Thank you so much for your highlighting the Friends of the Library Celebration of the 100th Birthday of the Roanoke Public Library! As president of the Roanoke Public Library Board, I appreciate what you have written and how the Michael Hart presentation impacted you. I too find it fascinating that we are so tied to physical books that we tend to forget that the purpose of libraries is to provide information retrieval of various media and not just one particular kind to as many people as possible. Even library boards don’t get that concept too well!

Just by way of clarification, the Evergreen Indiana system provides us access to over 72 libraries, including the State Library, at no charge to our patrons. Individuals may request materials not in our library from any one of those libraries, have them delivered to our site, pick them up here and then return them here after a three week period. In addition, Evergreen Indiana provides computer cataloguing and check out systems at no charge to the local library. Not only does it enhance our collection and provide greater access to materials, I believe it is the wave of the future in Indiana as we move to an integrated shared system of materials in this state.

Also, our current library has 1400 square feet of space and about 14,000 volumes in house. Evergreen Indiana gives our patrons access to over 3 million items across the state.

Again, thanks for being at our program and for the video. It and the text were great!

Sincerely,

Brian W. Secor
President, Roanoke Public Library Board