The Fond du Lac Public Library and a Slightly Misleading Headline

Link to December 16 Fond du Lac Reporter article, "Should the Fond du Lac Public Library go it alone?"

Excerpt: Fond du Lac’s other options include remaining in the Winnefox System, but moving to another shared library catalog. As an example he points to the Share Library Catalog used in West Bend, Kewaskum, Lomira, Mayville, Theresa and Waupun.

And Beaver Dam, Brownsville, Burlington Cooper School, Burlington Dyer School, Burlington High School, Burlington Karcher School,  Burlington Lyons School, Burlington Public Library, Burlington Waller School, Burlington Winkler School, Darien, Delavan, East Troy, Elkhorn, Fontana, Fox Lake, Fort Atkinson, Genoa City, Germantown, Hartford, Horicon, Hustisford, Iron Ridge, Jefferson, Johnson Creek, Juneau, Lake Geneva, Lake Mills, Lowell, Palmyra, Racine, Randolph, Reeseville, Rochester, Slinger, Union Grove, Walworth, Waterford High School, Waterford Public Library, Waterloo, Whitewater, and Williams Bay.

The library could also go back to a stand-alone library system, which would be the lowest cost, but it may or may not show what materials are available from other libraries, he said.

But wouldn't start-up and/or migration costs make these options a wash, at least initially?

The final determination of whether or not the entire county would move to a new library system would not be made by the Fond du Lac Library Board, Hall noted. The recommendation would have to come from each of the boards of the libraries within Fond du Lac County. Municipal boards have to act upon the recommendation from the library boards and then the county board would have to act.

“Some are of them are questioning. Some have strong feelings about it. There are strong opinions and no consensus,” Hall said. “Every library has to decide what’s best for their community.”

Hall said Fond du Lac library officials would consider the impact any decision would have on all the libraries within the system.