Library Closed, Resources Still Available

by Beth Cronk, Litchfield head librarian

The Litchfield Public Library is closed indefinitely because of COVID-19, along with all other libraries in Pioneerland Library System.  The book drop is closed, as well.  For now, please keep public library books and movies at home, and once the library reopens you may return them.  Due dates will continue to be extended while the library is closed, so there’s no need to worry about late fees.

All library events and programs that had been scheduled for April and May are canceled or indefinitely postponed.  This includes storytimes, Brickheads Lego building, book clubs, craft and activity programs for adults and kids, and the May book sale.  We are hoping to offer some virtual programs or online content that you can access from home.  For example, I’m hoping to host my April 14^th book club meeting via Zoom or Facebook Live so that we can discuss “O Pioneers!” without the health risk of gathering a group of people. 

Some resources are available while the library is closed.

Pioneerland’s downloadable ebooks and audiobooks are available at pioneerland.overdrive.com or by using the free Libby or Overdrive app on a smartphone, tablet, or Kindle.  To find your local collection, search Overdrive for your local library, and that will lead you to Pioneerland.  If it lists a library system name other than Pioneerland, you may have chosen a Litchfield or Grove City in another state; it’s a common mistake.

Most titles are available to only one person at a time, just like a physical book, but a collection of classics is available for unlimited numbers of users to borrow at one time.  Another option is the current Big Library Read, a book that Overdrive chooses for unlimited checkouts for a limited time.  The current title is Funny, You Don’t Look Autistic: A Comedian’s Guide to Life on the Spectrum by Michael McCreary.  This is a teen-oriented memoir that adults can also enjoy.  It’s available for unlimited borrowers through April 13. 

Even though the libraries are closed, our library system is adding more downloadable titles all the time to meet your need for books.  Looking for something you can check out immediately, instead of putting yourself on a waiting list?  Choose “collections,” then “available now,” and you can view your many options for checking out a book right away. 

Don’t have a library card? There’s a new way to sign up for a digital card online.  Go to Overdrive or Libby on a computer, phone, or tablet, and choose the option to sign up for an instant digital card using your cell phone number. You should only use this option if you don’t already have a library card. Ebooks are only available to people who live within the service area of each library system; Meeker County residents can access Pioneerland ebooks, but residents of some of our neighboring counties cannot.

If you have a library card that has expired within the past year or that was about to expire in the coming two months, your card’s expiration date has now been extended to June, and you should be able to use it to check out ebooks.  If you have trouble using your card, you can email me at elizabeth.cronk@pioneerland.lib.mn.us and I will find out if someone from our headquarters can resolve the issue. 

You can also send me an email if you need assistance with research, and I’ll do what I can with online resources from home.  Another option is AskMN, the 24-hour information and research help service from Minnesota libraries.  Visit askmn.org for real-time online chat assistance from a librarian for help finding information on any topic, including college research. 

Prefer to do the searching yourself? The Electronic Library for Minnesota (ELM) is a massive online resource that’s free for Minnesotans.  You can access magazine, academic journal, and newspaper articles, encyclopedias for all ages, test prep resources, résumé guidance, and federal government documents.  It’s a fantastic resource for students as well as the general public.  One unique collection within ELM is called Minnesota Reflections; it’s made up of images and documents from throughout the history of Minnesota, contributed by museums, archives, colleges, and libraries across the state.  Access ELM at elibrarymn.org.

Free public wifi is available outside the library.  If you park on the street or in the parking lot near the building, you should be able to pick it up, and no password is required.

I hope you are staying home as much as possible as our whole society works together to control this pandemic.  I am hopeful that we can care for each other and each do our part for the greater good.  I wish you health and happiness in the midst of this stressful time.

Digital library cards now available!

Digital library cards now available! Did you miss out on getting to the library for a card before everything closed? You can sign up on Overdrive/Libby for a temporary digital library card that will allow you to check out our ebooks and downloadable audiobooks. You'll enter your cell phone number to demonstrate that you live within our regional library system.

Access the library's online resources with an active library card!

Did you know that you can check out e-books and downloadable audiobooks at home if you have an active library card? If it has been a while since you've used your card, stop in with that card and your driver's license and we'll update you for the year. If you don't have a library card, come in with your license, or if you've moved recently, a photo ID and a piece of mail delivered to you at your current address. In about 5 minutes we can get you set up with a card, which is free if you haven't had one before. Kids under 18 need to come in with a parent or guardian to get a library card.

What's new at the library?

by Beth Cronk, Litchfield head librarian

Our library system is looking for local artists to design our adult winter reading program artwork for next year.  Every year we have a winter reading program for adults beginning in January.  When you sign up for the program at our library, you get a book bag.  When you turn in your book reviews, you get a coffee mug.  This year the items we give participants will feature a design by an artist who lives within the Pioneerland or Plum Creek library systems, since the two systems have begun collaborating on the program. 

The slogan is Book Your Winter Getaway.  We plan to continue using this slogan for years to come but feature different artwork each year.  The slogan needs to be incorporated into the artwork, along with “Winter Reading Program”. 

