 2007 thought they needed to embrace and focus on technology. I think a lot of rural librarians are really behind the times. Just in terms of watching librarians and library workers at Bloomfield, people with no ability to even try trouble shoot technology concerns with patrons. I think that's a real problem, and while I think it's a recognized one, I think a lot of librarians who aren't keeping up with the times are clinging to their jobs- which makes sense considering that one of the biggest problems rural librarians have is that they're under paid, who's got the money to retire?

Cooperation in Rural Libraries: This article looked at one librarians experience working in rural libraries and how technology has changed it over their career.

This article has a very exciting and optimistic view of what the internet can provide for library users, and I'm not saying it's wrong. But I think it's too easy. Yes the internet does make it possible for me to find the world's knowledge, but without the right technology to connect users, and an understanding of different portals of the internet, you won't get very far. So if rural librarians aren't technology literate, don't know what basic technology needs have to be met within the library, then having an internet connection won't do much. However when thinking about rural libraries and cooperation, it brought to mind Evergreen and Indiana. I think Evergreen is pretty incredible is how it has expanded every single library's collection that has joined it. Right now there's maybe two graphic novels within Indiana Evergreen, and Bloomfeild just got it's budget redone so they'll be buying 2 graphic novels a month this year, that's 24 graphic novels that will be available to almost all of Indiana. That's pretty amazing, that one library's collection will be available to patron's all around this state.

One final note about technology in rural libraries: Out In The Country is a book by Mary Gray (an IU prof) looking at the experiences of rural queer youth in Kentucky. One major thing she looks at is the role of library's technology for these teens. Most rural communities don't have LGBT centers or even out role models, rural queer youth need the internet to find resources on queer identity and experiences. A lot of people in rural environments don't have the funds for internet in their homes (if high speed internet even reaches to their communities); so libraries really are the places that queer youth go to find out about queer is. Rural libraries need to have private spaces (even just turning the computers towards the wall) and make sure their internet filters aren't blocking out useful LGBT resources, and in a dream world they would all have useful websites and resources readily available on their website for queer youth.

Week 9 Readings

Cooperation in Rural and Remote Libraries: The Promise of Technology by Leanne Clendening

           

The article discusses the importance of the library within small communities and the revolution the internet has created within these communities.

The article was interesting with the stress the author placed on the importance of having the internet available within small communities. I did find it interesting how the author stressed that the librarian must be innovative in order to succeed in meeting the needs of the needs of the patrons and the internet was a successful tool in accomplishing this goal. The emphasis placed on partnerships not only between the library and the community, but the library with other libraries is also interesting. The fact that multiple movements are in place to enhance the library through multiple initiatives would be interesting to observe their progression and adaptation with the implementation of social networks and other internet resources.

Changes in Rural Libraries and Librarianship: A Comparative Study by Robert Flatley and Andrea Wyman

The article presents the comparative results of a survey performed on rural libraries serving a population of or fewer than 2,500.

I found the survey to be interesting in terms of the results of the demographics of people working in the library. The fact that librarians have always tended to be thought of as women is interesting. In my research class, we were discussing surveys that had been done in the past and one discussed one such instance of discovering why males were less likely to be found in such a profession. Their reasons tended to be similar to what women said, like the love of reading and working with people. The major difference though was that males tended to be branch managers or have higher positions within the library infrastructure. I’m curious to see if this will continue to be the case in the future or if the changes will occur at a more “rapid” pace in the future.

Service Trends in U.S. Public Libraries, 1997-2007 by Everett Henderson

The brief dictates the various increases and decreases for over a decade. The goal of the article is to provide a clear and better rounded understanding of where the library stood in 2007.

            I felt that this is relatable even now to what is occurring in various libraries now. I tried to apply many of the concepts that were in 2007 to the discussion the Monroe County Public Library had recently in their discussion about the state of the library. Based on many of their statistics and what was shown in the charts within the brief there was a lot of similarity. In fact, MCPL has continued to increase in all aspects of service and circulation presently. I think what this proves in a sense is that the library has been able to keep up with the constant changes and adapting to them to meet the needs of the users as much as possible. I think that if these figures continue the library will remain a presence within the communities.

Readings Journal 3/5

 Service Trends in U.S. Public Libraries, 1997-2007 by Everett Henderson

This article analyzes statistics on circulation, visitation, and information technology resources from the Public Library Survey for the years of 1997-2007.  The article separates the data into urban and nonurban libraries.

