The new Loup City Library was opened September 8, 1998 at the newly built high school complex on the north side of town.  A school bond had passed in the fall of 1996 creating the new school.  A key element for the library involved the lead time between bond passage and the actual start of the school construction.

Shortly after the successful bond vote, Carl Kucera, Chairman of the Sherman County Commissioners approached Loup City Schools Superintendent Dave Rokusek about the idea of merging the libraries in the new building.   Sherman County was responsible for financing the Loup City Township Library.  A feasibility study committee, made up of the librarians and a member from all the boards involved , was named.  Public meetings, surveys in the newspaper and school newsletters were used to find out what the feelings of the community were.  The results were overwhelmingly positive.  The committee reported to the boards and on January 14, 1997, a merger agreement was signed by all parties.

What caused the Sherman County Commissioners to approach the school about a merger?
The key reason for wanting a merger, from the county viewpoint involved tax money.  The 1917 Carnegie Library was an eye catching example of that era's buildings.   Its very architecture and age created the money problems.

The problems with the Carnegie Library could all be addressed but at a very high cost in funds.
1. The wiring was old and very inadequate for the library  2. The building was uninsulated so the heating and cooling costs were getting prohibitive  3.  There was no restroom on the main floor, and the one
that was in the building was located in the basement and was not handicapped accessible.  The building's plumbing was at the point of needing to be completely redone.  4.  Structural problems had just recently led to a large outlay for roof repair   5.  Space was a problem because the basement was no longer used; this left around 2400 square feet of usable room.   6  Library entry was not handicapped accessible, with a flight of stairs leading to the front doors followed by more steps.  A ramp or elevator would not have solved the problem because, once a wheelchair was inside the library, there was not enough space between the stacks for it to maneuver.  The cost estimate to bring the library into conformity with the law was over $100,000.  The Loup City Library Board was looking at ways to fix the problems, including putting on an addition,  but no planning had been done.

The plans for the new school library called for 3000 square feet for a grades 4-12 media center.  The rest of the 6000 square foot block of space was to be used for classroom space and guidance offices. One of the advantages that the boards had in the merger was that the plans for the new school had not been set in stone and changes could be made before construction.   The extra 3000 square feet could be utilized by the merged library and give them adequate space (6000 square feet) to meet their needs.  A 12 computer lab was added, a work and storage area, and the fiber optics classroom was put in the block.  The latter could double as a meeting room.  Other changes involved adding a public restroom inside of the library, a public entrance and inside book drop and separate phone lines for the public and school librarians.  The County Commissioners worked with the school to make sure funding was available on their part to pay for the separate entrance.

Role of the library staff, public and school, in a merger.
The success or failure of any public/school library merger rests mostly in the hands of the library leaders involved in the process.  In Loup City's case, the staff had the realization that the county probably would have difficulty funding major repairs/construction/renovation for the existing Carnegie Library and that the physical building was going to need attention sooner rather than later.  Both the librarians agreed early on that the goal should be to make sure both our current users had the best library services we could bring about given the situation we found ourselves in.

The library staff also decided early-on what was "sacred" to them. These ideas or things that had to be retained were worked into the plans.  For the school people, it was easier because a new library had
been in their thinking for almost 6 months prior to the bond vote.   The library staff was adamant about bringing the fixtures the public had grown accustomed to seeing and were comfortable with..  The original
1917 oak charge desk and tables and chairs were carefully restored and worked into the new scheme. Numerous framed paintings and some beautiful wooden carvings of lions and dogs, which were done locally in the 1920's, were kept in the plans as was a large lithograph of the Oregon Trail that hung in the original 1930's school library.

There are some topics that need to be addressed when merging school and public libraries.   The success or failure of efforts toward merging will often be found in these areas:
Boards-The groups involved in the merger decided each entity would have it's own governing body and answer to that board.  Each would also follow the rules as established by their governing body.  For the public library, it is the Nebraska Library Commission; for the school it is the Nebraska Department of Education through the local board of education.  Some specific operating rules were added to the agreement by mutual consent of all the parties involved.  These specifications would ensure that all parties would work to make sure that the library met all the standards  the state of  Nebraska required.

Public Entrance-This is a must for the planners.  No matter how well laid out your plans, a public entrance has to be included.  Schools operate at different hours than the public library and often close their
public entrances to the school after 4 P.M. for security reasons.  Also, during the weekends and  summer months, regular access may not always be available.  Another consideration is the limit on the amount of keys to the library-with your own entrance you can often get your own key number and limit the access.   This will often mean you will have your own access codes to the library/school security system.  The public can access the library during the day by getting a visitor pass from the office across from the library.  Patrons like the security as they are parents and grandparents of many of the students and can truly understand the security problems schools face in light of events around the country.  It was also an adult  library patron that threatened local students and had to be jailed for a bomb threat at the end of the 1999
school year.

