System Public ServiceThe sections in this division serve everyone who
lives in the Library Taxing District and work with other agencies to
provide special services to all Palm Beach county residents. These
sections are:
The Main Library, which houses the largest and
most comprehensive public library collection of information
resources in Palm Beach County. With this collection the Main
Library Research Center provides information and research services
by telephone, email, or TDD and to walk-in patrons. Books and
research articles are located and borrowed from other libraries
throughout the United States via the Interlibrary Loan Service. The
Webmaster for www.pbclibrary.org
, who also coordinates system-wide Internet training is located in
the Main Library as well as The Government Research Service and the
Community Health Information Service.
The System Youth Services section provides
direction and support to all PBCLS Youth Services staff. The people
in this section also work with community agencies and organizations
to plan and present activities and services for all children and
young adults who live in Palm Beach County.
Outreach Services delivers library services to
residents who have difficult getting to the library (the Bookmobile
& Books-by-Mail), or using regular library materials (Talking
Books). The Adult Literacy Project staff recruit, train and match
volunteer tutors with English-speaking adults students who read
below the 5th grade level.
Outreach Services Section
Talking Books
circulates books recorded on cassette to 3,500 residents who are
unable to use regular print material due to a visual or physical
disability.
Books-By-Mail
circulates books by mail to homebound residents and those who lack
transportation to the library.
Literacy Project has
150 trained volunteers who provide one-to-one tutoring to English
speaking adults who need help with basic reading and writing
skills.
The
Bookmobile extends library services to 34 locations serving
disadvantaged children, senior citizens, and communities distant
from a library branch.
Library Material
Delivery Service provides five day a week library material pick-up
and delivery service to seventeen PBCLS and cooperating libraries.
Serials
What is a serial?
A serial is a publication such as a newspaper, magazine, or annual
(think The World Almanac and Book of Facts, or Who’s
Who in America) that is published on an ongoing basis.
Serials can come in print form, on microfilm or microfiche, and
even in an electronic format, such as CD-ROM or online.
The Palm Beach County
Library System subscribes to over 1500 serials supporting the
leisure reading and research needs of the community. We have
titles ranging from The Palm Beach Post on microfilm,
dating back to 1916, to the latest issue of People Weekly,
and a little bit of everything in between.
To help our patrons
find the information contained in this large collection, we also
provide some valuable tools. The library has print indexes
that can be used to find articles in magazines and newspapers.
Among these are The New York Times Index, covering articles
dating back to 1920, and The Reader’s Guide to Periodical
Literature, which indexes magazine articles dating back to
1900. We have online indexes to articles in The
Palm Beach Post, The Sun Sentinel and many other newspapers.
In addition, we have access to a collection of online databases that
can be used to search thousands of magazines, newspapers, and
reference books for articles on on a wide range of subjects. Here,
you can also find residential and business phone numbers and
addresses, genealogical records, biographies, electronic books, and
more. Many of these databases are accessible from your home
computer! Click on the link for
Electronic
Databases, on our library homepage, and start to explore.
While the online
databases are available at every library location, the article that
you are looking for may not be available at your local branch.
When this is the case, library staff can obtain the article from
another branch, or request it through the Interlibrary Loan
Service (ILL). For more information see Interlibrary Loan FAQ's.
Information Technology
Division Head: Jeanne Brodbeck
Plans, implements
and maintains the hardware, communications, and software
infrastructure for information services provided by the library.
Provides leadership and technical expertise in the development of
new library information technologies.
The Library
Application Support section provides training, documentation and
support to staff using the automated circulation system.
The Systems/Network section maintains the communications network
providing access for the staff and the public to the automated
library system, and to electronic resources available through the
Internet including our web site. It is also responsible for the operation and
maintenance of computers, peripherals, operating systems and
library application software connected to the network.
This section provides field service and support for both standalone
and networked workstations used by the staff and the public to
access electronic information resources.
Collection
Development
Coordinator: Jane
Blevins
The Collection
Development staff are responsible for coordinating the selection
and maintenance of the Library's collection. Their primary
goal is to insure that the collection meets the needs of the
community and the patrons we serve. At the present time, the
Library's collection consists of over 1 million items including
books, magazines, audiovisual materials and online databases.
Three librarians and a
fiscal specialist staff the section. Each staff member has
responsibilities that facilitate the selection process.
These responsibilities include responding to patron suggestions
and inquiries, budget preparation, selecting audiovisual
materials, coordinating and preparing selection lists, chairing
selection committees and researching new formats and materials.
The staff works closely with other sections and divisions in the
Library including public service staff, the Materials Acquisitions
Section, the Technical Services Division and the Information
Technology Division.
The Collection
Development staff also prepares and implements policies that
reflect the Library's mission of providing a collection of
materials to serve the community's diverse needs. These
policies include criteria and procedures for selecting materials,
maintaining and evaluating the collection, the reconsideration of
materials if a challenge occurs, and guidelines for accessing the
Internet.
Finance & Facilities
The Finance and Facilities Division is
responsible for all financial, facilities management, and capital project work
of a dependent district and is composed of twenty-four employees.
There are three major sections:1/ The Financial Section 2/ The Facilities
Management Section 3/ The Acquisitions Section.
The Financial Section prepares the department's
annual budget request, reviews expenditure projections, estimates annual mileage
rates, and impact fee collections and expenditures, evaluates and issues
financial reports, purchases all supplies, services, furniture and fixtures,
except Library materials (books, a/v materials, subscriptions, and periodicals).
The Facilities Management Section is responsible
for the ongoing maintenance of all buildings and equipment, conducting the
annual fixed asset inventory, facilitating correction of all building and
landscaping problems, distributes supplies and materials for the Library system,
and maintains extensive contact with branch staff through regular site visits to
all facilities.
The
Acquisitions Section orders all library materials, monitors
approximately forty-four contracts for material purchases; receives,
inspects and attaches routing slips for materials delivered to the
Annex; pre-audits and approves invoices for payment. This
sections handles orders totaling $4,000,000+ annually. They
work very closely with Collection Development and Technical
Services.
Branch Public Service
Division Head: Gail Peterson
The Branch Public Service Division consists of 13 branch libraries; two are
regional libraries and eleven are neighborhood branches. Each branch
library serves a geographical area of Palm Beach County and the services
provided are specifically tailored to meet the surrounding community's needs.
Libraries reach as far north as Tequesta, extend south into Boca Raton,
and include western Palm Beach County with branches in Belle Glade,
South Bay, and Pahokee. Three area coordinators are responsible for the
management of the branch libraries. Each location has a branch manager on site. The Branch Division also
plans and implements building expansions and new facilities.
Every branch provides circulation services, reference and information
services, children's programs and community enrichment. The smallest
branch has only 4 employees; the largest branch has 54 employees. There
is a deposit collection in Pahokee to help meet the needs of migrant workers
and their families. Adult programming and electronic resources training
have been expanded to include most of the
branches. Please see the News and Events link for the times and
dates of programs.
Each branch location has a page on this Library website. There you will
find information about the branch, including the address,
telephone number, public service hours, and branch manager, as well as the
services offered at that location. Directions to each library and
the bus routes serving it are listed. Also, this website has a link to a
County map of library locations.