 I grew up in a rural area where we did not have access to high speed Internet until 2010.  Whenever I went home from college for the summer I had to go to the public library to use the Internet.  However, the public library nearest to me was tiny and had very few books.  As such, when I wanted books I went to the next town over, but when I wanted to use the Internet I went to the closest library.  Because of this experience, I can understand why rural libraries may have had their visitation increase from 1997-2007, but their circulation decrease.  People without Internet might go to a small library to use the Internet, but not find many materials to check out.  Another point this article brought up was that program attendance increased from 1997-2007.  The article doesn’t give a reason why, and I would be interested to find out why more people have been attending programs.

 Changes in Rural Libraries and Librarianship: A Comparative Study by Robert Flatley and Andrea Wyman

 This article discusses a 2007 repeat of a survey originally conducted 2000 of rural librarians and how they view librarianship and the future.  The article looks for similarities and differences between the two surveys.

 All of the articles this week discuss the lack of funds that rural libraries receive, but this article really goes into depth.  Librarians of rural libraries list funding as their greatest concern.  Also, because of funding, most rural libraries only have one full-time staff member who is paid an average of less than $15 an hour (This really surprised me).  As I mentioned before, I grew up in rural community and the library closest to me only had one librarian.  Because of this, it was rarely open.  It was always really frustrating to me when I wanted to go to the library on a Saturday, but the library wasn’t open on weekends.  However, I did enjoy the personal aspect of the library.  Because there was only one librarian, she knew everyone and greeted them by name.

 Cooperation in Rural and Remote Libraries: The Promise of Technology by Leanne Clendening

 In this article, Clendening discusses the importance of technology to rural libraries and how technology has helped rural libraries provide better services.

 What I find amazing about this article is how well librarians in rural libraries adapted even before the Internet.  As this article states, “small-town librarians found creative and cooperative ways of meeting the needs of their clients.”  These creative ways included pooling resources through print and CD-ROM catalogues and developing cooperative book pools to augment their collections.  Libraries seem way ahead of their time in this regard.  Rural libraries were working together to share resources long before the Internet showed up, the Internet just made it a lot easier.  One hopes that rural librarians can use this same creative thinking to help raise funds so they have enough money to keep up to date with this helpful technology.

                                                                                                Brewer, S553 for 3/6/12

Cooperation in Rural and Remote Libraries:   The Promise of Technology by Clendening

Brief article of person who seemed to provide the correct answer to an interview question and was offered this position along with accepting the position in a rural library.  The article is focused on the challenges these libraries face of geography, lack of funding and lack of resources.  The article addresses lack of resources able to be addressed by traveling to larger collection for some, others practices pooled resources and sharing their materials.  The article mentions the replacement of the card catalogue and microfilmed systems…but said it is still happening today…very slow process for some and very costly for small libraries.  The author feels today is a prime time to link with larger library systems and closes addressing partnerships and ability to utilize provincial and grassroots representation for these libraries.  Also this article in several spots mentions technology providing these rural libraries to have more of participation and a voice in the larger projects they would most likely have to forfeit if the technology were not here for them now.

Changes in Rural Libraries and Librarianship:  A comparative Survey by Flatley and Wyman

Interesting article that went through and compared a survey that was done in 2000 and again 2007, the later time using an online survey tool.  Many statistics are provided in what has stayed the same or differed between the two surveys.   One things that stood out for me was how if a library was too small, and did not have e-mail, they were not included in the 2007 survey.  Information was being sought for libraries in population of 2500 or less.  2007 results were quite close still to the 2000 version with the big change in fiscal questions concerning pay rate and the library budget.  It was interesting to go through the questions that were ask and to see the priority in which they were answered and if this answer differed from the 2000 results.  Once again it was pointed out there is an unrealistic view and image of librarians…and we have talked about this in class.  Throughout the article the common response of communities lacking funds was found.  The article pointed out most of these positions are held by females and historically underpaid with the average being $12 per hr., which is extremely low for someone who has devoted their time and learning arriving at the job with an MLS degree which also was shown as becoming more common.  And last an important focus was the new need to accept the title “Information Manager”.

