THE SMITHVILLE TIMES – SERVING BASTROP COUNTY FOR
MORE THAN 112 YEARS
Thursday, December 2, 2004 – Volume 113 – Number 49

Library Offers New Internet Resource
by Mark Gwin

The library staff is giving the community an early Christmas. Monday through Thursday next week, the library will be open until 7 p.m. each night to help patrons learn how to use the new TexShare databases.

Of course, the friendly folk at the library are available to help you learn how to use TexShare any other time they are open, too. TexShare is a compilation of databases offered through the Texas State Library and Archives Commission.

There are a wide variety of databases available through TexShare, which will be accessible to all patrons of Smithville Public Library, which has registered to participate in the TexShare program. The databases include an encyclopedia, articles from periodicals and magazines, biographical information, transcripts from television and National Public Radio, and much more.

“The material in these information resources is wonderful,” said head librarian Karen Bell. She also noted that the resource is available not just at the library but is also accessible from the home or office as well.

These database, though on the Internet, are not otherwise available for free. They charge a fee for accessing their content to individuals, but the library is offering these information tools free to residents through their participation in TexShare. Twenty people will go through TexShare training, and these 20 will then be available to help people navigate through the TexShare site and conduct searches for information on the databases.

Also available to help with computer skills is Christian Dickerson, who will continue volunteering at the Smithville Community Network Computer Lab in the Library Annex at the Smithville Recreation Center. Dickerson will be in the annex to help from 6-8 p.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays through Dec. 15. He will then take two weeks off for Christmas and resume opening the lab from
6-8 p.m. Jan. 3.

Besides keeping the lab open for those who want to use it, Dickerson is available to help people learn about basic computer skills and programs such as writing with Word, accessing the Internet and using e-mail. The library will also be hosting an Open House on Friday, Dec. 17, with refreshments and a silent auction beginning at 10 a.m., followed by special programming beginning at 3 p.m. as the library staff join together in wishing Smithville a Merry Christmas.

The following is an example of an opinion-editiorial article that has appeared in various newspapers in Texas.

Check out your local public library – by U.S. Senator Kay Baily Hutchison
January 21, 2005

When Andrew Carnegie embarked on his philanthropic effort to improve the quality of life for all Americans, he did not set up clinics or soup kitchens. He invested in libraries, reasoning that we must feed people’s minds as well as their bodies. Since books are the stored knowledge, art, and experience of mankind, libraries are a treasury of humanity. The accumulated wealth of human experience is freely available to anyone, rich or poor, who makes the effort to use these facilities.

Following his philosophy, Carnegie provided grants to various Texas communities which helped construct thirty-two public library buildings in communities ranging in size from the booming city of Dallas to the small mining town of Pittsburg.

Since that time, public libraries have continued as a unique public service institution in our democracy. In Texas alone, we have 560 public libraries. They are free to all citizens, and serve every age group from toddler to senior citizen. They unlock the world for young and old through books, computers, audio-visual resources, and important databases such as TexShare, which is a statewide consortium of academic libraries, public libraries, and libraries of clinical medicine administered by the Texas State Library and Archives Commission. It shares staff expertise and library resources while it pursues joint purchasing agreements for information services to lower costs for its members.

I am a proud ally of our state public library system because I personally gained so much from libraries. As a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, I supported modernization opportunities for public libraries through the Museum and Library Services Act. This extended authorization of support for library services and technology through FY 2009. These grants help library systems install advanced technology. I also support measures to provide teacher education, library and media specialist training, as well as preschool and teacher aid certification to individuals so they may better use these advances in the classroom or instructional process.

Public library funding in the United States is a unique combination of local, state, and federal efforts. At the local level, public library service is shaped by the community. Money is allocated by city councils, library districts, or by county commissioners courts. States add supplemental funding designed to foster library cooperation through the sharing of books and materials between libraries.

The federal role is to help extend the access of libraries across the country and the world through unique information technology networks. Through direct grants to state library agencies, federal funds promote, stimulate and support library innovation.

Public libraries form a remarkable cooperative system. If you consider that the average price of a hardback book is approximately $30, and that Texas public libraries circulate over 90 million items per year, that adds up to more than $2.7 billion in annual transactions. The value of the knowledge exchanged in the course of those transactions is incalculable.

Texas public libraries also serve as cultural havens for their communities. They are places for children to learn and develop reading skills. From preschool reading activities to grade school, children benefit from use of the local public library. Teen-agers use public libraries to help with school work and enrich their lives. Adults use public libraries to enjoy a good book, get books on tape, or to learn “how to” do any number of things, such as fix their car or succeed in business. Senior citizens are the new pioneers in the preservation of family histories through study of their family heritage. Public library genealogy collections and TexShare databases aid this important effort. Citizens of all age levels also use their libraries as public meeting places to discuss local issues. The public library is an integral part of community life.

Like you, I have used public libraries to enrich my life, to learn, and to succeed in my work. When I was in elementary school, I read every biography in the library. They gave me inspiration which is with me to this day. We can all support our local public libraries in many ways…through volunteering, contributing to their resources, or using the facilities. It is an effort worth making.