The artist whose design is chosen will receive a $500 prize, and his or her design will be used on our posters, bookmarks, reading logs, and incentives throughout southwestern Minnesota.  The winner will be chosen by a committee.  The deadline for submission is October 20.  You can pick up a copy of the guidelines and submission instructions at our library or follow this link: http://www.plumcreeklibrary.org/Online%20Docs/Art_Work_design_solicitation_2014.pdf

David Housewright

We are bringing Minnesota mystery author David Housewright to the area with Legacy funding this fall.  He will be speaking at the Dassel History Center on Saturday, October 11, at 2 pm.  Housewright won an Edgar Award for Best First Novel for Penance in 1996.  This is a national award from the Mystery Writers of America.  He also won three Minnesota Book Awards, for Practice to Deceive, Jelly’s Gold and Curse of the Jade Lily in 1998, 2010, and 2013.  The Devil May Care is his latest novel.

Housewright will be speaking on the third floor of the Dassel History Center & Ergot Museum.  This event is free to attend and you don’t need to sign up to attend.  The Friends of the Dassel Library will be serving light refreshments. 

New library cards

Our patrons have been asking for key-fob library cards.  These mini duplicate cards are like those you get from businesses that have rewards cards, a small version you can attach to your key chain.  I am pleased to tell you we now have them available.  Those who are getting their first library card will have the choice of a regular card or one with a key-fob card to go with it.  If you already have a card and you want to get the new style, we will have to charge you $3 for a replacement card like we would when your card is lost.  But you do have that option to make the change even if your card isn’t lost. 

This should be convenient for someone who uses their library card at home on the computer for ordering materials and leaves it on their desk, or for those who don’t bring their wallets or purses everywhere they go.  We do require the patron’s library card when you pick up their requested materials, so this may make dividing up family errand running easier for some.  How you use the new style of library card is up to you, but we hope it will make using your library card more convenient.

All of these things are happening at the library because someone had a great idea.  When you have an idea about what would make the library better, let us know. Maybe we’ll be able to make it a reality, too!

Your Privacy, A Librarian's Duty

by Beth Cronk, Litchfield head librarian

I’m going to take the same route as my last column and give you a quick explanation to a common question first.  We have changed the link on our Chamber of Commerce library page so that it now leads you to our blog.  I know this has confused some people, because the “Litchfield Public Library” link used to lead directly to the Pioneerland catalog.  But it makes more sense for a link about the Litchfield Library to lead you to further information on our library, and I’d like our patrons to get familiar with going directly to http://litchlibrary.blogspot.com/ as our primary website.  On our blog, you’ll see “Library Catalog” as a choice on the right side of the screen.  This link will lead you to the catalog and the ability to view your account.  You can add either the Litchfield Library site or the Pioneerland catalog, or both, to your favorites on your computer, and then you can go directly there without following such a long path.

The main topic I want to cover today is privacy and how it applies at the library.  Maybe you’ve gotten frustrated in the past about not being able to check out a family member’s books with your card or without a card at all.  Part of the reason we require a card is to make sure that the person checking things out is the person to whom the library account belongs.  If someone comes in and claims that they’re you or that they’re checking things out for you, and we go along with that, you could have books or movies checked out on your card without your knowledge.  The other risk is that we could check things out to the wrong John Smith if we look you up instead of using your card.  If you think of it like a credit card, it may make more sense that you need to have the card with you.  You’re financially liable for the materials you check out.

But beyond identity issues, there are also privacy issues.  The books you order with your card are your business.  Most of the time spouses wouldn’t need to keep library books a secret from each other.  But can you imagine a situation in which someone is looking into divorce without having brought it up to their spouse?  Or a woman who is in an abusive relationship who is checking out self-help books on getting out of such a situation?  We certainly wouldn’t want to hand those items over to their partners, not knowing whether or not they need to be kept private.   Or just imagine that, when we call your house, we tell the person who answers which books have come in for you  --  but it’s your mother-in-law who answers and you’ve ordered books on pregnancy when you haven’t yet shared the fact that you’re pregnant.  Or if someone’s child is in the library picking up their own books and they ask, “Does my dad have any books in?”, we could be violating his privacy by saying yes and handing over a book that he ordered on cancer or another health concern that he has not told his child about.  Now if that child comes in with Dad’s card and says, “My dad has a book in and he asked me to pick it up for him”, we can certainly send that with the errand runner.  

Pioneerland Library System has a patron confidentiality policy in place, and all of our employees are bound by that.  We cannot share with anyone, not our spouses or our best friends – or yours--, what you checked out at the library, what materials you ordered or looked at, or what reference questions you asked us.  If you have to worry that we’ll tell people what you’re researching or reading, you might not come to us to find information.  That would be a barrier to your freedom to read and to your access to information. 

The American Library Association’s Code of Ethics states:

We protect each library user's right to privacy and confidentiality with respect to information sought or received and resources consulted, borrowed, acquired or transmitted. 

Librarians are ethically required to keep your information requests and your check-out history private.  It is no one’s business what you research, what you order, or what you’ve checked out from the library.  This is why we cannot bring up a list of what you’ve checked out in the past.  Unless you enable check-out history on your account, once you return it, it disappears so that no one could ever access it. 

ALA’s statement Libraries: An American Value says, “Free access to the books, ideas, resources, and information in America’s libraries is imperative for education, employment, enjoyment, and self-government.”  I take that principle of protecting your privacy to protect your freedom very seriously.  It’s important for our democratic society.  Librarians don’t have quite the same legal privilege as lawyers and doctors as far as protection of the professional-client relationship.  But if you come to me with an information request, I promise I’ll keep it just between us.  It's my duty as your librarian.