Braswell Memorial Library Board of Trustees Announces New Library Director
Alice Thorp, Braswell Memorial Library Board of Trustees Chair, announced today that the Board has chosen a new director for the library. Jane Blackburn, who has worked at the library for sixteen years, most recently as the Assistant Director, was chosen from a field of ten candidates to assume the library’s top leadership position.
“We are extremely pleased that Jane has chosen to continue her library career with us,” Thorp remarked. “We look forward to seeing the library grow and thrive under her direction. Together we will revisit our priorities and goals and develop a plan for future needs of the library and our patrons. Jane will be instrumental in this process as well as working to strengthen our ties and partnerships with those we serve in the communities around us. We are quite proud to have her on our staff currently and especially delighted she has accepted this new position.”
Blackburn, a native of Alabama, received a B.A. from Asbury College in Wilmore, Kentucky, an M.A. in English Literature from UNC-Chapel Hill, and an M.L.S. from North Carolina Central University. She moved here with her family from Virginia Beach in 1993, and in 1994 began her career at Braswell Memorial Library driving the Bookmobile throughout Nash County to deliver books to readers.
“Delivering books in all formats-- stories, novels, history, how-to’s, print and digital -- and information of all sorts to the public, is still what I want to do” stated Blackburn. “Public libraries serve a vital role in the life of a community. We live in an information-based society, and the library is one of the best (and cheapest) places to find information and to make use of digital communication and networking technology offered at no cost. And, of course, people still read, and library books are still free to borrow!”
When asked her thoughts about the future of the library, Blackburn replied “The official Mission Statement of Braswell Memorial Library will guide us: to nurture life-long reading and learning, to provide access to information, and to promote community enrichment and achievement. Finding ways to do these things will be my job.”
Braswell Memorial Public Library has been awarded a $100,000 grant to be used to purchase and implement RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) technology for inventory control and circulation purposes at the library.
The single most important benefit of RFID implementation is that the library’s more than 72,000 library card holders will be better served, both those who prefer to use library resources without staff intervention and those who prefer personalized service. RFID technology will enable library staff to do some work faster and better than before -- thus freeing up time to provide value-added services to customers who want or need help.
There are several other benefits to adopting RFID technology: 1) Library patrons will have a shorter wait time for checking out materials due to more self-check stations. (Don’t worry - there will still be staff on hand to help you check out!) 2) Self-check stations will be much easier to use and will have the ability to accept cash or credit card payments; 3) The library’s online catalog will be more accurate and materials more “findable”; and 4) Less book handling by staff will give them more time to offer personal service to library patrons. We are not using this technology to reduce staff -- we are using it to increase the amount of time our staff have available to help our patrons.
Federal funding for this project came through a Library Services and Technology Act grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, and was awarded by the State Library of North Carolina, a division of the Department of Cultural Resources. These federal funds are investments of dollars to help libraries deliver relevant and up-to-date services for their communities.
RFID works like this: an RFID “tag” is attached to every library item. Library staff uses hardware and software to program the tag with the item number. When appropriately activated (through the check out or check in stations), the RFID antenna queries the tag through a radio wave obtaining the item number which is then used to determine the item’s current status (now checked out to Jane Doe, now checked in and awaiting shelving, etc.). This is done without having to scan a bar code, and the operation can process multiple items at a time.
Here’s the scenario: you choose a stack of books to take home and read. You pull out your library card, walk up to a self-check station, and touch CHECK OUT MATERIALS on the screen. You scan your card (or if you’ve gotten one of our new RFID library cards, you simply place your card on the scanning bed), place your stack of books there, and wait for your receipt to come out. It should take just a few seconds. Then off you go!
If you’re concerned about privacy, you needn’t be concerned about this use of RFID technology. The radio tags don’t broadcast their information, and the only information they, or the RFID library cards, contain is a number that means nothing by itself. There is absolutely no identifying information about the card holder or the books they check out ever on the RFID tags or library cards.
We will be implementing the various components of the new system over the next six to eight months, but will not have to close the library while doing any part of the work. Some retooling of the Check Out desk will require relocating the check out function for a short time but we’ll try to make this as painless as possible to all our patrons. We’re excited about keeping up with current technology so we can better serve our community!
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