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Kathryn Gomard

ILS 503 - Foundations of Librarianship

Library Visit

Professor D’Abreu

November 17, 2004

The E. C. Scranton Memorial Library of Madison, CT is an integral part of the resident life in the community. As a free public library, its goals are to serve its diverse community needs today, and in the future. Since its establishment in 1901, the library has responded to the changing community population and demographic shifts, and has evolved into a public space that is viewed today as a vital anchor of the town center and a “living room”[i] for the community.

My visits to the library included time with each department, as well as the Director and Assistant Director. My goal was to gain an overview of the inner workings of the organization and to learn how it had evolved as a public library. I also was interested to learn about long-range goals and future expansion as the library continues to strive to uphold its vital place in the community. In order to understand the library’s condition today, it was fundamental for me to acknowledge its history in relation to town residents and demographics. Looking back also illustrates how a successful public library has made its mark and achieved its central place in the community.

In 1737, the Four Town Library was established serving the residents of Guilford (which then included Madison), Killingworth, Old Lyme and Old Saybrook. The “Farmer’s Library” was established in 1792 as a subscription library in East Guilford (or Madison) with a catalog of 260 volumes. In the 1860’s, interest in the library waned and the collection was auctioned off and service terminated. In 1878, the Madison Library Association was organized, housing its collection in various locations and offering membership at $1.00 per year. Most of the collection was destroyed in a school fire in 1895 leaving only 18 books intact. Service continued via the Library Association in a space provided at a local shoe store.

Miss Mary Eliza Scranton, daughter of a local businessman and downtown Madison resident, put an end to the meager home of the library and provided funding for the design and construction of a fully furnished library adjacent to her family homestead in the town center. In 1901, the E.C. Scranton Memorial Library was incorporated and the original library association dissolved. Henry Bacon, a leading New York Architect and future designer of the Lincoln Memorial, designed the building, which is still represented in the front section of the present structure. Miss Scranton also provided a trust fund for library expenses, which provided support until 1949 when the town began contributing modest sums.

Today, the town provides 86% of the budget to this private corporation with remaining funds coming from state and federal support, grants, private donations and fundraising efforts. As the budget has evolved over the years, so too has the patron profile.

Since the 1860's, the town has developed from a mainly farming community to one entertaining a large summer resident community attracted to the town's beaches and Long Island Sound. Today, most year-round residents are in the executive, professional, technical, and managerial categories, with employment in Hartford, New Haven, Fairfield County and New York. Population has grown from 1500 in 1900 to over 17,000 today. Quality of life and the educational system has produced a steady rise in the number of young families, seniors, and residential and commercial development. Demand for continued educational excellence and municipal services have provided a constant challenge for the town.

In response to the changing community, a major building addition to the library was completed in 1965-6, more than doubling space. A second expansion was completed in 1987-89, again doubling the square footage to the 17,700 square feet of today. Within the last seven years, the library has seen an 11% increase in adult circulating books, an 88% increase in adult videos, and a 123% increase in audio circulation. Adult programs have also increased almost five-fold and children’s programs have broadened over 42%.

In September of 2003, in response to library growth statistics, the Library Board of Directors, the governing body of Scranton Library, established a long-range plan developed from a series of focus groups. The groups were comprised of library patrons, students, educators, business people, elected officials, civic leaders, parents, and library staff. Areas included in this study were mission statement, perceptions of the library, current library services, ideas for improvement, comparison with other community libraries, public relations, publicity, marketing and funding. Through this effort, the commitment of the town to the intrinsic value of its library was affirmed, and a plan to preserve and plan for its future was established.

The Madison Library vision states “The E.C. Scranton Memorial Library will be Madison’s premier resource for cultural enrichment, learning, information and enjoyment. We will attract people of all ages and interest.”[ii] Further, the library mission statement reads, “The mission of the E.C. Scranton Memorial Library is to fulfill the lifetime learning, information, cultural enrichment, and enjoyment needs of Madison’s adults, teens and children in a comfortable and inviting community setting with the assistance of knowledgeable and helpful staff and volunteers.”[iii]

The current building supports two main areas. The original building houses the children’s department, including “Family Place”, children’s programs and a historical collection/small Boardroom. The “new” space includes main circulation, reference, teen section, adult collection, computers, reading space, periodicals, ILL station, and bestsellers.

