Some might find it a little strange to go from reorganizing city government to discussing a library system, but it’s not. A public library is one of a handful of business-like services offered to the public, one of the few places people have interaction with the government in a non-heuristic, service oriented manner. Also in a perfect system it is a primary support service for public education as well as overall education of a locale’s citizenry.
The Old Library Model
The old fashioned and standard public Library model is the Public Lending model in which they have books, most of which you can borrow for later use. Recently the Roanoke City Public Library has tried to bolster its offerings with some really limited searchable online archives. This is a simple model; people come and get books and blah blah.
But in large part, they don’t. I believe whole heartedly that the majority of people in any locale and in Roanoke City never set foot in the library unless forced to for some reason. In Roanoke City the buildings are antiquated, as are the services offered. In our modern world Library’s need to and have caught up, yet Roanoke City’s is a piece of crap. It’s good if all you want are hard copies of books but with the breadth of services that they could be offered, the current libraries are a waste of possibilities.
Aside from infrastructure changes the libraries in Roanoke City need new and renovated buildings: The main branch downtown needs to be moved, its current site demolished and destroyed, it needs a more accessible area with better parking. The other branches, as far as I have seen, need to only be completely renovated but there is no need for them to be moved, as far as I can see.
However, other things do need to be altered.
My Library Model
The Roanoke City Library System requires a ton of overhaul, so here mostly I focus on technological integration as a mode of improving and expanding the services the library offers.
In a world that is becoming more based on the net and its differing parts and services it makes sense to have a central place where the public has free access to such technology. This helps to even the technology gap within the City, and yes there is a huge one.
An initial step that is so fundamental that it cannot be the first is to alter the Roanoke City Library Card membership. In this you either create a second card in addition to the Roanoke Valley library card that is only accepted at Roanoke City, or the whole Roanoke Valley System changes. This creates one card per resident who is assigned an ID number to access new features, this isn’t the old throwaway type of card of the past this is a card you have to have on you no matter what if you want to do anything in the new Roanoke Library.
The first step in bridging this gap is the creation of computer labs within the libraries. The larger branches would have multiple labs, the Main Branch would have three labs each with 15 computers, smaller branches would have anywhere from 10-20 computers. Access to these labs would be restricted to residents of Roanoke City only, the rooms would be locked and could only be opened with a Roanoke City Library code when slide through the card reader on the door. These would be basic PC’s with one Mac per room, all would be on a central network, and of course could be restricted and monitored by the Technicians/Librarians.
The second step is establishing a more meaningful online presence. This includes creating an online library of e-books that can be rented out and then expire after a set period of time, yes the technology exists to do this and also there are services that the library could subscribe to in order to offer the service. It also includes subscribing to services like Lexus Nexus, Jstor, FACTIVA, and other such data bases/article indexes/archives that you can buy subscriptions to (sometimes you can buy bundles of these services to save money). Also making all of these services that allow it accessible from the net at home, access via your new Roanoke Library Card ID number.
Also, each lab would have two laser jet printers and one scanner. And how would you pay for it? With your card, it would all be electronic, there would be no coins to put in, and instead you’d have to make sure you put money on the card at the front desk.
Revamp the Website to display all web-accessible items up front, a FAQ section of how to do everything, and just simply making it more manageable. For an example of how much better a Library Website can be, compare Roanoke City’s Library Website to Radford University’s Library Website.
Other Changes
-Dissolve the current library board and replace it with a Board of Five Trustees. Two would be required to be currently working in/for the library system, one would be appointed by the Mayor, one would be appointed by the city council, and the fifth and leader of the Board of Trustees would be the City’s Technology Officer, an elected office, who’s duties on this board are the least of what they do, and whose creation I will detail in a later article on City-wide technological integration and management.
-Use more volunteers; it wouldn’t take much to get High Schoolers looking to flesh out their bios for college applications. Just don’t use older people, I don’t care how un-PC this is but old people (65+) typically suck with computers as well often don’t do as well in dynamic atmospheres. You could also create an internship to utilized college students at home; everything from Education to Business to Computer majors could find reason to intern at the new library.
-Longer hours, currently the hours. Why change the hours? As it stand the hours are hard to keep in mind, differing more than they need to. My hours give the people less hours to remember, making it more accessible. These hours would be nearly the same at all branches, however at one or two the hours probably should/would be scaled down.
Conclusion
I know that all of this would take millions to do, making it necessary for it not only to be a governmental endeavor but also a citywide thing. It would take fund raisers and donations, applications for grants and all that jazz. Change is slow and hard, but it’s worth it to help improve an important service for the city.
© 2006 A.T.L.