Service Trends in U.S. Public Libraries, 1997-2007 by Henderson

This article starts off by introducing libraries as a “fluid service environment” due to people using the internet for everyday needs.  This article supported much of what we have been discussing and reading that people are depending on libraries for services such as unemployed benefits applications and surviving the economic culture we have at hand pointing out that even retail pretty much expects applicants to complete online instead of in person.  There is a discussion of metro vs. nonmetropolitan classification system and how it is common to use this measure in rural communities and library systems arriving where it resides is the final determination for data processing. Demands of the patron are mentioned and how rural libraries usually have less number of computers for patrons…once again as the other articles….not enough funding/resources.  The most supported theory of why there seems to be more visits of patrons, but less material checked out was again considered to be influenced by all of the services and internet attractions for the libraries.  And strongly pointed out was how the metropolitan library trend lines in the article represented the overall trend lines instead of non-metropolitan.  Interesting points of what we have studied to this point…but supported by other ways.

Week 9 Readings

Service Trends in U.S. Public Libraries, 1997-2007

This report tracks changes in service trends in US public libraries between 1997 and 2007, looking at circulation, visitation and IT statistics, separated by metro and non-metro libraries.

Looking at the way the trends in metro libraries mirrored the national library trends made the differences between metro and non-metro libraries even starker. Things like circulation per 1000 visits, or number of Internet PCs per 5000 people showed a large difference in how non-metro libraries are serving their patrons. The difference in electronic materials as part of the collection made sense to me, since circulation overall was down in non-metro libraries (although I don't know if the circ statistics included electronic materials.) In addition, if the non-metro libraries are putting more resources towards providing internet access and computers to their patrons, it is more likely that their patrons would not have the necessary technological capabilities or knowledge to take advantage of electronic materials. I thought the authors' splitting of statistics between metro and non-metro libraries was a really good idea, since it seems like metro libraries tend to skew the national trends, simply because of the population they serve. By splitting the stats, rural libraries' issues and concerns can become more visible and (hopefully) addressed.

Cooperation in Rural and Remote Libraries: The Promise of Technology
This article discusses how rural and remote libraries in Ontario have pooled their resources using technology in order to better serve their patrons.

Although recent technological developments seem to have made cooperation between rural/remote libraries easier, it was surprising to see that these libraries have had these partnerships in place even before they had access to these technologies. Things like the regional library service centers (centres?) or the North Central Regional Library System's tri-regional print catalog(ue) sound amazing, especially because of how difficult it would be to do something like that without computerization or an ILS. The opportunity for rural/remote libraries to now work with larger libraries, regardless of geographic proximity, sounds like an awesome idea, not only because patrons can receive a wider array of services, but because rural libraries can also raise their own concerns, instead of relying on statistics that may skew towards larger libraries. (See previous article)

Changes in Rural Libraries and Librarianship: A Comparative Survey

This article looks at the differences in rural libraries and librarians (where "rural" = "serving 2,500 people or less") between 2000 and 2007.

It was surprising to learn that a number of the rural libraries that would have been approached to take the survey did not have an online presence. Like the authors, I've always assumed that libraries would have taken advantage of free email services as a way to more easily connect with both patrons and other libraries. Although I understand why those libraries had to be skipped, I thought they might have provided a different view on rural librarianship. It was not surprising to learn that most librarians surveyed got into the profession because they "enjoy working with books". If only that was actually what we got to do all day.

It was also interesting to see how many more librarians felt that libraries should take part in the community economic development in 2007 than 2000, when librarians in 2000 felt very strongly that part of their role was to participate in the community as a whole. Considering the recent economic mishaps, I guess it's not that surprising that librarians would now feel they should participate in economic development, but I am curious to know why they didn't feel the same way 7 years earlier.

Week 9 Readings

Service trends in the U.S. public library

This article by Everett Henderson talks about a survey that IMLS did and the results of the survey.

Trends have changed over the past eleven (and more) years just as the survey says and libraries, for the most part have kept up with the changes. Libraries have changed to continue to be relevant to patrons in today world with so many other distractions. I think that libraries have done a very good job in trying to stay relevant in today’s world. They have embraced new technology with open arms and think how this new technology can help the patrons and the library continue to move forward.

Cooperation in Rural and Remote Libraries

This article by Leanne Clendening talks about rural libraries in Ontario.

Rural libraries have had it harder to keep up with expensive current trends. They must be more creative in finding resources to bring money to buy the items. By pooling the resources that many rural libraries had they were able to buy the expensive current trends. If I work in a rural library, I will have to get creative with my resources and how I use them whether it is with other libraries or just me and looking for outside money to help. It does help that there is an enormous amount of information on the internet.

Changes in Rural Libraries and Librarianship

This article by Robert Flatley and Andrea Wyman talks about a survey of rural libraries.

