LIBRARY RECEIVES $45,700 FROM STATE

A $45,700 grant through the Secretary of State's Office will mean a better automation system for Cape Girardeau Public Library.

Secretary of State Bekki Cook announced the grant, one of three awarded in the state.

"An upgraded system will enable the library in Cape Girardeau to maintain high-quality service to clients," Cook said. "Libraries play an increasingly important role in providing citizens of this state access to information, and automation is a key to that access."

The library's database was loaded onto the city of Cape Girardeau's mainframe computer in 1987. Librarian Elizabeth Ader, who handled the grant application, said the database included the card catalog, community information, newspaper indexing, circulation information, acquisitions and ordering information.

Ameritech/Dynix, the library's automation vendor, began phasing out support for the old mainframe system in 1992. The city began moving away from the system, and the police department got its own database.

The library needed to do the same, Ader said. Because various computer systems can work together, there wasn't a need to have a mainframe.

The city will provide a 25 percent match for the grant. Ader said Ameritech/Dynix should start installing the new system in about three months. Eventually, patrons should be able to access library information from their home computers.

The other initial grants were awarded to the Municipal Library Consortium in St. Louis and to the Neosho-Newton County Library and Joplin Public Library.