Library Stuff

“A staff of two at the Indiana State Library is working to preserve what is left of the printed record of Indiana’s history as the yellowing, crumbling newspapers that chronicled Hoosiers’ lives deteriorate with age. “We really want, for Indiana’s bicentennial, to create a resource for all of Indiana to reflect state history as well as local history,” said Connie Rendfeld, digital initiatives librarian for the Indiana State Library. The project’s goal, as part of Indiana’s bicentennial celebrations in 2016, is to have digitized historic papers from every county in the state.” (via Munster Community News)

“As libraries in Indiana add more digital books to their collections, they’re also being forced to decide whether to shrink their hard copy collections. In 2008, the Monroe County library had just over 90 thousand electronic books. Last year, that number was more than 9 million. But Monroe County Public Library Director Sarah Laughlin says the library will also keep its print selection. “It will be fine if everyone moved to e-books tomorrow, we would know just what to do, we would be spending all our money over e-books, but we still have lot of people requesting books, music and videos in the traditional forms,” Laughlin said.” (via Indiana Public Media)

AP – “Indiana libraries are delaying repairs, limiting purchases of new material and closing their doors as they bow under the weight of statewide property tax caps and declining revenue. The Johnson County and Greenwood library systems face shortfalls of about 10 percent next year. Edinburgh plans to spend 5 percent less next year. And two branches of the Hammond Public Library system have closed while facing a $1.2 million shortfall. The changes are the latest to hit the state’s libraries, which have been reducing hours, cutting employees and taking other steps to offset the loss of revenue from the tax caps and the struggling economy.”

AP – “A genealogy website run by the Indiana State Library that allows users to explore their family trees has been honored as one of the finest in the nation. Family Tree Magazine recently called the library’s Genealogy Collection as having one of nation’s best state genealogy websites.”