By Bridget Cooke
In November 1976, the L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library officially opened to the public. The structure has gone through various changes throughout its 36 years of operation, including renovations to adapt the building structure to account for rapidly changing technology.
Since its founding, the library has undergone changes that include the addition of electrical outlets for desktop computers and has posed challenges for remodelers who have tried to drill through its steel cable floor.
Stoneberg
Director John Stoneberg began his job as a reference desk worker in October 1977. After spending time as an assistant director, Stoneberg was promoted to director in August of 2008.
?The biggest changes have occurred within the last 30 years,? he said. ?If you think about it, up until the introduction of the PC, library work hadn?t changed for decades.?
When he began his tenure at the L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library, the media Stoneberg dealt with was limited to 16mm film. Since then, he has witnessed the introduction of video tapes and DVDs.
Stoneberg said they were the first institution to work with VHS tapes, introducing the videos in 1983 before rental stores offered them to the public.
The library still offers more than just print books. The technology offered ranges from audio books and music ? streaming? online, downloads and CDs ? to free wireless Internet.
E-readers are the latest product causing change for public libraries.
The L.E. Phillips Memorial Library stands in downtown Eau Claire, where it was built in November 1976, open for citizens to borrow print books, audio books, iPads, e-books and more. ?2013 Bridget Cooke
Stoneberg said the Eau Claire library has adapted to products such as the Nook, Kindle, iPad and others, but that there have been many obstacles faced along the way.
Stoneberg said libraries are catalysts for people looking to test run products that they may buy at a later date, which helps the market trying to sell their work.
This relationship between the library and publishing companies that control the majority of published content ? The ?Big Six,? according to Stoneberg, are ?Hatchet, Simon & Schuester, Harper Collins, Random House, Penguin and McMillan ? had never been an issue until the introduction of e-books.
?There was this concern that their e-content was going to be pirated because it was at the library,? he said. ?And that really wasn?t found to be the case. Even though we don?t feel it?s founded, because we also think that people continue to discover e-books and e-content through libraries, what happened was four of them wouldn?t even sell to us.?
He added that one of the companies offered published works marked up from 300 to 400 percent, and another decided they were going to sell the content to the library, but only in such a way that it could be circulated 26 times before the L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library?would have to again purchase the content.
Director of Altoona Public Library Christina Jones said the library system in Wisconsin is a valuable resource for libraries because of the issues they have faced with publishers and obtaining digital work.
?It has been a struggle for libraries in general to work out a fair deal with publishers so that we can have affordable access to give our patrons access to e-books,? she said. ?We?re lucky to work as a consortium. We share access with a bunch of other public libraries in Wisconsin, which allows us to share resources.?
Overall, Jones said the important provision of a public library is the access it allows for members of a community.
Jones
?Sometimes you hear people saying that libraries are becoming less relevant now in the digital age, but I think now, especially in a down economy, libraries are more important than ever,? she said. ?They provide access to books, to movies, to the internet, to job-search resources that people can?t get otherwise. The library can be a great resource.?
Both Stoneberg and Jones said the public library provides many services for its visitors and that is why they do not tend to worry about the changing face of technology.
?What we?ve found in recent surveys is that instead of wanting something new or different, what customers want is more stuff,? Stoneberg said. ?It is in addition to what they wanted before, it?s not instead of what they wanted before.?
He added that the requests for audio e-books are almost identical to those of e-content and that audio e-books are currently very popular through their library.
Jones said that although the amount of electronic borrowing has gone up, she is not worried about the circulation of print books dwindling.
?I think people who come here and use the library read so many books, and we see so many books come in and out of here, it?s hard to think they?re going to be obsolete any time soon,? she said. ?I think a lot of people who say that aren?t necessarily seeing how busy libraries still are.?
Ben Krause, a student at Luther Preparatory School in Watertown who frequents the Eau Claire Public Library, said he uses the library as a main resource for research.
?(It?s important) to have working resources for the public,? he said.
Krause added that he not only uses books as sources for academics, but also relies heavily on Internet, an accommodation the public library also provides.
But technology has changed how people utilize the public library, a fact Stoneberg and Jones have acknowledged through tracking of services and products provided to members of their libraries.
The Altoona Public Library houses its audio books near its CDs. There is a large area for children to engage with audio books and to use computers. ?2013 Bridget Cooke
Jones said that the number of e-book users at the Altoona Public Library was 1,940 out of 130,000 total circulations in 2012, a sharp increase from the 420 total e-book uses the year before.
Jones said interest has definitely gone up, but knows physical products like print books, CDs, audio books and DVDs are still very much in demand.
?It just depends on what you?re preferences are,? she said. ?For us the only negative is just keeping up with the technology and being able to provide the support our patrons? need, which isn?t really a disadvantage, it?s just a challenge for us.?
Stoneberg said though print books and physical items such as CDs are still a priority for most visitors of the public library, there is an uptick in the amount of people with e-readers and therefore more interest in digital options.
?The demand is growing; there?s interest in it,? he said. ?We have all these varieties of services and products and I think the common thing to mention to people is ? if you?re interested in it, libraries have probably started offering it to you.?
Eau Claire?s public library now circulates iPads as well. Stoneberg said their 32 ?iPads have made it through 1,500 circulations in the six months they?ve offered them, resulting in only one lost tablet.
He said that Eau Claire is the first public library in the United States to offer a large quantity of iPads. This was made possible through grant funding by the Presto foundation. He added that the library will soon be adding mini iPads as devices available for check-out.
The experiences of these local libraries seem to reflect the issues faced by public libraries nationally.
According to the American Library Association, 76 percent of libraries offer access to e-books, and 39 percent of libraries provide e-readers for check-out by patrons. E-books are available for checkout from 92 percent of urban libraries, compared to 65 percent of rural libraries.
Jones said Altoona Public Library already offers Kindles, Nooks and Sony e-readers to its patrons, but will also be receiving two iPads to supplement the six computers they currently have for use within the building, which reflects a problem that many libraries are facing now.
The American Libary Association?s website states that 91 percent of public libraries provide free Wi-Fi and 74 percent of libraries report use of Wi-Fi increased in 2011. 65 percent of public libraries report having an insufficient number of public computers to meet demand and this increases the number to 87 percent within urban areas.
Stoneberg said internet has changed their business quite a bit, but he anticipates they will be able to adapt as they have in the past.
Jones said she doesn?t worry either. In her opinion, physical products and services from the public library are here to stay for some time.
?Overall, e-books are just a fraction of our total circulation,? Jones said. ?(Physical rentals) might be decreasing, but I don?t think that means they?re going to be obsolete any time soon. There are just so many people here who are still checking out books and who wouldn?t want it any other way.?
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Copy edited by Haley Zblewski and Andy Hildebrand
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