Proposal for Technological Upgrades & Advancements For the Pleasantville Public Library Proposed By: Elise Forte Leanne Rizzo Lisa Serres SLIM Students Emporia State University Summer 2011
Pleasantville Public Library 123 America St, Pleasantville, CO Evelyn Forte ppl@gmail.com (123) 456-7890 Pleasantville Public Library Technology Committee Members Plan authors: Elise Forte Leanne Rizzo Lisa Serres 2
Table of Contents Introduction.4 The Role of Technology at the Pleasantville Public Library.4 Trends for the Future...5 The Mission of the Library and Technology Visio..6 Current Use of Technology at PPL.6 Future Use of Technology at PPL......8 Implementation/Goals & Objectives/Long Range Objectives/Training.8 Possible Technology Purchases...10 Evaluations..10 Our Experiences..11 Budget..12 References...13 3
I. Introduction The Pleasantville Public Library has been a constant structure of learning, knowledge, and education in the town of Pleasantville for 135 years. Founded in 1875 by the town councilmen, the Pleasantville Public Library is a historic building. It has weathered two World Wars and survived the Great Depression just barely. The people of Pleasantville have supported this historic red brick building ever since it s founding. Due to the recent economic crisis in both the state of Anywhere as well as across the nation, Pleasantville Public Library has suffered some neglect. With the recent visit of Bill Gates, who spoke at the Pleasantville High School Graduation, Mr. Gates has happily consented to donate some money to upgrade and modernize the Pleasantville Public Library. Mr. Gates has impressed upon the townspeople and the town council the importance of technology to the town and to the survival of the library. Librarians and council members Elise Forte, Leanne Rizzo, and Lisa Serres therefore propose the following technology plan. The plan will cover the role of technology at the Pleasantville Public Library, trends for the future, the mission of the library, long range objectives, implementation, and evaluation. Ms. Forte, Ms. Rizzo, and Ms. Serres impress upon the Mayor of Pleasantville and Board of Trustees that money is no object, and the following proposal has nothing but benefits for the Pleasantville Library and the Town of Pleasantville. II. The Role of Technology at Pleasantville Public Library The Pleasantville Public Library is an old red brick building built after the turmoil of the Civil War. The library has no modern technology of which to speak. The librarians still utilize card catalogs to find and organize the collection. There are no computers present and fines are kept by a cash box and taken with exact change only. Through the advancements of technology, the librarians have recognized that without modernizing the library, the library will become obsolete and close. Every towns-person of 4
Pleasantville relies on the library for knowledge and education and the closing of the library would have disastrous results. Having computers with high speed internet capabilities, an Integrated Library System, among other products, the Pleasantville Public Library could regain its previous position as the primary place for every individual to go for all of their information needs. III. a Trends for the Future The Pleasantville Public Library has always been a steadfast part of the community. Due to the purchases of the following products the Pleasantville Public Library will continue to be a leader in the town and the primary place for information gathering and collecting. With the generous donation from Mr. Gates the library council predicts that the trend for the future will be constant and up-to-date. The librarians ensure that they will do their best in purchasing the products and protecting those same products. III. b. Organizational Profile The Pleasantville Public Library is located in Pleasantville, Colorado, population 5,280. PPL serves 2,000 registered borrowers and competes with the Pleasant County Public Library, which serves the rest of the county and surrounding towns. PPL has been in the same facility since 1950, when the building was first built. The circulation records and material inventory of the library are difficult to determine because of previous bookkeeping practices. With so few registered borrowers, the Pleasantville Public Library needs to increase community involvement and encourage a higher circulation of materials. The history of technology in Pleasantville Public Library is rather short. As of this month the PPL has no computers, photocopiers, or printers for staff or patron use. As of this month, all records have been handwritten or typed via typewriter. Previously, all records were filled in filing cabinets and all books were catalogued 5
in a physical card catalogue. Because of this previous practice, the need for new technology is urgent and will prove to be invaluable, both to our library and to our community. IV. Mission of the Library The mission of the Pleasantville Public Library is to provide free and equal access to materials and resources to all the citizens of Pleasantville. PPL also strives to be a landmark for community-building activities and to encourage patrons to become and remain lifelong-learners. (insert chart here of the organizational structure of the library) Technology Vision The technology vision of the Pleasantville Public Library is to implement a stronger effort to stay current and bring Pleasantville Public Library closer to speed with the Digital Age. The library envisions being able to offer library patrons an opportunity to use public access computers, new software and to become acquainted with basic technologies that include printing and scanning, and high speed internet. This will then create a greater customer/patron level of satisfaction within the Pleasantville Public Library. V. Current Use of Technology in the Pleasantville Public Library The Pleasantville Public Library is lacking in many modern technological advancements. The only technology that is present at the PPL is one microfiche reader, two typewriters, and one telephone. It has been the recent experience of the new PPL s Librarian that most patrons feel that the library does 6
