When I saw the word Iceberg, I immediately thought of stationary librarians. - those who don't move - sit and wait for someone to come to them. I must say that with HCPL's circulation growing it feels good that we must be doing a lot of things right to have an increasing circulation in this time of decreasing stats. Surely the Internet and new "media" we all are adding to our "collections" have contributed to that increase. We lure people into the library and overwhelm them with all the good stuff we have to offer.
Cooperation, both within and without a system, has been one of the best things that has happened to libraries. No one looks back fondly on the old way of filling holds - or if they do, one should have them checked out for their sanity is definitely in question. And how great it is to see if something is available to be lent from another system. What a great way to deal with shrinking budgets when your customer base is definitely not shrinking.
Databases - how wonderful they are! We look forward to the time more of the older materials will be offered online. Those working on history projects cry out for materials from our earlier times. And when will all databases be available remotely? While we love to have customers come in, sometimes it just isn't practical - it was one of the better days when I found out my kids could look up their homework (that magazine article on a science topic - one a week for a whole semester) after the library had closed.
Libraries have certainly come a long way, baby! But it is nice to know that there are still many who enjoy coming in and reading a good book or magazine and visiting with like-minded people.
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