Pinnacle is Coming

The Board and staff of Plainfield Public Library District are continually working to improve our libraries. We feel that part of this mission is insuring that it is easy and convenient for our customers to find the information they need. We are pleased to announce that we will move to a new online catalog early this summer that will make it easier to find library items. The new catalog has a much better search engine with other special features that we know you will enjoy. Whether you heard it first in our spring newsletter or on the front page of today’s Herald News, word is spreading about the new catalog coming to the Plainfield Public Library in June.

Your library is collaborating with the Fountaindale Public Library District (Bolingbrook), Joliet Public Library, Lemont Public Library District, Shorewood-Troy Public Library District and White Oak Library District (Crest Hill, Lockport and Romeoville) to make this possible. The new catalog group is called the Pinnacle Library Cooperative.

The Pinnacle Library Cooperative will replace the PrairieCat consortium in which Plainfield and the other Pinnacle members have participated for many years. Though this new group is smaller, these six library organizations collectively hold 1,339,969 items, which is nearly 1/3 of all the materials in the entire PrairieCat catalog. These libraries are geographically connected and have a long history of working together to provide the very best service we can to our patrons. 

The first major change will occur on April 10, when patrons of the Pinnacle member libraries will be restricted in the PrairieCat catalog to placing holds only on the materials of other Pinnacle libraries. Other materials are still available through interlibrary loan, so contact a staff member for assistance requesting items not owned by Pinnacle member libraries. Your library will still be able to access collections from other libraries across the country whenever a request comes in that cannot be met by Pinnacle-owned materials.

The new catalog will “go live” in June 2012. In the months leading up to that date, you will see more changes in how you borrow materials and place holds, including a period of extended check outs to encourage you to keep library items longer during the final stage of the process. These are all necessary parts of the migration process. Rest assured we are working our hardest to insure this new catalog system will serve you well and justify these growing pains. 

Watch for further details here on my blog, in our library newsletter and on our library website at www.plainfield.lib.il.us. Thank you for your patience and understanding as the library makes these changes to better meet your needs.

Publishers Curtail Sales of EBooks to Libraries

One of the last "Big Six" publishers (Hachette, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Penguin, Random House, and Simon & Schuster) to offer unrestricted purchase of eBooks to libraries announced today that they will no longer sell eBooks to OverDrive, the primary supplier of eBooks to public libraries: Penguin Severs Ties with OverDrive
This leaves only one, Random House, allowing unrestricted loans for eBooks purchased by libraries. HarperCollins restricts eBooks to 26 loans for libraries.

This is a huge blow to public libraries like ours, where eBooks are one of our fastest-growing and highest circulating collections. While the publishing industry struggles with their issues of selling eBooks to libraries through for-profit third party entities like OverDrive, it is the public libraries and their patrons that suffer. Your library is unable to buy the titles your want in eBook and downloadable audiobook formats. It is maddening for our staff to be unable to purchase a bestseller in eBook format because the publisher does not allow public libraries to do so, when customer service and responsiveness to our users needs are the heart of our service philosophy.

In the meantime, your Library staff will be investigating alternatives, such as purchasing eBooks from independent publishers and how to cost-effectively loan eBooks without third party services like OverDrive (if there are any).

Please bear with us, eBook aficionados, while we wait for these publishers to find their new paradigm for selling eBooks to libraries. We'd love to get James Patterson's latest novel as an eBook for you. But at the moment, that is not possible.

Shift Happens

In a library, there is one more thing that is certain, besides the oft-quoted death and taxes - shifting! That's what we librarians call the process of moving books from one shelf to another, for whatever the reason of the day is. It could be a new range of shelving has been added, as our Library has done recently. It could be that there isn't room on a particular shelf or section for all of the items that belong there, as frequently occurs after the holidays and at the end of Summer Reading program.

Shifting is a necessary and sometimes time-consuming process. Each and every item must be placed in the correct place, so that you can come to the Library and find the item you are looking for. Ideally, in a library like Plainfield, shelves are only about 2/3 filled to allow space for items currently checked out to return to the shelf. Without that space at the end of each shelf, shifting becomes a larger chore. Imagine having to move all of those books on the shelves from one shelf to another! It's hard work.

Shifting is one of the biggest challenges at the Plainfield Library, due to limited shelf space and the sheer amount of it that's needed. About half of the Plainfield Library's collection is checked out at any given time. So if you see Sheilah or Lisa pushing a big cart of books around the Library, say thank you! Those two ladies do the bulk of the shifting here. We couldn't keep the books in their places without them and their coworkers, Tim, Nichole, Tiffany and Rachel.

