RIVERSIDE LIBRARY SOON TO BECOME COMPUTERIZED

JACKSON -- Add librarians peering through their bifocals at an aged, wooden card catalog to the list of sights disappearing in the Information Age.

The latest disappearance is occurring at Riverside Regional Library, which has installed a new computer system to control circulation in the main facility and at all five branches.

The main facility in Jackson and the Perryville and Benton branches will close Monday for training on the new system. The Perryville and Benton branches will reopen Tuesday with all systems go, while the Jackson facility remains closed so employees there can be trained. The Jackson branch will reopen on Wednesday.

The library also has branches in Altenburg, Oran and Scott City. All will use the computer system.

Patrons will be issued library cards that look like credit cards. These will be required to check out materials. Until now, the library has used the traditional method of pulling a patron's card from a file behind the desk, placing a card from the book in the correct due date file, and stamping the due date on the book.

The library's card catalog also will be accessed through computer terminals. Librarians think that change from the old system might be the most difficult for some patrons.

"They're afraid of the online catalog," said Paula Gresham-Bequette, the library's assistant director. "They're going to have to use it themselves. Eventually we will take out the card catalog."

She said volunteers of all ages are being enlisted to help patrons understand how to access the catalog.

One big advantage of the computerized circulation system is collection management, said Geoffrey Roth, director of the library. Librarians will be able to ascertain the range of material on specific subjects without spending hours examining every book.

With some subjects such as biology, it is crucial to know the source material is up-to-date, Roth said.

Computerized circulation also allows patrons to access the card catalog through the library's Web site.

The site also has links to Cape Girardeau County Genealogy Society information. Last year 3,000 people used the records stored at the library.

The library already provides Internet access to patrons.

The computer system allows for instantaneous communication between the branches. Previously, trying to find a book in another branch required a phone call.

Any library in the state now will be able to access the library's catalog. The library also can more easily track material that may be missing.

The library has about 30,000 patrons. "The thing that won't change is the friendliness with which Riverside Regional Library greets people," Roth said.

The $100,000 state-of-the-art system was purchased with state and federal grants.

Wednesday, the first day the new system is operational at the Jackson facility, patrons will find a festive atmosphere at the library to celebrate a change long overdue. But Gresham-Bequette doesn't think electronic books, another Information Age innovation, will ever replace the ones on the library's shelves.

"There's nothing like being able to hold a book in your hand and curl up in front a fire," she said.

The library's Web site: www.Showme.net/rrl