Interview with the Librarians at Newton Public Library

On September 1st, I went the Newton Public Library to speak with the librarians of the different sections about technology usage in their areas. The different sections included the children's/young adults section, the reference desk, the special collections, and the director of the library branch. It was interesting to see how different technologies were being utilized to help modernize the library bringing it further into the 21st century. I first spoke with April Green, library service specialist, in the children's/young adults area and found even very young people were using technology. Some of what they used the most include computers that can access online learning games that have most everything else filtered out to provide a safe learning environment for the children while online. April said one the most sought after technologies in her section are the new "Playaway" multimedia books. These are small Mp3 players that have the book downloaded to them and all the child has to do is plug in the headset and press play. They are much less likely to be damaged unlike the old cassette tape and CD formatted audio books. The young adults have access to a Nintendo Wii where they can congregate with friends to play different games that have been screened for content. One thing that I did not know is that this library provides access to "blackboard classrooms" that help at risk high school students graduate high school even if they have already dropped out of public school. April said this is a trend she has seen growing in the area and has to keep the laptops locked away until a registered students asks to have access. It's hard to believe that in this day and age dropping out of high school is still a growing trend. Next, I visited the reference desk where I spoke with Judy Foster a graduate of ASU's MLS program and director of library resources. She was excited to help a student in the same program that she graduated from and she provided excellent information. Computers are by far the most utilized technology in all the sections but is especially true in the reference section (it's where the computer lab is located). She and the other reference librarians agree that most of their time is spent helping people on the computer. I actually had to wait for a few minutes while she went to go help patrons. Technologies the librarians use the most are the online catalogs and other resource guides like NCLive.org to help find what the patrons are needing. She reiterated the point that if we are going to be librarians we have to be technology savvy, if not we will have a difficult time helping patrons. The reference desk got busy because school had let out so I decided to go downstairs where the special collections and genealogy room is and met with William Floyd a self taught librarian with 20+ years experience. His use of the libraries technology was completely different from what I had heard upstairs. He mainly used technology to digitize his collection from print materials. The library recently received a grant for this digitization to reduce the amount of space taken up by state and county records. He said it was tedious and time consuming but had paid off in the end. Mr. Floyd made an excellent point and one that I agree with tremendously. In a special collection and history room it is still very important that the printed materials still be available to the public. Why? It is because some materials can not be replaced, information can be lost, and computer systems crash. Plus, many of the older patrons use this room for family history and they do not like to use computers or new technology. It is all about balancing technology with the majority of you patrons. He did mention that Ancestry.com has helped his genealogy patrons more than any other technology available in the library. After I left the special collections I happen to notice the Branch Manager was at her desk so I decided to ask her about technology in the library. Lynne Reed was a wealth of information but it was a different kind. She told me about the new and upcoming technology that will be coming to the library soon. They had received a LIST (?) and an IDP (?) grant, unfortunately I can not remember the exact names. These were going to be used to help patrons by providing further online services and resources. This way they can bypass the reference desk if they choose and located materials on there own. The money was also going to be used to automate the circulation desk by letting patrons check out the books on the own using special kiosks. It is amazing that even this little library was going to be thrust into the 21st century. One thing, the money was granted to the county so all of the counties libraries will be updated this year using the state and federal funds. After leaving the library I was amazed at the different technologies libraries are using to provide excellent services. I am still a big believer in print sources but I can see with the advancements in computer technology that it is a necessity to change with the times as well as the changing faces of the patrons.