One of the questions that was interesting to look at was ‘Why have librarians historically been underpaid?’ The obvious answer is the community lacks funds but the interesting one is that historically a female-dominated profession. It seems that while mostly females work at libraries they are still undervalued to their male counter-parts, just as they would be in a corporate world. Another question that was interesting was the ‘Librarian primary complaint.’ It was interesting to see but should not be too surprising to see that low pay went up from the 2000 survey because of the slight depression that has occurred between the two surveys. It is also not surprising to see that the greatest challenge facing libraries is funding which has gone up in percentage between the two surveys. I believe that it is the biggest thing facing libraries where big or small, no library can ever have enough money to do all they would like to do. Many of the rural librarians would “encourage a young person to pursue librarianship as a career” (p. 36). It goes to show that rural librarians still think that there is a bright future for libraries. Although the core role has changed, there will always be a need for people who can connect patrons with the information that they are looking for and require.

Weekly Readings 3/6

Cooperation in Rural and Remote Libraries by Leanne Clendening

Clendening, a CEO of library services in northern Ontario, highlights the importance of technology and the internet to small and rural libraries in providing better services.

I spent about half my childhood and all of my teen years living in a town of about 14,000 people, down the road from the main location of a countywide system. The nearest library serving any population larger than this was 50+ miles. While there are towns significantly smaller than this, I could relate to what Clendening was saying to my local library. They did a good job keeping up their collection, all things considered, but a large percentage of what I read came via ILL. Thankfully Ohio has a large number of consortia, meaning this wasn't as big a deal. Whereas at MCPL, ILLs often cost so much (from what I have been told) it is actually their policy to purchase an item instead in most cases. This is where a program like Evergreen seems so beneficial, and is definitely made possible through technology. Beyond just materials, I think greater use of technology can improve almost every library service through the sharing of ideas. I especially liked her quote, "When we see an opportunity to provide service to our clients in a more cost-effective manner, or to provide new services, we seize it." However, one remaining downside, is that no amount of technology will ever provide enough money to get a well-paid librarian employed at a rural library with a tiny budget.


Changes in Rural Libraries and Librarianship by Robert Flatley & Andrea Wyman

In 2007, the authors administered an update to a 2000 survey of libraries serving fewer than 2,500 people to find out about librarian attitudes toward the internet, salaries, services, etc.

I remember discussing response rates in Evaluation of Resources and Services, and one of the first things that struck me about this article was how few librarians responded. While I know that anything in the 40% range is technically considered acceptable for e-mail surveys, I would be curious to find out more broadly if these numbers hold up. The authors also never addressed whether there was any regional bias based on that response rate. Beyond that, most of the information gleaned from the surveys made sense to me. While I worked as a reporter, Ohio threatened to severely slash library budgets, so I did several articles about what that would mean. As I said before, I lived in a countywide library system, but there was also a tiny independent district in a town of about 600 people, and I know their situation reflected this article. Their director was part-time, with no MLS, though they also had another part-time employee who ran the desk while the director did the small number of programs. I did find it interesting that this article made no mention of Friends groups, which I know this particular library formed as a result of the budget cuts and relied heavily upon. While it is also encouraging to see that the number of rural librarians at least with a bachelor's has risen, I can't help but wonder if these aren't the people most in need of formal MLS training. After all, they have to do the most with the least amount of resources, which means they need to be keenly aware of as many resources as possible and don't have other staff to brainstorm with.


Service Trends in U.S. Public Libraries by Everett Henderson

The author discusses the results of a 2007 survey of metro and rural public libraries compared to previous data, concluding that libraries are generally meeting new demands but that rural libraries are not always showing similar results.

In an ideal world, a rural library would be able to increase circulation per capita and buy more electronic materials. These are certainly admirable goals that should be aimed for and creative ways developed to attain them, but there is also a reality that a rural district is only going to have space and money enough to do so much. The services that these smaller locations provide are still invaluable to their patrons (not that I think anyone would argue otherwise), but it is also a different kind of service that they need. If these libraries are adequately meeting the community needs, why should we push them to become more like their urban counterparts? One thing I wish the article had done was define "electronic materials" better. I assumed that this included anything electronic (books, databases, newspapers, etc.), and was not surprised that rural libraries really lack in this area. Access costs to things like OverDrive and databases can exceed the entire budgets of some libraries. I know we learned in Collection Development that this is often aggregated depending on the service population, but without access to a consortial agreement, this still wouldn't be low enough. Plus, as libraries in general shift more toward electronic information, the price will increase, leaving smaller libraries even farther behind.