Libraries preserve past, inform present, inspire future

Year after year, Lincoln’s library system is ranked as one of the best in the nation. Hennen’s American Public Library Ratings ranks Lincoln City Libraries as the seventh best in the nation in its population category based on circulation, staff, materials and reference service. This is the third time Lincoln City Libraries has appeared in the top ten.

According to the Public Library Association, a quality library system makes a community attractive to businesses and their employees. Lincoln residents have been served by a municipal library system since 1877, just ten years after our City was established. The library system now includes a main library downtown, seven branches in all parts of the City and the bookmobile service. The cost per County resident is less than $30 a year. For about the cost of just two hardcover books, Lincoln and Lancaster County residents have access to thousands of books, magazines, DVDs, CDs and many special programs and services.

More than 70 percent of Lincoln residents have library cards. That compares to 56 percent in Aurora, Colorado, 55 percent in Des Moines, Iowa and 54 percent in Topeka, Kansas. Last year, there were 1,634,758 visits to Lincoln City Libraries, and more than three million items were borrowed. Since the opening of the Walt and Eiseley branch libraries five years ago, the borrowing of library materials has increased 34.7 percent.

“One of the important roles of a library system is to level the playing field,” said Carol Connor, who has been Director of Lincoln City Libraries for 29 years. “Libraries provide the resources and services to help people of all ages, incomes, backgrounds and abilities. One of our goals is to respond to the needs of a diverse community, and we take that goal very seriously.”

Here are a few of the ways our library system supports lifelong learning:

• In 2006, more than 10,000 children participated in the Summer Reading Program, which celebrates its 70th anniversary this year.
• In the 2005-06 fiscal year, Lincoln City Libraries hosted 1,535 children’s programs with attendance of more than 52,000.
• The “One Book - One Lincoln” adult community reading program, now in its fifth year, has bought the community together in a common literary experience.
• More than 12,000 people took advantage of the library’s study rooms and English Language Learner centers last year.
• The library system has 90 Internet connections for use by the public, along with wireless access at four locations.
• Last year, library staff answered more than 364,000 questions and assisted 290,000 people with the Internet.
• More than 1,200 civic, cultural, recreational and youth organizations and support groups used the library meeting rooms last year.

Lincoln City Libraries also is home to two special collections. One is the internationally recognized Polley Music Library and its music digitization project. The second is the Jane Pope Geske Heritage Room of Nebraska Authors, which houses a special collection of materials by and about Nebraska authors. The Heritage Room hosts a monthly Nebraska author reading series, televised on 5 CITY-TV.

In 2003, the library surveyed customer satisfaction and compared the results with surveys of 20 other public library systems. Customers of Lincoln City Libraries reported the second highest level of satisfaction out of the 21 systems. More than 85.6 percent indicated that they were either very satisfied or extremely satisfied with the library. Nearly 94 percent of those surveyed stated that the City libraries were very or extremely important to the quality of life in Lincoln.

A seven-member Board of Trustees, appointed by the City Council, oversees library operations. For more information on the Lincoln City Libraries, visit the City Web site at lincoln.ne.gov (keyword: library) or click here.

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