2012 Will Bring Changes but No Expansion

2012 will be a year of changes at the Plainfield Public Library, including a comprehensive evaluation of the existing building's systems and a possible new catalog. But expansion planning (and a referendum for an expansion) has been tabled until 2013 or later.

In December, the Library Board of Trustees approved a contract with KJWW Engineering Consultants to take an in-depth look at the existing building's aging systems. KJWW will study the structure of the building, including roof, windows, doors and façade and its mechanical systems, especially the aging HVAC system and components. The consultant's report to the Library Board will identify and prioritize needs for repair and updating the existing building, including cost estimates for recommended changes. The report will be used by the Board to guide future decision-making and budget planning, prior to any expansion referendum. Reinforcing the need for this study, the Library's heating system required repairs to two separate rooftop units over the New Year's holiday weekend.

Negotiations are underway for a new library catalog! The change will improve the user experience with search capabilities similar to retail sites, such as faceted searching, spell check, and "did you mean…?" to allow easier access to the Library's materials. Once a contract is signed and timeline determined, a formal announcement will be made with details about the new catalog and its features.

Following the Open Forums held and public comments gathered in Fall 2011 on library expansion planning, the Library Board of Trustees voted to table expansion planning. Beginning this spring, the Library Board will revisit the expansion planning timeline one year in advance of each possible referendum date to determine whether or not to begin an expansion planning process. In the meantime, the Library Board's focus is on preserving the usability of the existing building.

From the Suggestion Box: Non-Fiction AV Interfiled with Books

"Why are non-fiction DVDs and audiobooks on the shelves with the non-fiction books?"

Several users commented on the non-fiction audiovisual materials, like DVDs and audiobooks, being on the regular non-fiction shelves with the books. Interfiling these collections saves shelf space. For every separate collection at the Library, there are unused shelves before and after the collection to allow for materials to be returned and to show the divide where one collection stops and another begins. In a space crunch like ours, with a Library building housing more than twice the number of materials it was designed for, every inch of shelf space counts.

Most of our customers who browse the shelves for non-fiction titles are looking for a specific topic, like home improvements or a period in history. They're satisfied to find materials on that subject regardless of format. Finding a book and a DVD on that topic side-by-side while browsing meets their needs. Fewer customers are looking at a specific format in non-fiction, but some do. Balancing the needs of these types of customers is difficult in our situation, where space is at a premium.

It was not an easy decision to interfile these and one we struggled with making. However, the hard choices like these, to maximize every bit of shelving we have, are the reality of our undersized building. Ideally, the Library would have a more bookstore-like layout, with face-out displays by subject and multiple copies of items to satisfy all of our customers' different browsing habits. For now, the Library is working to meet customers needs within the limits of our space and funds.

Expansion Planning Tabled

The Library Board of Trustees, at a special meeting on November 1, 2011, voted unanimously to table expansion planning for a possible 2012 referendum. With the feedback from Open Forums and comments received online and in person, the Trustees discussed at length the community’s library needs and the current economic situation. The prevailing sentiment from the community of “yes, but not now” on library expansion was the determining factor in this decision to table further planning for now.

In September, four Open Forums elicited feedback from the public on possible library expansion. Results, including online and in-person comments received, were distributed to the Board of Trustees and posted on the Library’s website and here. After an extensive discussion at the October regular meeting, the Board of Library Trustees set a special meeting to address the timeline for expansion planning. At that November 1 special meeting, the Board tabled expansion planning by unanimous vote. At the Board’s instruction, the timeline for an expansion planning process will be re-examined in spring 2012, to respond to any changes in the building or economic situation.

In the 20 years since the current library was built, population of the district increased nearly 400% to more than 75,000 residents. In the same time period, attendance is up over 600%, checkouts 845%, reference questions 2,020% and program attendance 2,241%. Public computer use, not tracked prior to 2004, is up 1,160% in the last five years. This places enormous pressure on the Library, both for service and on the physical facility.

Next, the Board of Library Trustees will comprehensively examine the aging Library facility and mechanical systems, estimating cost and prioritizing the repair and/or replacement of systems necessary to maintaining a functional library for the next 7-10 years. At more than 20 years old, the expected life of many of these systems has been met or exceeded. Ongoing issues with the HVAC system, elevator, windows and roof must be addressed with the limited funds available.

In the meantime, physical space limits providing Library services to meet community needs. With a facility that is 1/3 the recommended size to serve today’s population, there is no relief in sight for the space crunch within the Library. The challenge of balancing the diverse needs of library users, from library materials to program space to study tables to public computers, continues in the foreseeable future.