REGIONAL LIBRARY SUPPORT GROUP TO HELP RAISE FUNDS

JACKSON -- The new Perryville branch facility of the Riverside Regional Library will open in the spring of 1999. Now all the library needs is $100,000 to furnish it.

"We don't have it," says Geoffrey Roth, the library's director.

Kathy Carron, a library board member from Perryville, hopes a new organization called Riverside Friends of the Library can help out.

The group is composed of people from the three counties -- Scott, Perry and Cape Girardeau -- where the library's six branches are located. Their goal is to raise money, provide volunteer help and promote the library in the community.

The group began meeting about six months ago and currently has 22 members. It is affiliated with Friends of the Library USA.

Riverside and other regional libraries in the state have seen funding decline in the wake of the tax-assessment rollback brought on by the Hancock Amendment. In 1996, Riverside spent less on materials than it did three years earlier.

The library has instituted user fees and fines for library materials to try to offset the loss of tax dollars. But Roth says the library still can use the help. "We have some very real needs."

Those include system-wide automation of the library's circulation. The project is in its last stage, but $50,000 is needed to complete the work, which would allow library patrons to check on the status of materials via the Internet.

Roth said all the branches except Scott City currently have space problems. The library central center is in Jackson. Branches are located in Scott City, Benton, Oran, Morley, Altenburg and Perryville.

Money raised by the Friends in one locale will remain in that county.

The new Perryville branch will be part of a new community center that will include a year-round swimming pool and a performing arts center. Branch librarian Shirley Duncan says the current furniture has been at the library longer than she has, which is 21 years.

Duncan said the Lions Club donated some computers to the library but more are needed.

"We're expecting to have many more people at the library when we get into the new facility," she said.

At this point, the branch libraries can afford only one copy of each bestseller, resulting in long waiting lists.

The regional library does a good job of managing its funds, Duncan says, but the Friends group could help.

"It could be very helpful to the library to encourage people to think in terms of giving to the library. remembering the library in terms of contributions for the year and maybe in memorial gifts."

The library has an annual book sale that last year raised $1,000. By contrast, last year the Friends of the Library in Springfield raised $50,000, he said.

The regional library system was established 43 years ago through a tax levy. Roth says the tax rate that supports the library now is lower than when the library system was created. "We're doing more with less."

Carron, a home-schooling mother, said the organization hopes to find someone with accounting experience to help keep track of the funds that will be coming in. The Friends also plan to develop a wish list from the branches so that fund raising will be targeted at specific needs.

One of the group's goals is to talk to legislators about the importance of the libraries.

"Once we get organized we will have a voice. It's not a political group but we will do some lobbying," Carron said.

The Friends will conduct a contest to find a logo for the organization. Students in five age categories will compete. The winning design will become the organization's letterhead.

At the group's first annual meeting Aug. 9, the speaker will be Sikeston author Jeannie Williams, a contributor to the book "Chicken Soup for the Christian Soul."

The membership is diverse and includes teachers, an assistant prosecuting attorney and a horticulturist. "The common thread is that we want to help the libraries, and they need our help," Carron said.

Anyone interested in joining the Riverside Friends of the Library should contact the library at 243-8141 or any of the branch libraries.