The facility has a collection of 62,000 books, records, language tapes along with over 200 newspapers and magazines. Services also include video cassettes for overnight use, community calendar listings for coming events, and home delivery services for the home bound.

Computerized in 1995, there are now 12 public access computer stations – 4 children’s, 2 teen, and 6 adult. Wireless internet access was added in October 2004. Internet access is provided and maintained through the town server. To qualify for federal funding, all terminals are filtered and thus restricted. Children under the age of seven must be attended by a parent while on the computer. Sign-ups are for 30 minute slots and done at the circulation or teen desk.

Sandy Long, Library Director, has worked in libraries for over 30 years. Her focus for the last several years is to “formalize” the organization by writing “policies for results” which better enable the staff to respond to patron needs. Her work stems from supporting the library mission statement, as well as supporting the ALA Bill of Rights and the Freedom to Read Protection Act. Her opposition to the Patriot Act has presented a challenging dilemma and prompted the drafting of “Confidentiality of Library Records Policy” last month. In it, the policy states it will “resist the issuance or enforcement of any such process, order or subpoena until such time as a proper showing of good cause has been made in a court of competent jurisdiction.”[iv] This earnest position permeates all corners of the library and its staff as it dedicates itself to protecting patron records and providing for intellectual freedom.

Censorship has rarely been an issue and no material has ever been pulled from the collection. A policy of diplomacy is embraced to defend the rights of all, and to date has been a sufficient approach. One restriction was made to a political group wanting to use the library to disseminate their cause. The director felt this was politically partisan and so denied their request. Otherwise, a variety of community groups uses the facility on an ongoing basis. Sandy’s frustration has rather been meeting community group needs due to lack of space. Reporting directly to the Board of Directors, she has been an integral part of planning for the library’s future and being as responsive as possible to ongoing needs.

To keep her staff in high esteem, Sandy encourages and actively supports ongoing professional development from both a time and financial perspective. Most of the staff belongs to several professional networking organizations, as well as participating in round table discussion groups. There is very little turnover of staff in this facility as this director clearly supports her staff professionally, personally and intellectually.

The MLS degreed Assistant Director has a more hands on position. Coming from a cataloging and reference background, her responsibilities include collection development, overseeing library services, staff and volunteer schedules and functions, policy development, training, program schedules and activities, and exhibits. She relies heavily on volunteers from the community to provide shelving and mending needs. Liaison work is also provided with R.J. Julia, a local flourishing bookstore, to provide book talks and author presentations.

The Reference librarian, also an MLS, feels the small staff at Scranton necessitates wearing multiple hats. She feels the MLS degree helps lay the foundation for public library work, as well as being a necessity for reference work. The reference desk handles a steady gamut of questions that often require gentle “digging” to qualify inquiries towards answer fulfillment.

The Circulation desk is the busy center of the library handling the main phone lines, security screens, main circulation, holds, C-car deliveries, information desk, and a continual stream of public relations. All staff except the children’s department covers this station on a rotating basis. In fact, the staff schedule provides daily two-hour shifting through departments to keep staff abreast of all departments functions and activities. This provides for flexibility in weekly scheduling coverage for the 60 open hours of the library.

The Library Technical Aid, who started as a volunteer, knows the library intimately and is a vital part of its function. She is responsible for opening early for computer classes, working circulation, computer log sheets, bestsellers, audio and video collections, to name a few.

The Interlibrary Loan (ILL) Librarian, another MLS, is a key player in this library’s success. The activity surrounding book requests through other libraries has helped this library provide beyond the limitation of its onsite collection. Responding to the 25 book groups in the area, as well as academic requests and summer reading lists, she supports a “library without walls” through her use of four main databases, LION, REQUEST, OCLC and Baker and Taylor. The LION membership of 22 CT libraries allows sharing of collections, especially fiction. REQUEST, the CT-wide system of 300 state libraries, provides broader resources including periodicals. The Ohio College Library Catalog (OCLC) is used for cataloging and national lending and includes CT libraries not on REQUEST, such as private colleges. The Baker and Taylor database includes old books in print in addition to books to be published. In business for over 175 years, Baker and Taylor is a leading full-line distributor of books, video and music products with approximately 385,000 titles in inventory and over 1.5 million titles available for order. Connecticar or C-car is the very active transportation service that delivers all ILL books from regional libraries on a daily basis to Scranton library.

