| Staying connected
Library’s efforts to attract new
patrons praised
By Abby Scalf
Daily Herald Staff Writer
Posted Friday, April 22, 2005
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| Winning the
Library of the Year Award drives home what the Wauconda Area Library
has tried to show for years, said director Tom Kern.
“Even though we’re a relatively small library,
we provide most services large libraries provide,” he said.
“That is the result of a dedicated staff and
board of trustees that are good at working on what has been
sometimes a tight budget.”
The library received the award from the North
Suburban Library System, a consortium of 650 academic, public,
school and special libraries in north suburban Cook, Kane, Lake and
McHenry counties.
The Library of the Year Award is presented to
one library to recognize its contributions to the development of the
library community.
Kern attributes the award to many factors,
particularly the high visibility of the library within the community
and North Suburban Library System.
“It is our responsibility to get into the
community and not wait for people to come through the doors,” he
said.
Library eNews has been essential to visibility,
he said. Highlighting programs and services, the newsletter is sent
monthly to 2,000 subscribers including government agencies and other
area libraries.
Kern said another big way the library has
been able to keep the community up to date about library activities
is through its involvement with a Wauconda area group, United
Partnership for a Better Community. United Partnership includes
representatives from the village of Wauconda, chamber of commerce,
police and fire departments, park district, school District 118 and
area churches and clubs.
The Wauconda library also has worked with United
Partnership to implement a Web-based community calendar using
NorthStarNet. The calendar can be accessed on the library’s Web
site.
Kern said the library also has used its access
to NorthStarNet, provided as a member of the library system, to
create a Web-based senior resource guide. A printed guide compiled
by a senior coalition was improved by connecting browsers to Web
sites run by resources listed in the guide.
“There is so much depth in the Web based guide,”
he said.
A primary goal this year also has been getting
more involved with District 118 to improve services to students,
teachers and parents.
Among the outreach includes creating Web-based
live homework help. Kern said the library also has bought online
databases the school district can not afford but fall within the
library’s service objectives. The Literary Criticism and Biography
database is essential to English classes and fiction readers.
The library’s expanded services, including
wireless high-speed Internet access and a new wireless computer
training lab also were contributing factors to the award.
Offering its first computer class in September
last year, Kern said it’s important to make people more comfortable
using computers.
“Print resources will not go away, but many
valuable resources are only available electronically. We want people
to have the basics to take advantage of these tools," he said.
Library card sign-up month has served as a model
for other communities. This year, Kern said, the library signed up
531 new card holders who received discounts and free items for
showing their card at 110 participating businesses.
The library is quick to share credit for its
accomplishments with the community, Kern said.
Voter approval of two referendums, the first of
which resulted in a new building, and the second which provided
funds to expand staffing and operations, were crucial to the
library’s current success.
“In essence, credit for this award goes to the
taxpayers,” he said. “They made a wise decision back in 2001. In my
mind, this is the proof.”
Kern said receiving the Library of the Year
Award heightens expectations what patrons see at the library.
“We have to live up to the expectations this
award has created. We hope to exceed expectations and plan to work,
always looking to the future,” he said.
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