Patrons,. staff getting used to the switch
By Mary Ellen Day, Special Writer
Manville Public Library is operating as part of the Somerset County Library System and the transition has been a smooth one so far. The biggest change so far is the switch to new hours of 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday-Thursday and 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.
Library Director Ed Smith urged patrons to “bear with us” in the transition from a borough facility to part of the county system.
”They have given us extra help to get us through,” he said. “We had a couple glitches but they will work them out.”
Mr. Smith said Manville cards are still valid throughout the 10-library county system.
”If you want to get a Somerset County card for free, they will just have to wait for 10 or 15 minutes to put all the data into the computer.” He suggested hanging onto your current card.
The computer system has been reconfigured so they now have Word, Power Point plus the Internet for the children’s computer and the adult computers. Things are still changing and updating to be more efficient, according to Mr. Smith.
”We are sharing more books with other libraries. Before the merger, we could only buy one or two because we had a limited budget but now I can get five copies of a best seller,” he said.
As for book deliveries, “We can’t expect miracles, but we do have daily deliveries, except for Saturday so you could get the book closer in the week, maybe within a day.” Books can be ordered on the computer or by stopping in the library.
Patrons who still have borrowed books from the previous library system and not returned them are still subject to fines, he said.
”There are people who still owe us money and they will be blocked and a collection agency will go after them if it is over a certain amount,” he said.
Fines will be double to 10 cents, and the money will go back into books and materials. Videos can be borrowed for a week instead of being returned the next day but each day that it is late, the fine is $1.
Certified librarian Nan Peterson is a new staff member and the library will hire a teen librarian. Both positions give the library help on the weekends, when the place gets busy.
Manville residents can now go to all county libraries in the system to check out materials, and be able to participate in more programs.
He praised residents and Manville school principals Don Frank and Jim Brunn for their help and support over the years.
”Jim and Don are very helpful not only to me as the local librarian but to the community to push the library forward. They have helped me many times to get money from the borough,” said Mr. Smith.
Mr. Smith invited everyone to the library’s grand reopening at 7 p.m. Oct. 16 in the Community Room to celebrate the merger into the county System.

