Turning the page: Libraries’ roles redefined in Internet era

Angela Soo

Thursday, April 12, 2001 | 11:18 a.m.

Henderson residents will vote on a 4-cent tax levy in June to expand library' services. It would cost an additional $14 a year for the owner of a new $100,000 home. Taxpayers currently pay $17 each year for libraries.

The Las Vegas-Clark County Library District's attempt to put a bond issue on the June ballot failed because of a lack of a quorum on the Debt Management Commission, which must approve bond issues.

Awaiting list for the computers is placed on a desk. There's hardly an empty seat in sight. The blowing fan in the corner does little for the musty room. Two men walk through the door in search of something, or maybe nothing. Maybe just to visit a familiar place that offers a familiar service -- knowledge.

Going to the library isn't just about books anymore. It's about computers, the Internet, fine arts, cultural awareness, community events and learning the ABCs and 1, 2, 3s. It's about pirates and faraway places; children, adults and seniors coming to share the same spaces.

And now, with an $80 million tax question on the municipal ballot in Henderson, a failed attempt to put a $46 million bond issue on the Clark County ballot and a new strategy for libraries in North Las Vegas, libraries are trying harder than ever to remain relevant.

Library directors say a changing, growing population expects more out of public learning centers. The Internet, instead of replacing libraries, is actually helping them reach out to more people.

"The Internet has helped libraries to become more effective, efficient, and thorough with helping out customers," said Nancy Ledeboer, deputy director of Las Vegas-Clark County Library.

The Clark County Library District, for example, subscribes to 36 information databases that would normally cost people money.

"We have full text magazine, business and health databases, student research centers, databases in Spanish and much more," Ledeboer said. "These are not just free and available through the Internet, but we provide these information resources for free."

"We can deliver so much more information," Joan Kerschner, director of Henderson Library District, said.

Some library patrons have technology needs more basic than big, expensive databases.

"Not everybody has a computer at home," Ledeboer said. "It's amazing how little access people have to them."

On a recent afternoon the banks of computers at the Las Vegas Library served a variety of purposes.

Chaudhri Qadir, an elderly man who says he attends UNLV and teaches a class called Most Beautiful Names of Allah, wanted to voice his displeasure with a judge's decision. "That's why I am writing a petition to the 9th U.S. District Court."

Large piles of scribbled notes and court documents were stacked high by Qadir's computer station. He wrote his petition in large, round script, then typed it on the library computers.

A homeless Vietnam veteran wearing stained jeans waited his turn. Larry Chaney said he uses the "computers every day to build web pages." He is such a frequent user that he and the computer monitor are on a first-name basis, he said.

A man in a wheelchair, meanwhile, surfed sex chat rooms. A teenage girl checked her e-mail.

In North Las Vegas, a Hispanic mother and her three children clustered around one computer in the only library in that city.

"We no have computer at home. No money," Maricela Rodriguez said in broken English while her two sons and a daughter played a motorcycle racing game on the computer.

After years of trying to build a second library on land it already owns on Martin Luther King Boulevard, the North Las Vegas Library District has changed its strategy and is planning to open a smaller satellite facility in a storefront on Craig Road near Decatur Boulevard in June.

"People come to our library because they really need it," Anita Laruy, director for North Las Vegas Library District, said.

The Rodriguez family visits the library three times a week. That day, Danny, 11, checked out action star Jackie Chan's "Who Am I," and Nancy, 9, balanced four books in her arms to take home. Israel, 4, did not have any.

"I read about two books a day," Nancy said.

Nancy is the avid reader in the family, her mother said. But she doesn't just sit and read her books quietly. She takes on the role of teacher to enlighten her make-believe students.

"I like to play teacher and read the books like this," Nancy said. She holds a book up with the illustrations facing outward and slowly turns the pages, pointing at certain pictures to keep her young pupils interested.

Nancy appears bright, translating a book aloud for her mother. Maricela Rodriguez also takes advantage of the library by checking out English literacy books.

At the same time she is learning American culture, libraries are trying to better understand the needs of the Spanish-speaking population.

"We're trying to be more responsive to the changing demographics," Ledeboer, of the Las Vegas-Clark County district, said. "A growing multilingual population requires a new way of serving people. We want them to access the library comfortably."

Most libraries offer free literacy courses, and Ledeboer hopes to increase her library's collection of non-English material, which currently accounts for 1 percent of the collection. Starting this month, the library will ask people their primary language.

"We have to attract traditional non-library users to come into the library," Duncan McCoy, director of Boulder City Library District, said. "How do we maximize libraries for people? What can we do to improve and provide value for people's money so that they would be more willing to support libraries?"

One way is to offer plenty of community activities.

The Las Vegas-Clark County Library District has a constant flow of gallery exhibitions, book and poetry discussions, Internet and computer workshops, cultural awareness programs, storytelling sessions and other special event activities.

North Las Vegas invites pirates from Treasure Island and animals from the Las Vegas Natural History Museum to entertain children. Plant experts, such as Aggie Roberts of UNLV, also make periodic visits to educate children on horticulture.

"Libraries have become a center of community," Laruy, of the North Las Vegas district, said. "We have to provide additional activities in order to please the public. Their needs have to be serviced."

Kerschner, of the Henderson district, says libraries are "one of the few places where people get to meet their neighbors."

That concept is especially important in Henderson, which Kerschner called a "city behind walls."

"We have so many master-planned communities that are gated and separated by masonry walls."

But if people prefer to remain at home, users now may tap into library resources through the Internet.

The Las Vegas-Clark County district's website now allows patrons to enter the library's database system by using the bar code number from their library card as a password.

From there, the library's search engines "help to sort through the mountain of information" that's often intimidating to first-time Internet users, Ledeboer said.

"We're trying to make it as easy as possible to navigate from home or school," Ledeboer said.

The district is reaching out in other ways. A free courier service travels daily to urban libraries and twice a week to outlying areas upon request, sometimes delivering materials directly to homebound residents.

The Henderson district has made grocery stores another way to visit the library.

"We have kiosks set up in the Green Valley Parkway and Anthem Horizon Ridge Smith's supermarkets in Henderson," Kerschner said. "You can pick up a phone and talk to a librarian."

The kiosks also come equipped with a computer monitor and built-in keyboard, which allow people to access Henderson's library catalog and sift through information databases. Users can also check e-mail.

Though they have been reaching out beyond their walls, area libraries also have struggled with how to keep up with growth.

"Nevada has the unique problem of being the fastest growing state in the U.S.," Kerschner said. "It has been for the past several years."

"Another 300,000 people are projected to move here in the next 10 years," Ledeboer said.

Directors fear that if the importance of libraries is overlooked in planning for that growth, then communities will lose.

"How else would someone who can't purchase information obtain these resources?" Kerschner said.

Even paying for a newspaper or magazine subscription is expensive for certain individuals, Laruy said. "Some people read newspapers here every day. These people can't afford things that other people buy on a daily basis."

"We make sure that everyone can have access to technology and information," Ledeboer said. "All people are treated equally."

If residents are still uncertain about the value of libraries, then McCoy of Boulder City presents a more tangible perspective.

"If a taxpayer is paying $25 a year to fund library services, all he has to do is check out one book and he's returned his investment," McCoy said. "If he checks out two books, then he's doubled his investment."

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