Newsletter

Extensive on-line databases that can only be accessed at a library are now available at the CPPL.

Imagine being able to search newspapers from around the world, thousands of magazines & academic journals from the comfort of the library!

Example: I’d wanted to find an article I read a few years ago in Discover magazine. I entered “photography,” the name of the magazine, and gave a probable date range. It found the article and gave me links to learn even more about the product that had caught my interest sometime back. I got, not just the article, but also a great deal more information than I’d expected.

Our Library may be small in size compared to most libraries of note, but due to our membership in the Big Country Library System and the fact that we take advantage of materials and technology offered by the state library system, we are able to connect local patrons with the world with a click of the mouse. Two such aspects of the library connectional systems are featured in this newsletter.

Value of Library Services - 2005

By: Arlene Stephenson

We are all familiar with the figures used by tourism and economic development entities to indicate the turn over value of each dollar spent in a community. Currently this value equals a return of $7.31.

Libraries also have a value figured on the services provided to patrons. Data recently released by the Big Country Library System in Abilene shows that the Cross Plains Public Library is providing services valued at $228,701. And this is being done on an annual budget of only $31,304 for the fiscal year, 2005.

If we strictly look at our budget of $31,304 divided by our usage population of 2,220, we are spending literally $14.10 per capita. But the value of services that we provide with that budget gets pretty awesome in a big hurry.

Example: to use a public computer at Kinko’s, a patron could expect to pay about $12.00 per hour. By multiplying our local usage hours by that same rate, we are providing $14,352.00 of computer access —– free to our patrons! And the list goes on and on.

So the next time you are asked about the benefit of a library in a small rural community, you can truly answer that the services provided are invaluable.

The next time you are interested in researching anything in the world, come by the library and ask Cherry for assistance in accessing this wonderful new tool.

A Painless Way to Give

Have you visited www.igive.com for your online shopping? At that site, you can shop at over 550 popular stores and a portion of your purchase will go to the charity you designate. Of course, we hope you’ll choose the Cross Plains Public Library as your favorite charity! For more information, just visit the Web site and they’ll help you get set up.

WE STAND AMONG THE BEST

Imagine the excitement in our crowded little library recently when a letter arrived with the following message: “Congratulations!! Your library has been selected from hundreds of nominations to be one on the 80 libraries to be featured in Heart of the Community: The Libraries We Love.”

The Berkshire Publishing Group in Great Barrington, MA is the driving force behind the idea to select libraries that, as a group, display the full range of the diversity, potential, style, history and contributions of a wide scope libraries in the US and Canada. This is the first time that such a compilation has been attempted to honor libraries for the work they are doing in their communities.