The Carnegie Library has been named “Best Small Library in America” for 2009 by the Library Journal because of its emphasis on customer service, a welcoming attitude toward children and up-to-date computer services. The library will receive $15,000 from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which established the award in 2005 to encourage and showcase “the exemplary work of libraries serving populations under 25,000.”
Much of the credit for the library’s success goes to director Nancy Rosenwald. Since she was hired in 2005, the library has gone from what one person described as “a selective club warehousing an out-of-date collection and occasionally functioning computers” to an “inclusive, modern service-oriented community center.”
Mrs. Rosenwald said the changes occurred after she moved staff members from the back of the library to the front, where they could effectively serve the public.
An enlarged children’s section now provides books and services for children of all ages and new technology has made library services available to more patrons.
The library has also created a genealogy collection that is open to the public. Staff members are building a data base containing information and pictures from local cemeteries.
Public reaction to the changes has been very positive — in the past three years, library visits, web site visits and circulation have increased dramatically.
A public library belongs to everyone, which is what makes the Carnegie Library’s award as Best Small Library in America so special.
Congratulations.
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