The man on the other end of the line introduced himself to me as a lifelong South Omaha resident. In a conciliatory tone, he explained that he had loved the South Branch library as a kid and was greatly influenced by the programs offered there as well as the marvelous collection of great materials.  He then launched into an explanation of how the community had outgrown the seriously undersized facility. The Kids Connection Computer setup had overflowed into the former meeting room and there was a general appearance of disrepair and neglect. The only place users could park was on the street. Since the library had missed the recent opportunity to acquire the former Packers’ Bank building, perhaps we should consider constructing a joint use facility adjacent to “Metro Tech’s” south Omaha location near the Stockyards Redevelopment project. Frankly, none of this meant anything to me. I took his name and number, promising to investigate the branch, “Metro Tech,” and the Stockyards. 

I had told the library board before they hired me that my hallmark would be a spirit of cooperation. As I visited the South Branch library, I was stunned.  Huge containers were on the tops of shelves to catch some kind of black, tarry goo that was seeping through the ceiling from the roof.  The carpet, in addition to being badly stained by the muck, was beyond worn out. Books were shelved sidewise over the tops of other books in crammed-full stacks, despite an active weeding program. I had checked the CIP document. (The city’s response to dealing with facility needs annually appears in the Capital Improvement Plan budget.) South Branch was not scheduled for significant attention for another eight years.

One shouldn’t think the picture was totally bleak since we had a number of things in our favor. First and foremost, care of the physical plants and planning for new facilities throughout the system had been turned over to Assistant Director Verda Bialac. Verda had already arranged for new carpet, additional shelving, and roof repair. Further, we were blessed with a staff of uncompromised professionalism and energy.  South remained a busy and popular location. 

Nevertheless, I felt this small branch was the ideal candidate for just such cooperation as our patron had suggested. My board agreed and encouraged me to proceed.  Before I could contact Dr. Richard Gilliland of Metropolitan Community College (as I discovered this was the college’s new name), he called me. We met and immediately discovered we were singing off the same page. But, being a library director in a political environment, I knew we had to proceed carefully to garner support from both the mayor and council. I felt from my interview discussions with the mayor that he would applaud such and effort.

Councilman Paul Koneck met me for lunch. I laid out the basics of the program and left the decision with him. He was pleased for what this would mean to his constituents and promised to build support among his colleagues on the council. 

You’ve heard the arguments. A public library can’t serve the “y” population (replace the variable as you please with “school,” “college,” or “university”) because the expectations for service are so different. Nevertheless, a climate now exists wherein our collection development dollars are no longer adequate to serve our citizens. Neither are our personnel budgets.

We weren’t the first in the state.  That honor belongs to the LaVista Public Library and Metropolitan Community College. But, the issues faced by the Omaha Public Library in establishing a joint use library/learning resource center, adjacent to Metro’s existing South Omaha campus, were complicated by the fact that each agency has maintained such a facility in the area for years. And we knew our neighbors in the area of the existing South Branch would be less than pleased when their library moved the eight plus blocks to the new location. 

In examining the potential benefit to Omaha Public Library of building a joint use facility with Metropolitan Community College, I found the best argument for the cooperation of the two in considering our duplicated reference purchases.  I speak of the encyclopedias, almanacs, and other “basics” (which may not remain “basic” for very many years). Think how much more expensive it is for us to acquire online licenses for our growing digital access to these reference sources.  And speaking of digitization, the greatest waste for the taxpayers lies in having multiple libraries in a district purchase automation systems which do not work together, then maintaining the separate infrastructures necessary to insure all systems operate well.  And speaking of infrastructure, how much more does it cost to heat, cool, and maintain two facilities when one expanded version will do the trick? Can’t staff be used to better advantage than covering two circulation desks?

Consider if you will that taxpayers paid for this duplication and the physical distance between the two collections was negligible.  So where is the problem in a public library sharing with a Junior College?  Junior Colleges adhere to the concept of academic freedom much like their four-year and graduate institution counterparts.  Most of the students are local.

To summarize, cooperation provides economies of scale, reduces duplication of efforts, and enables better access to information for all those engaged in the cooperation.  With the buzz words aside, when two libraries are joined, our users get better service. In the end, that’s all the justification we need.