One of our greatest joys at WiLS is hearing our members tell the stories of the big and important work they are doing – interesting new projects or initiatives, or even interesting and new approaches to old projects. And, in addition to hearing about it, it makes us even happier when we can share those stories with other members. Each month, WiLS is proud to feature an interview with one of our library members. This month, we interview Lori Belongia, Director of the Everett Roehl Marshfield Public Library!
Why did you, personally, choose to work in libraries?
I started my library career as a Brown County Public Library high school and college Page, sorting and filing boxes and boxes of LC cards used for copy cataloging. Actually, I’d planned a career in social work but after finishing my BA and working briefly as a job coach, the employment landscape changed. Programs were being eliminated and people were living in cardboard boxes. You would think that would mean broad openings for human service workers – not so. Then I moved to Wisconsin Rapids, had my first daughter, and returned to work as a Page for McMillan Memorial Library. Eventually, I was offered a para-professional position at their Reference Desk. There, I found my calling in work that I absolutely LOVE! I eventually returned to school and completed my Master’s in Library and Information Science at UW-Madison. After 30 years with the Marshfield and Everett Roehl Marshfield Public Library, I can tell you, those social work beginnings have been invaluable.
What is unique about the culture of your library? How do you influence it?
This library exists to find ways to say “Yes” to the ideas, needs, and desires of our community. This is their library – part living room, school, office, retreat or safe place, and sometimes kitchen. We are here to make this a better place to live, learn, work, and play. Of course, it’s not possible to be and do all things, but we look for ways to collaborate, compromise, and bring other partners into the mix to concentrate on what we CAN do.
What do you think is important to know about the community you work with? What helps you understand their needs?
It is important to know as much as possible about our community. That is why our employees are encouraged to be part of city and county teams, boards, and committees. I like to think of those activities as reconnaissance missions where we gather information about community trends, problems, and upcoming projects. This involvement provides great opportunities to share our resources and services with service organizations as well as individuals while we keep our finger on the community pulse.
What big ideas are being worked on at your library? What problems are being solved?
We are putting the final touches on the rollout of hoopla (a digital media service that allows patrons to borrow movies, music, audiobooks, e-books, comics, and TV shows to enjoy on their computer, tablet, or phone – and even TV).
We’ve been concerned about libraries, especially our library, missing the opportunity to provide streaming content for our patrons. The idea of not providing patron access through what is becoming a standard method of access is short-sighted. We hoped to see and advocated for this be a statewide collaborative effort, perhaps through WPLC, but that doesn’t seem to hold promise for the near future. After investigating several vendors, we decided to take 10% of our audio-visual materials budgets plus some additional budget funding and see where this service takes us.
These interviews are part of a series of interviews with both WiLS library and vendor partners. Your feedback is appreciated. If you have any to offer on this article, or suggestions for upcoming interviews, contact Andrea Coffin at acoffin@wils.org.