Laredo Public Library offerings
growing in number and diversity

By Tom Moore

Laredoans can find an increasing number of materials and formats at the Laredo Public Library, from new titles in fiction and non-fiction books to a growing selection of movies on DVD and VHS and books on tape and CD.
Over 22,000 items, including books, DVDs, videos, CDs, and tapes, have been processed so far in fiscal year 2003, starting Oct. 1, 2002, according to Malia Watson, technical services manager at the library. In comparison, 23,110 items were processed in fiscal year 2001.
The library's DVD section include movies and travel films. VHS videos consist mainly of educational materials, which are more available in video than DVD format. CDs include music and audio books. A very popular and growing format, books on tape, can also be found at the library, as well as tapes with books to read along with, a format "for people for whom English is not their first language," said Watson, and which includes novels such as The Red Badge of Courage and The Hound of the Baskervilles.
A little over 10,000 books remain to be processed for FY2003, said Watson, in addition to more tapes, CDs, DVD, and videos. "I've been tasked with completing 60 percent of the backlog before the end of fiscal year 2003," said Watson.
A member of the library staff since December 2000, and technical services manager since May 2001, Watson is in charge of the young adult and computer books sections. She has created Teen Zone, a new section for young adult books made up of material for, by, and about young adults, and which also includes graphic novels, or long form and collected comics stories.
"What we're told as librarians is just to cement orders, bringing our education to bear in ordering the appropriate materials," said Watson, who added that there was a 400 percent increase in the young adult section in the past fiscal year.
Other sections have not experienced as large an expansion but still show steady growth. Watson noted that the library's computer books inventory, the other section under her charge, doesn't change as frequently. "That's not as explosive as other areas -- crafts books, cook books. We get a lot more of those materials," she said. "In the last year we've added games, puzzles, and the Leap Frog learning system."
The librarians order books based on their respective sections of the library, Watson said. Each is responsible for collection development, based on their expertise, education, and level of interest.
A general favorite of library patrons, the bestsellers section, is based on the New York Times Bestsellers list, and is run on a lease program.
Book distributor Baker & Taylor sends books to the library which have already been processed with labels for shelving. Each book is assigned a barcode, the books are added to the library's catalogue, and then are set out on the shelves.
Perodically the librarians will check on a book's circulation using statistics to view borrowing rates, and will pull and return books that don't circulate as well as they would like.
A lack of material is not a problem the library faces, however. "Laredo has the best book budget per capita," said Janice Weber, director of the library. "We have a half million dollar budget, more or less, in the general fund. And we just received our accreditation for this year, which we have to submit with our annual report for our budget. We're maintaining."
The main branch of the Laredo Public Library is located at 1120 E. Calton. The Bruni Plaza branch is located at 1120 San Bernardo. The Santo Niño branch is located at 2200 Zacatecas St.