not meet their technology needs and therefore the library is not the place that the public can go to in order to have their technology needs met. Several patrons have suggested that the PPL purchase computers for public use, though that has not been previously possible due to budget constraints and previous management ideologies. VI. Future Use of Technology in the Pleasantville Public Library With our recent endowment, the Pleasantville Public Library plans to purchase ten new computers, three new printers, two new copiers, and one new scanner. Previously, technology has not been as important to the PPL as it should have been. In the Digital Age that we presently reside, technology has become a necessity and not a luxury and therefore we need to bring our library into the Digital Age. VII. Implementation a. Our goals and objectives for the 2011-2012 fiscal years are To update the Pleasantville Public Library s filing and computing systems. Objective: We plan to use the computers that we wish to purchase to update the library s filing system using [Innovative Millennium Interfaces (III). By updating to III, the library s catalogue can be accessed using a computer terminal in the library or online via a remote location. To increase patron use of library Objective: We hope to increase library usage by thirty percent with the purchase of ten new computers, 7
eight of which will be used by the public. We at the PPL believe that technology is important in our modern society and if we increase our technology available to the public, then the public will increase their usage of our facility. To make the PPL a more technology friendly environment Objective: By purchasing new equipment and having wireless internet access available to our patrons and staff, the PPL will become more technology friendly to its patrons and to its employees. Our goals and actions for the 2012-2013 fiscal years are Continue Training Staff in Technology Use Objective: We will continue training the staff of the PPL in order to better help the patrons. We will train our staff in all software and hardware available at the library. To purchase new technology in order to help the PPL help the public with their information needs Objective: We plan to continue purchasing new computers and equipment that will encourage the public to continue learning in a life-long capacity. Our goals and actions for the 2013-2014 fiscal years are To ensure the technological development of the Pleasantville community Objective: Continue purchasing new technology and software that will ensure the Pleasantville community is in touch with current technology. 8
Purchase e-readers and train staff to use them Objective: The PPL wants to purchase e-readers to ensure that the Pleasantville community continues to stay current in the Digital Age. b. Long Range Objectives Beginning in 2013, the Library will begin to conquer bigger technology goals. * evaluate e-readers and decide which type has established itself as the leader * begin to check out e-readers (first to staff only) then to patrons * continue to train staff and patrons alike on current technology trends * create library sponsored programs that incorporate technology, staff, and the community * anticipate the next wave of the Digital Age, and have a team of IT Staff ready to implement what s needed * continue to monitor patron satisfaction and increase user statistics both in the library and remotely * reevaluate plan constantly and make changes as needed * consistently increase the use of technology in our library, we will use the new computers that we are purchasing and promote their use to the patrons. c. Training Two new full-time employees will be recruited and hired. One of these employees will be the Manager of the Intergrated Library System. The other will be ½ time in Information Technology support of the 9
Library. The other ½ time in this position will be used to train both Library Staff and patrons alike on wireless, and the new technologies resources available. Detailed information on salaries is included in the proposed budget. See budget attachment. VIII. Possible Technology Purchases See budget attachment. See trainings schedule attached. IX. Evaluation Focus groups will be created among members of the community, directors of the town, members of PPL Staff and members of the city council of Pleasantville. Surveys will be distributed both on paper and online for patrons to discuss their implementation of the new technology. They will be able to offer constructive feedback so that the PPL can revise its goals and strategies as needed. Library staff will meet on an on-going basis to discuss patron feedback as well as their own to make the best use of the new resources. 10
Appendix on our experiences: We decided to use a Public Library for ease, creative license, and personal experience. We created an outline and split it into thirds and then let each individual pick whatever part she wanted to do. From there, Leanne had the brilliant idea of posting the document into Google Docs so that we could all collaborate on it. Towards the end, once our tech plan began looking like a tech plan, we developed a time schedule of what to work on and when. Elise and Lisa did not research other libraries or technologies outside of the technology plans found on Blackboard, but Leanne asked co-workers including Joe Gaona, Acting Manager of LIT at BPL. He helped by giving specifics for budget numbers regarding implementing new technology. We included technologies that we were familiar with and technologies that are fairly common in public libraries. Overall, we did not encounter many difficulties. We kept things simple and straightforward. Having our document on Google docs has made the entire experience of working with other so easy. What also made it easier is that we chose to create our own library, and we think that allowed us more liberties and creative license than if we had chosen a real library. In addition, we decided that we could have a controlled environment in which we could choose whichever technological needs we wanted. There was one super fun night when all three of us were online at the same time. We were using the discussion board in Google docs and chatting to discuss questions and working on our respective parts at the same time. It was fun to literally watch the collaboration process. 11
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References: Boulder Public Library and Arts. (2010). 2011 Library & Arts Approved Budget. Retrieved July 24, 2011 from http://boulderlibrary.org/about Cohn, J.M., & Kelsey, A.L. (2010). The complete library technology planner. New York: Neal-Schuman Publishers, Inc. City Of Boulder Web. (2010-11). About the library. Retrieved from http://boulderlibrary.org/about/ Kruse, M.J. (2007, September 26). Memorial Public Library 2008-2010 Technology Plan. Retrieved July 25, 2011 from www.ebatesville.com/library/tech_plan_2008.pdf TCPL Board of Trustees. (2006, March 29). Tompkins County Public Library 2006-2011 Strategic Technology Plan. Retrieved July 15, 2011 from tcpl.org/libinfo/documents/plans/technologyplanwoapp.pdf 13