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Last week, I ended my column with a brief note about the Kish Branch Library also moving into new digs in 1975. I still want to write about that but I had a library user ask me to write about the changes I've seen during my thirty years of library work.
I started working at the Mifflin County Library in 1994. Even back then, we had an integrated library system; in other words, the computerized check in and out system. We had the same company that we have today: The Library Corporation. Although, back then, they were known as Library Corp and now they prefer to be called TLC. Being a left-handed person, I remember the stress of learning how to use a scanner-wand and a mouse with my right hand because my rightie co-workers did not want me moving things around in order to check out books with my left hand. To this day, I scan books with my right hand and use a mouse with my right hand.
The card catalog was also automated in 1994 but we kept what is called a "shelf list." A shelf list was just what it sounds like: a list of the books on the shelf. There was a separate card catalog cabinet, the cabinet with the little drawers filled with index cards giving the titles of the books and the shelf location. The cabinet was located in an office on the lower level. It was for senior staff to use; not the public and not a new clerk like me. The shelf list was kept in meticulous order just in case the automated system crashed or in case the automated system was a fad that we would stop using in a year or two.
Other changes over the years include the elevator. That caused a lot of excitement at the time, as well as dust and noise. I was working in the children's library and I remember keeping the double-doors closed against the cold and noise and dust.
Back in the day, we had Books on Tape. Books on Tape were a big deal. Library patrons could check out an audiobook on cassette tape and listen to it in the car on a long drive. When Walkman cassette players became popular and patrons learned that they could listen to audiobooks while they worked or worked out, the need for more Books on Tape grew. Then came audio CDs and Discman players. That was a stressful change for a lot of people, even the staff. Most cars had both player options, cassettes and CDs. But as the years went on, cars switched over to CD only. We as librarians must keep up with the changing technology. The children's department purchased more CD books than the adult section. Change is very hard for a lot of people. We like things to stay the same. Also, there are times when we just don't want to learn one more new thing. Or we just don't want to buy one more new thing. Or we just don't want to change. Librarians must balance these ideas.
MCL kept the cassette tape Books on Tape, even while purchasing newer audiobooks on CD. Eventually, as the cassettes failed to circulate or as we needed the shelf space (or when the tape broke and we had to throw the tapes away), we stopped purchasing cassette tapes and only bought CDs. Nowadays, we don't buy CD audiobooks because we promote the Libby app, in which patrons can check out digital audiobooks and download them to smartphones.
Our library has changed in the last thirty years but the service to the community has remained the same. I wonder what changes will come in the next thirty years? I'm trying my best to anticipate what those changes will be while we renovate our building so that the building will continue to meet the needs of the community in the years to come.
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Susan Miriello is the Executive Director of the Mifflin County Library. New books added to the collection include: As the Wicked Watch by Tamron Hall; Midnight Creed by Alex Kava; and a new series of children's ready reader books called Decodables by Jump!, a comprehensive library of decodable leveled readers that follow a sequenced approach to phonics instruction.