Public Restroom-This is also necessary to your planning.  Just as you don't want people wandering around the library when you are not there, the school and its custodial staff will not be happy with  library
patrons wandering around the school after all the school staff leaves. Again, this is a security issue that needs to be addressed to keep later problems from cropping up.

Library Phone-Again, this is something that will keep problems from arising later.  The school and public librarians both have phones and voice mail that is paid for by the school district.  Problems can arise
if the school switchboard is the access point for both libraries, especially when the school is not open.

Computer Servers-Decide early who will be your service provider, who will pay for it and who will be responsible for the upkeep and the user rules.  In our case, the school provides the services as they would have had to have the system even if the public library was not part of the school.  The issue that must be looked at is the internet policy that is adopted by the school district and whether the public library staff want it as the one they will follow with public patrons?  Loup City decided to follow the policy of the school in regard to students' use of the library after school hours.  Should it ever become necessary, the public library may purchase access from a private provider wirh phone service and provide their own  computers and servicing , or they may opt out of any computer internet access during their hours of use.  The school gets service from the Educational Service Unit with funding from the legislature and must follow the rules set up by their provider.

Security system-The school uses a motion detection system connected to the local law enforcement telecommunications center.  The library uses the same.  Only janitorial staff, library staff and administrators can code into the library.  These are the same people that have keys.  Before any merger, be sure you look at this issue so that you don't have some problems later on from user access over which the staff has no control.

Staffing-Our staffing pattern fit the merger very well.  The hours were such that no changes had to be made for anyone.  The public library could keep its 25 hours a week while the school could keep its normal hours.  Also, the school librarian now has a prep period to work and a period to work in other areas of the school because there is a public library staff member on duty during the last 2 periods  of the day.  One issue has recently come up  involving  parking.  The library is open on Monday evenings and often has all the parking taken up by people using the school for other reasons-board meetings, school programs and  ball games.  The staff is looking at being open another night when this would not be as big a problem.

Storage, work area, wiring-An area that should be looked into that is very important and necessary to the effective working  of the library. Storage and working areas must be unobtrusive but sufficient to allow
the staff to do the things that make the library go.  Make sure there are electrical outlets on all walls and plenty of them.  Look for a good place to put bulletin boards and a place to display handouts.  (We did
not do a good job with bulletin boards or plug ins)

Budgeting-Both libraries have their own separate budgets approved by the boards they are responsible to.  The staff does meet to make sure that book, periodical and video purchases are not duplicated.  The merger really did not take away from our original missions.   The primary mission of the public library was in the area of adult fiction, videos and children's materials.  The public library continues to pursue these goals.  The school librarian did not change focus continuing to purchase materials meeting the needs of the K-12 school district and staff.  The ordering of periodicals and supplies is one area that savings have appeared as the library only needs one copy of the major magazines and newspapers used by all the patrons.

Yearly Report-Each year the library staff must prepare a report that is presented to all the boards that are part of the library's governance and funding.  The staff is directed by the merger agreement to report on 5 areas: Finances, use, collections, operational efficiency and perceptions and attitudes.  The school end of report will not be addressed here because of the "captive" nature of it's audience.  One has to be careful when including school statistics so that the report is not skewed.  Our report breaks down all statistics and material by school and public to give each governing body a good look at what is happening with the library budget they deal with.   The statistics show that the public has responded favorably to the new library because adult use during school and use after school hours has grown by over 10% each year since the merger.

Technology-A few comments need to be made about an issue that is often put forward as a main reason to merge libraries or even build new ones. Granted technology is an important element that should be addressed somewhere along the way during talks.  In our opinion  technology should not be used as a major reason for merging .  Technology used by the library should grow out of talks about the merger and be a part of the planning the staff does in how the library will best meet the information needs of the community it serves.

Conclusion
 Is a school/public library merger right for you?  There is no easy formulae that will give an answer.  For any merger of like entities serving different populations the key has to be the people that will have to work with the merger when it is done.   Compromise by library staff and the local boards has to be the order of the day.  A key reason the Loup City merger worked well was the philosophy of accommodation and cooperation that exists.   If something is not working the way the staff would like, it is a given that the problem will be worked out in a win-win way for everyone involved.