September 3, 1969
Because of a cooperative arrangement between the Monroe County Library and the Monroe County Community School Corporation, the school system's 13,200 pupils will have an additonal 5,000 library books to read and more library assistance this year.
The Monroe County Library is providing the advantages through its book processing center, temporarily housed in the basement of the west wing of the school administration center, 315 North Drive.
In the past, the cataloging and processing of new library books took several weeks of the fall term before reaching shelves. The busy work also absorbed a good part of the librarian's time.
Last January, the county library and the school system began a program which brough together the library's manpower and the school system's facilities, provided by extra space in the new administration center.
Under a one-year agreement, the two public agencies are combining efforts to reach the same goal — getting books into the hands of youngsters. And the temporary marriage is saving money through volume buying of books and less need for more employees, according to school and library officials.
A horseshoe conveyor belt gives and assembly line appearance to the book preparation. The arrangement is the brainchild of Charls Hunsberger, library director, Mrs. Frank Miller, library co-ordinator, and Merril Crisler, the school system's library coordinator.
The assembly line method takes about 4 minutes per book, according to Mrs. Steve Ingle, head of the processing center. Bit it would take school librarians three times longer to do the same job for each book.
After a book has been unpacked from the box, here are the steps involved in getting it ready for shelving:
Check title against invoices to insure proper shipment
Stamp school corporation name
Catalog by the Dewey decimal system as to subject headings
Glue pocket on back, inner cover
Type and insert catalog card
Label spine of book
Add plastic, protective jackets
Check for correct copy number and catalog letters
Pack books into boxes and label boxes
Ship boxes to schools
When the books arrive at the school, all the librarian has to do is check the books and shelve them, thus freeing her to help the pupils more.
Besides books, the processing center handles tapes and records, films and film strips which also are housed in school libraries.
Mrs. Ingle is assisted by full-time employees Mrs. Margaret Gentry, Mrs. Charles Crockett and Miss Georgia Flaten, and by part-time employees Terry Travis, Mrs. Daniel Drew and Mrs. Tony Schickel.
What happens to the joint arrangement with the new county library at Lincoln and Kirkwood is finished rests upon the success of this first year.
If having books ready on time and allowing school librarians time to offer more service is indicative of success, the the program may continue indefinitely.
"Processing Center Speeds Books to School Libraries," Daily Herald-Telephone, September 3, 1969