The Librarian Is In

The book on Carolyn Wells is, well, what you might expect for the career librarian and Glasgow City-County Library director.

As she puts it, “I'm a book person foremost. I always have been, and I probably always will be, and I'm getting ready to retire.”

That said, Carolyn – with 30 years at five libraries under her belt – has helped bring the kind of technology to the library that has changed how people live and libraries operate. The evidence is on the shelves, on the Internet, on her mind. 

The library at 408 3rd Ave. South offers wireless Internet, three public-access computer stations, books on CDs, feature films on DVDs and videotape, and faxing. The facility's new circulation system enables users with advanced library cards to go online to renew their borrowed books and access catalogues shared among libraries.

Even fishing poles can be borrowed along with the standard books, newspapers and magazines.

Most popular among borrowers these days – Carolyn says without hesitation – are novels and DVD movies in the Stephenie Meyer's vampire romance Twilight series. The second most popular category: new fiction and nonfiction books.

“Libraries have traditionally been all about books, but that has expanded a lot in recent years,” Carolyn says. “Libraries used to spend thousands upon thousands upon thousands of dollars on reference books. For better or for worse, the Internet has taken a lot of that away. But you can't trust everything on the Web. A lot of people online think that they know a lot, but they don't.”

In any case, going online is routine for many Glasgow library visitors. Carolyn says about 20 to 25 people a day use the public computers. Others bring in their laptops and make use of the free Wi-Fi. 

Some travelers even go online outside in their parked cars to check email, plugging in extension cords to their computers to an electrical outlet near the library's entrance. Not that this is recommended. Carolyn warns that it could be hazardous if someone were to trip over the cord.

“It's a modern-day library service, I guess,” she says.

The library's annual circulation – its number of borrower transactions – is nearly 38,000. Recent records show the ever-changing size of its collection is 49,770 volumes of books and other items. Active, card-holding library users number about 2,500, and many others come in while visiting or passing through Glasgow.

“They come from all over the country,” Carolyn says. “All over.”

A staff of five handles the workload: Carolyn, full-time library aide Karen Anderson and part-time aides Linda Anderson, Janet Eidson and Shawn Weston. 

“There are two of us who are full-time, so we all do what needs to be done,” Carolyn says.

In focus now is the summer reading program, “Make a Splash,” that Karen Anderson leads. About 50 children in various age groups are registered, and families also can participate. Continuing through Aug. 6, it features story times, a reading program and children's activities.

The library also seeks a new board member to fill the opening left by Frank Mersen, who retired June 30. Applicants – preferably “somebody who supports the library, somebody who uses the library,” Carolyn says – should file with the city.

Carolyn, a native of Billings with family there, arrived here in 2006 after managing a far larger library in Portsmouth, Va. She learned about the Glasgow library director's opening and applied. 

“I was homesick,” she says. “I wanted to live in a small town. This is close enough to my family to see them when I want, and the people here are so nice.”

Orrdinary People appears in The Glasgow Courier. Please suggest special people to Jim Orr at 228-9301 or publisher@glasgowcourier.com.