Cape Girardeau Public Library to receive access to more books

The Cape Girardeau Public Library will be joining Missouri Evergreen, a consortium of over 60 library systems statewide, giving patrons additional access to a combined collection of more than 4 million items, including books, CDs and DVDs.

A news release from Cape Girardeau Public Library states access to an online catalog will be temporarily unavailable beginning Sunday, July 23, through Thursday, July 27, while it switches over to the Missouri Evergreen system. The release says the library will be closed all day Thursday while it completes the switch, after which the new online catalog will go live.

Library director Katie Earnhart said joining the program will give patrons access to materials from all the consortium's member libraries. Earnhart said along with the updated online catalog, which can also be accessed through a new mobile app, patrons will see reduced hold times on popular titles. She said patrons can also choose to receive hold notifications and due-date reminders via text message.

"This move is going to be incredibly valuable to our patrons," Earnhart said. "A big complaint that we get right now is for the amount of time people are waiting for a hold. That's going to decrease because more copies of a particular title are going to be available."

Earnhart said joining with Missouri Evergreen will also create the opportunity for the library to have a reciprocal borrowing agreement with Riverside Regional Library in Jackson.

She said this will solve a frustration for some patrons who reside in the city limits of Cape Girardeau but outside of the library's district boundaries, which means they are not eligible for a local library card.

"We've had to tell them, 'Sorry, your property taxes are actually going to Riverside, so you can have a Riverside card, but you can't have a Cape Girardeau card without paying for it,'" she noted.

Earnhart said people living outside the library's district boundaries have had to pay a membership fee for access to the library's resources. She said membership fees are $15 per quarter or $60 per year. She said this has been the law since 1965, and they can't expand CGPL's district boundaries without a vote of the state Legislature.

"So, switching to this system, means we're connected to Riverside," Earnhart said. "Now, folks that live in Jackson but work in Cape where it's more convenient for them to pick up library materials from our library because that's where they're at during the day, that's perfectly fine."

According to the release, while the library is making the switch to the new system, staff will be unable to issue new library cards, accept account payments or offer fax services.

Checked-out items will not be due during this period, and overdue fines will not accrue, the release states, but returns will still be accepted inside the library and through the drive-thru book drop.

The release further says regular library service will continue as usual through Wednesday, July 26, including passports assistance, computer/internet access and library events.

Library users can still check out materials but will not be able to place holds on items during this time. Access to digital e-books, audiobooks, graphic novels and other online resources will be uninterrupted.

For more information, call (573) 334-5279 or stop by the user services desk in the library.