Life without Library Systems? Written by Debby Emerson Adapted and illustrated By Christine McGinty and Elly Dawson 20 Published by Pioneer Library System 2005
Once upon a time there was a girl named Katie who loved her library. 2 19
"That's the question I've been asking myself.... What happens now? One day after school, Katie ran as fast as she could to the public library. She just could not wait another minute to tell Mrs. Pioneer, the librarian how good she did on her paper about libraries in New York, especially in the western part of the state where she lived. Katie loved everything about her little town, especially the library. She considered it her second home because she was always there checking out books to read for fun and for her schoolwork, emailing her best friend who moved to Seattle, and attending the great programs. 18 3
But when Katie got to the library, she noticed that the place seemed different. The book drop was all covered up, the bulletin board of upcoming events was completely empty, and there was no one in the library except for Mrs. Pioneer. "What's going on?" Katie thought to herself. Katie sighed. "This is so depressing. So, what happens now?" 4 17
"Mrs. Pioneer, it's so depressing that we're losing so much. Can I get on the Internet to email my friend Jenny in Seattle? Wait until she hears this bad news. "I'm sorry Katie but. "You don't have to tell me...you no longer have the Internet because we don't have a library system. When I wrote my report on libraries, I really didn't understand what a library system did Mrs. Pioneer. Now I know, they are crucial for public libraries. Without them there really isn't a library.i also did not know that the State was not going to give enough money for the library.i never thought about what we would lose without their support. Maybe I should have started my paper with Once upon a time. "Mrs. Pioneer, I got an A on my paper!" exclaimed Katie as she placed a pile of books on the counter. "Thanks for all of the great books. I was going to put them in the book drop but it's all taped up." "1 knew you would do well dear but I'm afraid that we can't use the book drop anymore", said the librarian. 16 5
"Why?" asked Katie. "Well, for years -the last fifty years, actually -all of the public libraries in our four county region have been part of a cooperative group. By working together, we could accomplish a lot more than one library all by itself. For example, we all chipped in to buy the computer system making it cheaper to purchase the system. We couldn't afford to buy this on our own because it would cost tens of thousands of dollars. The smaller libraries in the area wouldn't even be able to afford computer systems or online databases." "Well, we have to check every book as it is returned to make sure it belongs to our library", Mrs. Pioneer explained as she checked each of Katie's returned books. "These two books are from another library.you will have to return them to the library that they belong to because we can not accept them here." 6 15
"Ughhh! How frustrating. Why can't our library do all of these things? Why is a library system so important? "But why? I picked them up here. I don't think my parents will drive me to those other libraries because they're too far away. Remember you got them for me? I thought that you just sent them back to the library where they came from" cried Katie. "Our library used to do this but our library system closed down because it was not receiving enough money from the state anymore to operate properly. So there is no more delivery service that goes to the other libraries and we have no way to ship the books back and forth between our library and other libraries. We can only take books that belong to us. This is why the book drop is closed." 14 7
"Oh, but I still need a book for homework assignment. Can I just get a book from one of the colleges or any other library through interlibrary loan? "But I needed a new book for my homework. So if you don't have the book here then I have to go way out of town for the book? Can you at least check the catalog and see if you own a book on Mary Jemison? "Interlibrary loan is a fabulous service but we don't have it anymore because we don't have a library system." "Well, our catalog isn't working 8 13
"Well, we would first have to buy our own computer system. "Good", exclaimed Katie, "that should be easy". "It really won't be. Computer systems are really expensive. The Town can't afford to give us more money unless taxes go up so it may take years for us to raise the money." "Why? "I'm sorry Katie but the online catalog was provided by our library system and since they've shut down, we don't have the catalog service anymore. There should be some books in the New York State history section; try looking on the shelves somewhere around the 970s. "So what you're saying is that there's no way to know if you own the book. OK, I'll just grab some New York State history books and take them home to search for her. "Uh, just a minute Katie. You will not be able to sign any books out. You can only use the book in the library." 12 9
"Why can't I take the books home? I don't understand. I have my library card. "Our checkout system on the computer was something we got from our library system. Now that they're shut down we currently don't have any way to check out books. Eventually, we'll fix all of our books but it will take a while since we don't have a way to do that yet." "So the books are just going to sit on the shelves and no one can take them home. There must be something you can do so this place works like a library." 10 11