February 23, 2010

City Archives Return to Public Library

By Sean Wardwell, The McPherson Sentinel

McPherson, Kan. — Irreplaceable pieces of McPherson’s history are once again back in the hands of the library, when many of the city’s archives were moved from the vault at city hall.

“This is an archive that’s owned by the library. In 1993, we moved it over to city hall, because I was afraid of fire,” said McPherson Public Library Director Steve Read. “Now that we have the McPherson Room, with its fireproof cases,  it’s returning to the library. These documents here are the equivalent to McPherson of what the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution are to the United States.”
The documents include the original town company minute book, town company certificate number one, the town’s original land indenture book, among many others.

The McPherson City Commission brought the documents over from city hall and took an opportunity to examine the documents, along with several other  pieces of McPherson’s history, such as photographs, papers form the General McPherson monument, a vintage map of Kansas and several issues of the McPherson Republican from the late 1800s.
The library’s McPherson Room was designed to house the town’s history, and is open to those wishing to explore its history. Read said he library is always looking acquire more for its collection.

“This is one of the areas we wanted to address when we constructed the new building,” Read said. “We have maps, atlases, and all the McPherson newspapers back to the first issue in 1872. We have city directories, telephone books and archive files.”

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February 17, 2010

Public Library Patrons Can Now go Paperless

Thanks to a new service of the McPherson Public Library, patrons now have the option of receiving notices of overdue library materials via email.  Those signing up for the new service also will receive automatic reminder notices three days before items they have checked out are due, as well as the library’s monthly e-newsletter.

In an effort to encourage as many patrons as possible to sign up for the e-delivery service, the library is offering a coupon good for a $1 credit on any fine or fee to all patrons who register.  “Those people who participated in our test marketing are very enthusiastic about this new service,” said Jennie Hall, Head of Adult Services.

The library currently sends out an average of over 300 overdue notices each month.  The new e-delivery service has the potential to significantly reduce postage, supply, and staff costs associated with overdue mailings.

“The facet of e-delivery which excites us the most is it’s ability to instantly transfer necessary information about their accounts and library services to our patrons, “ said Library Director Steve Read.  “It’s good for our patrons, it’s good for the library, and it’s good for the environment.”

To sign up the e-delivery service, patrons should email their name, library card number, and email address to mplservice@macpl.org, or visit the library.   

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February 11, 2010

Public Library Starts Book Discussion Group on Facebook

Busy schedules and inclement weather often prevent people from joining book discussion groups, but now, thanks to a new online book discussion group started by the McPherson Public Library, book lovers can discuss books any time of the day or night from the comfort of their own home or office.

The new McPherson Public Library Readers Group on Facebook is a forum for discussing a variety of books.  The library posts a couple of book titles for discussion each month, as well as questions for readers to think about and discuss.   Participants may read as many or as few books as they chose, and in no required order.  Discussions on the books will be ongoing throughout the year.

The Facebook group was the idea of Jennie Hall, Head of Adult Services, and Chandra McClure, Library Assistant.  “It’s a very low maintenance group -- there are no deadlines,” said McLure  “You can choose to read the book or not or comment or not.”

The group has proven to be popular, with some 75 people already counted as members and the number increasing.  To access the group, login to Facebook and search for the McPherson Public Library Readers Group.

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January 19, 2010

New Map Database Available at Public Library

Patrons of the McPherson Public Library now have access to the world’s most useful online map database.  AtoZMapsOnline, with its collection of more than 146,000 maps, is the only product that combines such a large database of state, country, scientific, and antique maps in one easy-to-access place.

A sampling of the maps contained in AtoZMapsOnline includes outline,
political, physical, thematic, climate change, environment, historic, hurricane, earthquake, volcano, fire, animal and plant species distribution, current events, geology, topographic, and weather.

Genealogists and historians will appreciate the collection of 10,000 antique maps, which cover all 50 states as well as countries of the world. Educators will appreciate the blank state and country outline maps as well as 2,700 full-color flag images and icons, 300 geography crossword puzzles, 267 geography lesson plans, 30 interactive geography games, quizzes and other geographic learning tools.
Science enthusiasts will appreciate the NASA Earth Observatory Maps,
NASA Animation Maps, U.S. Geological Survey Maps, U.S. Census Bureau Maps, and National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency Maps.

“This one is another winner,” said library director Steve Read.  “We’re very happy to add it to our suite of premier databases.” 

To access AtoZMapsOnline visit the library or visit the library web site at www.macpl.org, then select the Search Databases menu option.  Persons using the database from outside the library must have a McPherson Public Library borrower’s card to login. 

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January 6, 2010

Historic Atlases Preserved for Use in-Library and Online

When the McPherson Public Library was faced with two deteriorating but historic McPherson County atlases, they had only to walk across the street to find a solution to the problem.  Frequent use by library patrons and staff, as well as the ravages of time, were taking their toll on the library’s only copies of  the 1884 Edwards’ Atlas of McPherson County and the 1903 Plat Book of McPherson County.

Library Director Steve Read turned to Kevin Beakey, GIS Coordinator for the McPherson County Mapping Office, part of the County Appraiser’s Office, for assistance.  Using the county’s Xerox Scan System, which can accommodate maps and other documents up to three feet wide, Beakey scanned the 1903 atlas page by page. 

“The pages in this atlas were becoming so brittle that we had pulled it out of the McPherson Room for its own safety,” Read commented.  He explained that the main culprit was the high acid content of the wood pulp paper produced during later part of the 1800’s and the earlier part of the 1900’s.  “Ironically, the 1884 atlas was in much better shape.”

Beakey had already scanned the 1884 atlas using a copy in the Registrar of Deeds office, and he printed new copies of both atlases, which the library sent away to be bound. The 1884 atlas is in the McPherson Room and available for use by the public, and the 1903 atlas is expected back from the bindery in February.

Both atlases are particularly valuable resources for people researching family or county history, because each of the township maps includes the name of the owner of a particular parcel of land, as well as the location of houses, schools, churches, and cemeteries.
An added benefit of scanning the atlases into digital format is that they can now be accessed online.  Persons interested in viewing them should visit the library web site at www.macpl.org and select the Local History & Genealogy menu option.  

“It’s great that the county can work with the library to preserve these old maps,” said Beakey.  Read and Beaky are planning to scan and upload a copy of the library’s 1921 Standard Atlas of McPherson County as well.