FRIENDS OF GREENBURGH LIBRARY CONTINUING BOOK SALE TOMORROW AND MONDAY---A MESSAGE FROM LIBRARY DIRECTOR: LIBRARY DOING MORE WITH LESS
I was at the Greenburgh Library this afternoon and saw hundreds of residents smile because they were purchasing books at the annual book sale sponsored by the Friends of the Greenburgh Library. The prices for the books are amazing--great deals. And the cause is also terrific: helping the library do great things for the community. There are still two days left for the book sale. And, although many books have already been sold there are some terrific books that are still available. So, stop by at the Greenburgh Library tomorrow or Monday. And, join other smiling book purchasers. If you think e reading has replaced books check out the annual sale and you'll see that people still want to own a terrific book.
Sunday, October 6
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Monday, October 7
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From: John Sexton <JSexton@greenburghny.com>
Date: October 4, 2019 at 5:17:19 PM EDT
To: Paul Feiner <pfeiner@greenburghny.com>
Paul:
The Library is a prime example of how technology has made for efficiencies in operations and improvements in service. Where once the library had forty full time employees we now have twenty-one. As recently as 2005 we had 28 full time employees. As technologies such as pre-processed books, computerized cataloging and circulation systems became available, the library reduced the number of staff that had been required to do tasks manually – creating catalog cards by hand, covering and labeling books and manually entering them into a circulation database.. Automatic notification systems by phone or email replace staff whose majority of working hours was on the telephone. Currently self-check machines account for about 40% of our total circulation of materials which allows us to have only four full time clerks when previously we had ten or more..
What technology can’t do, however, is replace the librarians whose work is to create and facilitating programs that enrich our community and continue to draw people into the library. In 2010 we provided 506 library programs to children, teens and adults. This year we will have nearly 1,300 programs in the library. So its not like we are doing less work it is just different work requiring different skill sets. But we are able to do that more efficiently because of the improvements in technology.
John
PAUL FEINER