The Young Adult Department is relatively new and has focused on collection development for grades 7-12. This MLS position focuses heavily on relationships with town school librarians and the superintendent’s office by offering book talks, book lists, curriculum support, and teacher training. Through monthly circulation status reports, this department has seen their circulation grow from 1500/year to over 24,000 in a five year period.

The Children’s librarian serves a growing community as well by offering programs from early literacy (birth and toddler) finger play and movement classes, story time, book clubs, and art and science programs for the K-2 age group. The children’s aid, considered the Assistant Children’s librarian, delivers book talks and scavenger hunts for grades 4-6. Both professionals, neither MLS trained but experienced in children’s librarianship, support a close relationship with area schools, offering in-service classes and special programs such as Newberry Night, a Lemony Snicket series, and Harry Potter Birthday party. The summer reading lists developed with the school media specialists, in addition to special literacy promotion programs, sees an approximate 50% increase in circulation over the summer months.

Using the result of the recent focus groups, Scranton library and the town have identified the library as the key town “community center downtown, the anchor of main street…”[v] Towards continued support of this end, an adjacent property was not long ago purchased as the eventual location for library expansion. A fundraising campaign, the Millennium Fund, will soon kick off toward raising necessary building funds. The Board of Directors has recently approved $40K for an architectural and design study and plan.

As part of my study of the Scranton Library, I sensed an overwhelming commitment of the staff towards continuing to meet the needs of the community it serves. There is strong hope that the eventual expansion will not only satisfy increased public expectations, but also alleviate staff frustrations stemming from space limitations. Examples of items on the staff “wish” list for expansion included:

• Expanded teen department

• Additional community meeting space

• Dedicated staff lounge

• Low stacks for children’s area

• Increased storage for children’s craft supplies

• Loading dock for C-car deliveries

• Book drop

• Parking

• More display space for special exhibits

• Increased bestseller space

• Comfortable seating areas

• Study carrels

• More computers

• Dedicated children’s program space with stroller parking

• Expanded media collection

• Increased lighting

Added to the list from the community are:

• Expanded hours, i.e. nighttime and weekend

• Increased internet access and technology instruction

• Wide-ranging adult and children’s programs

• Enlarged collection in all formats

• Marketing campaign to increase public awareness of library resources

• Enhanced collaboration between schools and town with the library

• Senior programs

• More inviting décor

The E.C. Scranton Memorial Library is clearly regarded as a cornerstone of life in Madison. Despite the facility deficiencies, the leadership and staff with town support have provided many important improvements to library service and collections over the years, and continues to strive to meet community needs. The Long Range Planning Committee identified their research as “a living document that must change as our world changes.”[vi] With careful planning, the wonderfully dedicated and supportive staff can meet those needs through expansion and thereby provide an exemplary service devoted to supporting free public access to information and a desirable quality of life in Madison.

For more information, go to

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Endnotes

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[i] Library Development Solutions. (January 2003). Madison Voices, A Summary of Comments from Madison Resident’s About the E.C. Scranton Memorial Library. Princeton Junction, New Jersey: Library Development Solutions. p. 1.

[ii] Library Development Solutions. (September 2003). Madison’s Door to the Future: A Long Range Plan for the E.C. Scranton Memorial Library, 2003-2008. Princeton Junction, New Jersey: Library Development Solutions. p.8.

[iii] Ibid. p. 8.

[iv] Long, Sandy. (October 14, 2004). E.C. Scranton Memorial Library Confidentiality of Library Records Policy. Draft, E.C. Scranton Memorial Library, Madison, CT.

[v] Library Development Solutions. (September 2003). p. 6.

[vi] Ibid. intro

References

Library Development Solutions. (September 2003). Madison’s Door to the Future: A Long

Range Plan for the E.C. Scranton Memorial Library, 2003-2008. Princeton Junction, New Jersey: Library Development Solutions.

Library Development Solutions. (January 2003). Madison Voices, A Summary of Comments

from Madison Resident’s About the E.C. Scranton Memorial Library. Princeton Junction, New Jersey: Library Development Solutions.

Long, Sandy. (October 14, 2004). E.C. Scranton Memorial Library Confidentiality of Library

Records Policy. Draft, E.C. Scranton Memorial Library, Madison, CT.

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