The library mentioned here refers to public libraries serving the public, excluding university libraries, private libraries and presidential libraries. Public libraries are open to almost anyone. Visitors can borrow books, periodicals, audio books, CDs and DVDs for free as long as they show their valid identity documents. No deposit, no handling fee.
Most of the buildings in public libraries are simple and practical, and many even have a history of nearly a hundred years. But no matter how old or small, the reading environment is clean and comfortable, and the books are pleasant. People can not only read books, newspapers and magazines here, but also use Wi-Fi and computers for free. Because the library is highly open, even homeless people can enjoy these services. Many people simply regard the library as their home, and they can stay in the library all day as long as it does not affect the normal order.
In recent years, electronic reading has swept the world, and the public library system in the United States has not fallen behind, but has adapted to and made good use of this trend.
On the one hand, they pay close attention to the digitization of their rare books and historical materials, on the other hand, they cooperate with many e-book providers. In this process, the cooperation between libraries is also deeper, and many libraries often join hands to buy expensive e-book databases. In this way, each library only needs to pay a small fee, so that readers can borrow a large number of e-books for free and support reading on various mobile terminals such as iPhone, iPad, kindle and Samsung.
Secondly, shadow play is also a service content.
Lending service is only a basic service, and the library also undertakes many other public services.
Take Los Angeles County as an example. Librarians in the Children's Department of the Los Angeles Central Library will learn to tell stories and perform shadow play, and arrange fixed time for children's audiences every month. Employees in the youth department need to know the SAT very well, and provide exam consultation and career planning guidance for teenagers.
In addition, every summer, reading club is almost an indispensable routine project in every library. Many libraries often hold small performances and exhibitions, and Crowe Library in San Marino town actually provides passport handling services. Ms. mcdermott, the librarian, once wrote a book about how librarians should adapt to multi-functional work.
To maintain so many public service functions, we must have enough human resources. However, there are not many official staff in the library, and most of the special services are completed by volunteers. The library only needs to provide venues and funds to carry out necessary training for volunteers.
Librarians belong to the government civil servant system and generally have a professional degree in library management. They are mainly responsible for budgeting, purchasing new books, classifying books and daily borrowing, but they also participate in a considerable number of public service projects. Volunteers only participate in a special project, such as giving English lessons to new immigrants and acting as literacy counselors.
In addition, each library has a board of directors with different backgrounds, which is responsible for providing suggestions from different fields and playing a supervisory role to ensure that the library meets various needs to the maximum extent. Theoretically, any citizen can apply to the municipal government to become a member of the board of directors, but only candidates who have voted by the city Council can hold the position, and the work of board members is unpaid.
Three. sources of fund
A lot of money is still needed to keep the library running. However, apart from a small amount of overdue book return fines and venue rental fees, the library has almost no income, so where does the operating expenses come from?
Still taking Los Angeles County as an example, its public library system is divided into two sets, one is the county library system, and the other is the city's self-built library. Join the county library system or build your own library? City Council can vote, but no matter what it chooses, unless there is no library, the city will allocate a certain percentage of tax (usually a certain percentage of property tax) as the main source of funds to maintain the operation of the library every year.
The amount of this fund varies with the size of the city. For example, in addition to a central library, there are 72 branches in Los Angeles, which are self-contained. Pasadena also has a system consisting of 10 libraries; San Marino has a population of only 1.3 million, so it only needs to build a library.
Funds from the government can only be used to buy new books and pay employees' salaries, that is, to maintain the daily operation of the library. How to realize other functions?
It turns out that every library has a foundation, and professionals are responsible for raising funds, which are only used for large expenditures related to fixed assets, such as building maintenance and new equipment purchase. In addition, libraries usually accept donations, which is the source of funds for special services. Donors usually specify what the money must be used for, such as children's education or youth services.