I went to the library at 9am, when they opened. I
interviewed with Bridget the head librarian at Georgia. I was able to sit at
her desk/circulation desk.
To start off with she said that state is going to be getting
a new ILL system so everything will be changing soon.
So for right now what Georgia library is using is Library
World ILS system. The state for right now is using Valsweb ILL system.
What the state of Vermont will be moving to is Shareit.
Bridget said Library World is not compatible with Shareit so
they now have to upgrade to a new ILS system. She hopes they are able to move
to Verso. The only problem is that moving to a new system is going to cost
around $4,000 (more or less, this was just an estimate that she gave) and the
Georgia Library doesn’t have enough money to move to the new system. Though the
monthly payments after Verso is all installed will be the same as Library
World. These are all web-based systems.
After we talked about the systems I asked her what kind of
network they use for the library. I already kind of figured it out because
almost everyone in Vermont uses this company. Bridget said they have a wireless
network provided by Comcast.
Asked Bridget if she has any Web Scale Discovery Services or
even know what they are. She had no clue what I was talking about. I explained
it to her and she said they did no have them there.
Does this library have z39.50 and does she know what this
is?
Bridget said it sounded like something she knew. I explained
this to her as well. Then she remembered and said that they do not have this
capability at all. This library has a Linx based system, and open source.
Bridget said, much to her dismay, that they do not have the capability to get
MARC records from anyplace. She showed me how many boxes of books that needed
to be cataloged for the library. She has to do them all by hand, and their
systems will not allow them to get the MARC information from the companies. Once
they get the new system they will be able to do MARC records more easily.
Bridget mentioned this more then once during the interview
that they are in real need of new computers and software. In total she said
there are 6 computers, 3 for the public and 3 for the staff. One for the staff
is a laptop that is not able to connect to the WIFI and a desktop that cannot
either so in total there is only one that is connected.
Currently the people who come in to fix their computer
problems are just volunteers from the town. They do not have enough money to
have someone come in and fix their technology. The last person, who fixed their
systems, switched them to Linux system because they liked that system. So there
isn’t a set type of system that the library uses it just depends on whom it is
who fixes their system and what they want to change it to. That is what Bridget
told me.
I asked Bridget who plans, budgets, and does the technology
services at the library. She said she does along with the library trustees of
Georgia. Their technology budget is set and is about $1,800 and that includes
their subscription service, Listen Up Vermont and Library World. Bridget
mentioned that the library budget is mixed in with the town budget. So when
everyone votes for the town budget they are also voting on the library budget
as well.
Speaking of Listen Up Vermont, it is a service that most
Vermont libraries have. It is online library that has audio and digital e-books
for patrons to use with their library card. Download and then it will return
after the time is up. Each library has different items depending on what the
library buys for their collection on the site.
Who takes care of their Facebook page and website?
Bridget said that she takes care of both sites. She said
that there is not enough staff to have instagram or twitter account so they
only have a Facebook account for social media.
I asked about what their policies for technology use where
and she told me that the information is on their web page. So I will post this
in another post!
Last few questions I asked Bridget were:
Enough outlets for patrons to plug in their devices?
Are there any accommodations for people with disabilities?
Community spaces?
When I asked about the outlets, if there was enough of them
in library, Bridget had a surprised look, and realized that they really do not
have enough outlets in the library at all. She wrote it down as something to
ask for from the capstone students to add to the building.
Bridget told me that the library was chosen as a project
from University of Vermont students for a capstone project. These students are engineering students
and they are fixing up the building and making it handy-cap accessible for
patrons. Bridget was very pleased that they chose her library for their project
so they can get some building updates. So right now they do not have anything
for people with disabilities or anything for handy cap people.
As for community spaces, I already knew the answer to this
question. There is one huge room that almost everyone in the town uses for some
event. When I was in Girl Scouts, we had used that room quite often, along with
my brothers Boy Scout group that he used to be in. Bridget also listed off a
lot of other groups and organizations that use this room as well.
At the end of the interview I told her thank you and she
asked if I could keep in touch with the library and I told her I would. There
was a couple of books I want to check out of the library so I will be back in
to check them out.
So I thank Bridget for letting me interview her and ask her
all these questions!
I will be posting pictures soon!
