In Arizona, a Stunning New Library and Staff on Loan

Town workers shifted from other departments to library

Norman Oder -- Library Journal, 11/20/2009

• For new staffers, "Library 101"
• Loss of development fees
• New virtual interactive room

The new Prescott Valley Public Library, AZ, which opened in October, is such a stunner that it won an “On the Boards” award for design in 2008 by the Library Administration and Management Association/International Interior Design Association. (Rendering from richard + bauer architects.)

Given town budget straits, however, the only way to staff the building for now is to borrow city employees from other departments, which has led to some last-minute LIS education for people who never expected to work in the library.

So far, says director Stuart Mattson, the jerry-built library staff is working well enough, though he’s careful not to put any town employees on the reference desk. But they are helping with computers and working at the checkout desk and in the back offices—and some are even volunteering their time.

Library grows
With a tripling of space, to 36,000 square feet, Mattson expected a doubling of staff, which included about 17 people, including several part-timers. However, Prescott Valley, which has grown from 5000 people in 1987 to nearly 40,000 today, is no longer growing, which means development fees no longer fuel the city budget.

The town manager imposed a hiring freeze, so the library has been a beneficiary of a town policy that allows for employees to be transferred to other departments.

Recreation coordinator Roy Jenkins, who now works full time at the library, told the Daily Courier he likes his work: "Everything is about public service," Jenkins said. "We want to help them (library patrons) get to where they want to be."

Library perspective
“Once we actually got going, they really enjoy their time here,” Mattson said. To get new workers up to speed, library manager Kathy Hellman developed two three-hour classes, Library 101 and 102, to instruct people in the history and operations of libraries as well as the operation of the library’s ILS.

“We had people with very good computer skills and tried to place them in those areas,” Mattson said of the newcomers working with the public. “Then we looked at the librarians we had and tried to place them more on the desks that would require our skill level. I work the desk myself.” 

Some residents commenting on the Courier story groused about “high-priced pseudo-librarians.” But those mentioned, the town manager and town attorney, are actually volunteering their time, said Mattson.

What happens to staffing in six months when the loaned employees must leave? Mattson said he wasn’t sure.

The new virtual interactive room
One new job, however, for the loaned employees will be to help monitor a virtual interactive room (V.I.R.), a unique space funded in part by Northcentral University, an online university that donated more than $100,000 for the project and occupies a wing of the library building.

The V.I.R., according to the university, "contains projectors that display all online research content and multimedia in an area the size of a conference room. The system enables visitors to use body language to interact with the technology. By standing up and gesturing with hand motions, users can operate the system; activate workspaces and access online resources."

Opening celebration