FY 1985Annual ReportSCHERTZ PUBLIC LIBRARY
ANNUAL REPORT
F.Y. 1985
Ideally a library is a storehouse of all knowledge of the
world, past and present. It is a depository of the writings
of great thinkers and doers of mankind's history. In reality
a library can be nothing more than a collection of books regard-
less of their content.
The Schertz Library can be described as something between
the two extremes. It is a repository of good literature, yet
it also consists of many collections of books that will never
be considered great in any aspect except in the entertainment
field.
The operation of such a diverse establishment can be exas-
perating as well as rewarding, but never boring.
F.Y. 85 was a busy year because the people of the area are
beginning to discover that their library is a valuable source
of research information as well as a supplier of free loans
of videocassettes and even a place where children can have some-
one read to them. 'At the end of F.Y. 85 Schertz Library had a
total of 4790 registered borrowers with a'total circulation of
39,097..
Personnel
The director of the Schertz Library has continued to main-
tain a valid Texas County Librarian's Certificate as well as
having a B.A. in English and 27 hrs. in Library Science (15 of
which are graduate). In F.Y. 85 the library obtained a part -
time clerk who worked 20 hrs. a week and has proven to be a
truly valuable asset. The library also is manned by 15 to 25
volunteers who range in age from 14 to 73. These volunteers
may work for free, but this fact is not indicative of their
worth. The volunteer staff includes an ex- English teacher, an
ex- speech teacher, an ex- librarian as well as homemakers, retired
civil servants, school bus monitors and honor graduates. Their
total hours of volunteer service for F.Y. 85 amounts to an esti-
mated 6600 hours.
Continued Education
In order to maintain a County Librarian's Certificate, a
a librarian must obtain 20 hours of continuing education every
two years. In F.Y. 85 the librarian attended workshops on Rural
Libraries, Literacy Programs in libraries, Media in the library,
Personnel Management, Oral History and Local History for a total
of 33 hours. In addition to these workshops sponsored by the
Texas State Library System, the librarian attended the Texas
Library Association conference in Dallas and obtained information
from workshops and seminars during the three day conference. The
librarian also began monthly meetings with librarian from Sequin
Public Library in order to exchange ideas, cooperate in giving
library service to all county residents and obtain some training
in computer use with the Seguin library's automation system.
I
Services
The services offered by the library can be divided into 3
groups, audio visual; print material and special programs:
These services are available to anyone who lives, works or owns
property in Guadalupe County. In F.Y. 85 the library Advisory
Board voted to change policy to allow anyone who goes to school
in Guadalupe County to use the library also free of charge. Any-
one not eligible for a free library card.can purchase one for
$10.00 per individual or $15.00 for a family.
Print Materials
This division includes books, both hardback and paperback,
newspapers and pamphlets. At the end of F.Y. 85, the library
had on its shelves 12,275 hard bound titles, about 3500 paperbacks,
and approximately 1000 items of circulation in the verticle file
(maps, phamplets, government documents etc.) 31 current magazine
subscriptions with a back issue count of 1926. The library, as a
member of the Texas State Library System also provides an inter-
library loan service to its patrons to enable them to borrow
books from other libraries when the Schertz Library collection
is not adequate. This service is free of charge at the present
time. In F.Y. 85 I.L.L. was utilized 586 times by Schertz Library
patrons who borrowed books from all over Texas as well as Calif-
ornia, New York, and Illinois. New services in the book area
include a more extensive Large Print collection, a newly develop-
ed Texana collection and a very new oral history section in the
snaking,
Audio Visuals
This division includes nonbook types of services such as
films, filmstrips and videocassettes and cameras. In F.Y. 85
the library continued to offer loans of media and equipment. The
library owns 3 cameras, 1 filmstrip projector, one microfilm
reader and one microfiche reader with the following items avail-
able to the library on permanent loan from the Texas State Library
System: 2 16mm film projectors, 1 cassette recorder, 1 record
player, 1 filmstrip projectoo and 1 slide projector. Besides all
the equipment, the library owns and loans out 187 filmstrip kits
and 3 videocassettes. Other services such as 16mm films and video-
cassettes are made available to the library by the State system on
a rotating monthly circuit, thus library patrons have access to
approximately 125 videocassettes and 192 films here in the library
each year, plus they are eligible to request other films or video-
cassettes from a collection of hundreds of titles on a spot book-
ing basis. The library also assists patrons in renting census
microfilm for geneology research as well as the microfilm reader.
One other non -book service to the public is telephone and
in -house reference service. Whenever possible, library staff
will give reference service during operating hours. At times this
reference service is not completely up to parr, for this reason
the librarian has continued reference training to the volunteer
staff at the monthly staff meetings.
Special Programs
The special program division of services includes the annual
summer reading club, movie time on Sat. mornings and story times
for preschoolers. Adult programs were offered on ocassion, how-
ever these programs weren't as popular as children's programs.
Special field trips to the library are offered by appointment
and special programs are presented in cooperation with the area
schools. Three programs in F.Y. 85 were presented by the library
for'high school students, one on Shakespeare, one on the age of
Chivalry, and one on Alexander the Great and the total attendance
was over 300 students.
Future Plans
F.Y. 85 continued to be a year of growth and with the
city's projected development trends, it looks as if the next
several years will be years of growth also. F.Y. 85 future plans
were carried out and it is the librarian's hope that F.Y. 86 will
be as productive. Since F.Y. 86 is the Sequicentennial year,
most efforts will be to highlight the state of Texas in as many
ways as possible. One goal for F.Y. 86 is to acquire at least
150 books about Texas for our Texana collection. Another goal
is to make a good oral history of Schertz available to the public.
LIBRARY CARDS ISSUED 1978 -1985
ITEMS CIRCULATED
1978 1979 1980 1981 1982
4,452 15,5.04 19,819 24,416 26,325
1983 .1984 1985
29,294 29,210 39,097
1978
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
Res.
875
739
435
636
550
574
817
866
Non -Res.
135
17.0
148
172
113
198
250
411
User's Fee
N/A
N /A
N/A
18
16
39
46
56
Total
1010
900
583
820
679
811
1103
1333
ITEMS CIRCULATED
1978 1979 1980 1981 1982
4,452 15,5.04 19,819 24,416 26,325
1983 .1984 1985
29,294 29,210 39,097