Library Board Approves Social Service Agency Digital Cards
Library Board Approves Social Service Agency Digital Cards
Posted
Jackie Gorski-
Library Board Approves Social Service Agency Digital CardsWarsaw Library Board on Monday approved a policy to start issuing social service agency digital cards.
The library will issue a digital card to an agency, but treat it like a family card account in that everybody in the agency can use the account.
The Board discussed the idea during February’s meeting and said the library would have to figure out what they wanted to do in regards to the cards.
The agency itself will have its card for a year, which is the same for any person or business, Assistant Director Joni Brookins said. They will have to bring in something on the agency letterhead saying the agency wants an agency digital services card and specify who is responsible for the card.
Clientele underneath the agency who want a card on the agency’s account needs to bring in paperwork from the agency saying the person is being served by the agency. The person will have to renew that card on the agency’s account every three months. They will have to bring in something from the agency each time, Brookins said.
Library Director Ann Zydek said the Board could look at the policy next year or the year after to see if there are any issues.
The Board also talked about adding more hours on Saturday after Board member Jill Beehler asked if the library needed to do so.
Beehler said Saturdays seem to be blowing up as there seems to be a lot of people at the library at that time. She didn’t know if the library would need to open an hour earlier or stay open an hour later.
Zydek said she was talking with other librarians and the evenings aren’t as busy, but the library does still want to have some evening hours. While the library may not have a lot of people, for some people, that’s the only time they could visit the library.
As the library sees its budget grow, Zydek said it’s something the library could look into.
Beehler also said she didn’t know if the library had to extend its hours year long or do it seasonally. Zydek said there are some libraries that expand their hours during the school year.
Board member Ben Rice asked if WCPL ever expanded their hours seasonally.
Brookins said it was talked about several times, but it never worked out. Zydek said it’s something the library could keep on its radar.
Zydek said she did hear back from a representative from the Indiana State Library and was told WCPL is in good shape when it comes to the conversion to a new statewide eBook consortium, the Indiana Digital Library.
Nearly 200 public libraries in the state will share the OverDrive platform to create a statewide consortium of eBooks and magazines. This new consortium - made up of libraries that serve populations under 150,000 - will benefit libraries, taxpayers and library users, according to a previous WCPL news release. Patrons of WCPL will have the ability to borrow materials from the WCPL collection and the member library collections. The state library is paying the platform fees for the consortium and 100% of the member libraries' fees will be spent on materials.
WCPL joined the digital library March 1.
There are some changes staff and patrons will have to get used to due to the change. She said if anyone has any issues, they will have to call the reference desk at the library.
Zydek said the library had to sign a two-year contract for the Indiana Digital Library and the state library will cover the OverDrive platform cost.
Zydek also talked about the cost for the e-collection associated with the Indiana Digital Library. WCPL is on a metered access, where the library would get charged for collections based on “a per person” usage it or it’s a bulk usage.
“We’re waiting to see how that all comes through,” she said.
