Libraryland

My gosh! April flew by, and I have not managed a single blog. But I have been full of blogging ideas, because I have attended two major conferences this year where I have heard and learned so much about the library world and the possibilities for the future.

In the month of March, 2008, Campbell County Public Library increased it's people count by 2,000 people over March, 2007. 2,000 more people came to the library this March than in March a year ago. It is a tremendous number -- what did we do with those 2,000 extra people? We let them borrow books and movies. We encouraged them to try the databases for information. We provided free internet access.

At the Mountain Plains Library Association this week, I was reminded that Campbell County is really doing all the things libraries are meant to do. We provide both the traditional and nontraditional collections. We take pride in public service, and we work hard to make sure the library patron walks out the door with the right book or media to solve his quest or to fulfill is reading desires. I actually chortle when I hear other libraries explaining programs that they have just established, which CCPL has long maintained. It reminds me how lucky we are with staff who have who have been unafraid of innovation and who have worked hard to maintain service and programs.

MPLA honored three Wyoming people -- well, four because one of the awards was for Michael and Kathleen Gear, the Wyoming writers who have worked diligently creating fictional lives for early Americans -- we are talking 16,000 year old tribes and people. Another award was for Debbi Iverson, recently retired Sheridan College librarian, who worked tirelessly for MPLA and a leadership institute to encourage librarians to stay ahead of the pack for the western region. The fourth award went to a young, cowboy librarian at the University of Wyoming who has created unusual partnerships with in the University to develop lifelong learning skills which has impacted library instruction and services. That's exciting news for all of us.

Previous to MPLA, I attended the SIRSI/Dynix conference which is hard hitting, information packed sessions on the electronic products used by the Wyoming library consortia for card catalog and check out services. The products invented, improved, and maintained by the corporation changes the daily work life and possibilities for the incredible in all public libraries in the state. This is a "meeting of the minds" when software creators and librarians come together to talk about how the nuts and bolts work, what improvements need to be made, and where we are going. It's enough to take your breath away.