It’s not your grandma’s library

by Susan Mikula Campbell
Grand Island Dispatch, April 27, 2007

National Library Week – celebrated on Grand Island last week – was an occasion to see just how far libraries have come in the computer era. If you haven’t visited your local library recently, now would be a great time to stop in and see what’s new.

It’s not your grandmother’s or even your parents’ library anymore. It’s not the sleepy little library you visited as a kid. The books, newspapers and magazines are still there, but so are things like CDs, DVDs, books on tape, computers with Internet access, and, in many cases, programs and services that go far beyond the traditional story hour.

The old-fashioned cabinet – bristling with index cards listing books available – is gone, replaced by an efficient, computerized card catalog, which not only lists items at your library, but those available in other libraries participating in the library system. Patrons can go online from home and order books for pickup at any library in the system. Some libraries also have wireless access, so patrons can bring their own laptops from home.

Technology is Key

Libraries, like the rest of us, have adapted to the computer age, but will they still be needed and survive in the future? Absolutely, say local librarians.

“Right now, I think the key word is technology,” said Lynn Konovitz, director of the Grand Island Memorial Library.

Libraries don’t buy sets of encyclopedias any more or keep old magazines, although they still do all the things they used to do, just in a different way, he said.

“It used to be if we didn’t have particular information, we’d send people downtown (Buffalo). People would look at you like you were sending them to Siberia,” he said.

This problem no longer exists, now that information is available at the click of a computer key. This has caused a scramble for libraries, especially smaller libraries, to increase the number of computers they have available.

The Sanborn-Pekin Free Library, for example, is one of the smaller libraries in the NIOGA system in Niagara County; it only has two computers with Internet access for the public.

“Somehow we have to find room in the budget for more computers,” said Sallie Ditzel, library director.

Internet has Changed Libraries

Libraries, however, aren’t sitting back waiting for the future to make them obsolete.

“The staff of the Lewiston Public Library has realized it is very apparent that the Internet has changed, forever, the way library services would be provided,” said Ron Shaw, director. “Citizens and funding sources have seriously questioned the continued need for public libraries.” He pointed to a new genealogy room, which opens this month at the Lewiston library. An official grand opening celebration is planned for June 4 to allow for staff training.

Libraries also have to review or create services to support area institutions, businesses, community service organization and all levels of education, he said. Lewiston’s plans, for example, include providing services for all ages, experiences in fine arts and humanities, developing a regularly scheduled program on community issues, expanding cultural horizons, and personalizing information to patron needs. These plans include everything from developing collaborations and Web sites with local arts organizations to establishing visiting author series for both children and adults.

Books of all kinds are being “read” in all different ways, including the page, the cassette, the CD and now, MP3 players. Libraries continue to make changes, often with the help of the library system to which they belong.

Grand Island Memorial patrons now have the ability to go online and download audio books to their computers. Information on system wide changes is available at www.buffalolib.org, Konovitz said.

Despite changes in technology and increase of services, some things about libraries may never change.

“I still enjoy sitting with a book in my hands and not looking at a computer screen,” said Ditzel. “Print books are still enjoyed here.”

“Right now, I think the key word is technology,” said Lynn Konovitz, director of the Grand Island Memorial Library.

Libraries don’t buy sets of encyclopedias any more or keep old magazines, although they still do all the things they used to do, just in a different way, he said.

“It used to be if we didn’t have particular information, we’d send people downtown (Buffalo). People would look at you like you were sending them to Siberia,” he said.

This problem no longer exists, now that information is available at the click of a computer key. This has caused a scramble for libraries, especially smaller libraries, to increase the number of computers they have available.

The Sanborn-Pekin Free Library, for example, is one of the smaller libraries in the NIOGA system in Niagara County; it only has two computers with Internet access for the public.

“Somehow we have to find room in the budget for more computers,” said Sallie Ditzel, library director.

Internet has Changed Libraries

Libraries, however, aren’t sitting back waiting for the future to make them obsolete.

“The staff of the Lewiston Public Library has realized it is very apparent that the Internet has changed, forever, the way library services would be provided,” said Ron Shaw, director. “Citizens and funding sources have seriously questioned the continued need for public libraries.” He pointed to a new genealogy room, which opens this month at the Lewiston Library. An official grand opening celebration is planned for June 4 to allow for staff training.

Libraries also have to review or create services to support area institutions, businesses, community service organizations and all levels of education, he said. Lewiston’s plans, for example, include providing services for all ages, experiences in the fine arts and humanities, developing a regularly scheduled program on community issues, expanding cultural horizons, and personalizing information to patron needs. These plans include everything from developing collaborations and Web sites with local arts organizations to establishing visiting author series for both children and adults.

Books of all kinds are being “read” in all different ways, including the page, the cassette, the CD and now, MP3 players. Libraries continue to make changes, often with the help of the library system to which they belong.

Grand Island Memorial patrons now have the ability to go online and download audio books to their computers. Information on system wide changes is available at www.buffalolib.org, Konovitz said.

Despite changes in technology and increase of services, some things about libraries may never change.

“I still enjoy sitting with a book in my hands and not looking at a computer screen,” Ditzel said. “Print books are still enjoyed here.”

Kids pop-up for library fun

by Karen Keefe
photos by Nathan Keefe

Alex Whetham, 9, and Caitlin Watt, 6, show their pop-up books while a fellow
student works on hers at a program at the Grand Island Memorial Library.

The librarian wasn’t saying “Sh-h-h” last Saturday at Grand Island Memorial Library. On the contrary, youngsters were encouraged to express themselves, both verbally and creatively in a very special program.

To observe National Library Week, the Grand Island Library held a Pop-up Book program, in connection with the Explore & More A Children’s Museum at 300 Gleed Ave., in East Aurora.

Geared for kindergarten through fifth-graders, the program was funded by the Friends of the Grand Island Memorial Library. About two-dozen youngsters showed up for instruction by museum staffer Mike Kelly. They filled five tables in the library’s community room, working diligently on three projects.

Children’s Librarian Anne Slater, program assistant Marilyn Smith and Janet Kelly handed out blue and green construction paper and precut images of the sun and clouds for the first project, a “Think Spring” greeting card. “I do all the programs,” Smith said. “It’s a lark.” The youngsters went to town and made cards with their own unique, creative touches.

You could hear a pin drop at first, as the children began working, but the noise level built up, matching the increasing complexity of the projects.

There was the inevitable stray comment, “He took my scissors.” But for the most part, it was youngsters discovering their own way to express themselves.

Kelly, demonstrating the second project, advised: “This is a little bit trickier.” He explained how to fold corners down and make a little book that opens to reveal the mouth of a dragon, a bird, a frog – or even a monster, as one boy chose for his subject.

“This is where it gets tough – most adults can’t even do this. It takes a lot of concentration,” Kelly told them. The kids proved their concentration was up to the task, as a gleeful “I got it!” could be heard at various tables around the room.

It was a bright, sunny day outside, but the kids were loving it inside the library. Thomas Smith, 7, a student at Fricano Elementary School in Pendleton, came with his grandmother, Island resident Barbara Fildes. She explained that her grandson even gave up the first day of his floor hockey spring season to work on the pop-up project. “I had checked with my daughter, and she said she thought he’d enjoy it,” Fildes said.

Then his parents realized there was a schedule conflict. “We told him, ‘You can go to hockey or to the library; it’s your choice,’ ” she said. To Thomas, the choice was clear, “He said, ‘I can always go to hockey, but I can’t learn to make a book all the time,’ ” Fildes related.