Library Center Analysis #2: Public Library

The next Library that I visited was the Palm Harbor Public Library, located on Nebraska Avenue in Palm Harbor, FL.  (http://www.palmharborlibrary.org/) Working my way up through the age groups, I decided to visit with the teen services librarian at this library. 

Katie Banks, the librarian in charge of the teen services, also graduated from USF School of Information (before the name change, of course.)  She chose to be a teen librarian because she felt it was more fun, and loves engaging the younger patrons and working with the teen advisory board. 
Katie is an active member of FLA and is also active in continuing education through the Tampa Bay Library Consortium, the Pinellas Public Library Cooperative, the Florida State Archives division of library and Information Services and Florida Electronic Library.  Her love of lifelong learning is in fact what initially pointed her to Library Science as a career.

The library itself is a somewhat unique public library because Palm Harbor is an unincorporated area of Pinellas County, and the library is governed by the Palm Harbor Community Services Agency, which also includes under its umbrella the Parks and Recreation department and the library in East Lake.  This means that the library does not report to a City Council or government, but rather to a board of volunteers- meaning that all problems at the library are handled almost exclusively by the Library Director.  Palm Harbor Library also has a very high number of volunteer workers, the largest in the state according to the library, and was founded entirely by volunteers and donations. 

Currently, the library contains just over 150,000 volumes, and has a circulation of 365,000 transactions a year. The staff includes 6 librarians and 12 paraprofessionals.  When the library is not open, the most popular materials can be checked out through the "Out-of-the-Box" library to go, located outside the entrance by inserting a library card into the vending machine. 
The library is committed to keeping up with technology, and maintains a facebook presence, and the Director of the library maintains a blog (http://librariangene.blogspot.com/).

 

Katie's division of the library, the young adult section, is a cozy separate area for teens age 13-18.  The YA division has a collection of approximately 1000 YA books, 357 DVDs and CDs, and 91 audiobooks.  Within the young adult section are separate computers, resources, booths and tables, a large television and gaming consoles, and gaming chairs and games.  Teens can doodle on a large whiteboard, hang out and play the games, do homework, and socialize.  She communicates with her Teen Advisory Board using facebook as well, as this is the easiest way to get a hold of most of the teens.  There are also a number of teen events and workshops, and many teen volunteers who help out at the library with shelving and other duties.  These events are posted on the library website as well as the children's events and classes and programs for adults.

Katie's favorite part of her job is the selection of materials, and the interaction with the patrons.  She enjoys the young adult materials, and is up to date on what is popular with the teens.  The collection is always being updated and weeded based on what is popular with the patrons.  I would love to work in this library, particularly in Young Adult (if it wouldn't be pushing Katie out!).  I love the atmosphere of the library and the friendly manner of the staff, and I will admit that I am probably responsible for a large percentage of Katie's circulation statistics despite being well above the age range of expected patrons. (Which I will blame entirely on Dr. Alexander's Materials for Young Adults class and not myself!)
Note:  I returned to the library on a weekday morning when no teens were present to take photographs of the teen section of the library.