| Sadieville Library Express Ribbon Cutting | LEID’s Electronic Lockers & iLibrary Kiosk | |
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Get On Board: Library Express Sadieville
By Earlene H. Arnett
Director
Scott County Public Library
On June 10th the Scott County Public Library cut the ribbons for “Library Express Sadieville.” Approximately 60 citizens attended the ribbon cutting and summer reading kick-off with demonstrations, magic show, bookmobile and ice cream. And right on key, as the library director gave the agenda for the day, a break was taken as the train passed through. I believe this was a sign that we had blessings from the founders of Sadieville!
Library Express Sadieville consists of a book return box, kiosk, and lockers all conveniently located in a small three sided shelter attached to Sadieville City Hall. The kiosk contains the library database and allows anyone with a Scott County Public Library card to search for items and place them on hold indicating they want to pick them up at the Sadieville location. Library staff will deliver the items, place them in the lockers and notify the patron that their items are ready for pick-up. Entering the last five digits of your library card will allow the proper locker to open. With the system being located outside city hall, request and pick-up is available twenty-four hours a day. When you are ready to return the items you can simply drop them in the return box located at the site.
This project was a team effort. My first step was to work closely with the Mayor of Sadieville. I attended their city council meeting and presented the concept and asked for permission to continue the project with the location being at city hall. With their approval the project began. The equipment needs some protection from the extreme weather so we contracted with a local (Sadieville) carpenter to build us a three-sided structure. The carpenter took great pride in helping us with this project and the final structure looks like it was original to the building! The city of Sadieville may be small but the city clerk has a database of residents and produces a newsletter called “The Sadieville Sunshine.” We were able to advertise our event through their newsletter.
My favorite Sadieville story - a little girl got her first library card at the bookmobile during that Sunday celebration. On Monday we had a request for books from her. The family is regularly requesting items!
The Library Express project is designed to bring library service closer to our outlying communities. First stop for this project was Sadieville but more will be coming. Look out Stamping Ground, population 643, the express is moving your way.
It’s a changing world and we know that the public library needs to change to meet our community’s needs. We are looking for more ways to save time, money and energy for our patrons. In Sadieville, Library Express Sadieville can be the answer. As librarians we know a library card is the most valuable card you carry. For our Northern Scott County residents they can use it often - now in Sadieville!
Footnote: as librarians you are now asking yourself how much does this cost and who is the vendor? The kiosk and library lockers will cost $50,000 and are from LEID Products. John Kormanik is the sales representative. He came along with the technician for the installation and training. We didn’t ask City Hall to share internet connections. We are providing our own. City Hall does provide the electricity. Since our location didn’t have a sheltered area we had a shelter custom made. Currently drop-off service is done three times a week. We will continue to monitor and adjust this schedule as needed. We have also included in next year’s budget funds for a small economical vehicle for deliveries.
“The iLibrary System gives an opportunity to expand on what our bookmobile has done for years - bring life-long learning to our rural areas,” said Earlene Arnette, Scott County Library Director. With the Scott County Public Library located in the southern end of Scott County, Arnette realized there was the need for library access in the more rural northern end of the county where library patrons have to travel 15 miles to visit the library.