Goshen Public Library & Historical Society | 203 Main St Goshen, NY 10924 | Phone: 845.294.6606 | Fax: 845.294.7158 | RCLS Member
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Fall cleaning
By plnkh | November 14, 2008
The end of summer brought several changes to the staff. Two librarians moved on to new positions, a circulation clerk broke her hip, a page graduated presenting us with another opportunity to re-think our staffing. We’ve hired a new page, a new part-time clerk and two part-time librarians, and we are waiting for the new full-time youth services librarian to join us. So you will see several new faces when you visit, which we will identify in the next issue of the newsletter.
Spending time talking with staff and in the stacks I became thoroughly aware of how impossible it was to shelve. Starting around the edges of the collections we have cleaned up the AV and large print collections, removing materials that have circulated little, and reorganizing the audio books by format to add shelves. Audio books and large print have been donated to area libraries and nursing homes. Next Friday (Nov. 21) we will close to attack the main book collections. The closing is the most efficient way to do a lot of stack maintenance in a short time - our aisles do not conform to accessibility codes, so librarians pulling books and patrons trying to browse stumble over one another.When we re-open on Saturday it should be considerably easier to locate what you are looking for, and for the shelvers to do their job.
Matt and I had a conversation today about a new approach being taken in a few public libraries (I believe it started in British Columbia and it was the basis of a program I attended at the PLA conference a few years ago) of eliminating the Dewey Decimal system and shelving books in broad categories like book stores do. What do you think? The decision to switch would include the decision to revise our collection development philosophy, but since the idea of a public library is to provide the community what it most needs that would be a good thing. It is also a creative way to address our lack of space. So please share your thoughts.
We’ve also cleared the aisles which provide entrance to the main room from the parking lot and access to the circulation desk. Sadly Mr McGinnis is no longer with us, but after watching him negotiate his walker around the chairs and book carts blocking the aisles, we decided he (and other patrons with ambulation aids) deserved more space to manouver.
Last, we want to remind our computer users that you need your own library card to access the public computers. If you live in another library district with in the Ramapo Catskill Library System your card will work. Libraary services (circulating materials, computers, Internet access, electronic databases) are paid for with property taxes, and everyone benefitting from our services must demonstrate that they are from a community which supports cooperative library service. Anyone is welcome to sit and read without a card.
