The Library System of Lancaster County (LSLC) is a federated system, which serves 519,462 residents in

Lancaster County, Pennsylvania Lancaster County (; Pennsylvania Dutch: Lengeschder Kaundi), sometimes nicknamed the Garden Spot of America or Pennsylvania Dutch Country, is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in the south central part of Pennsylvan ...

. It is made up of a consortia of 14 member libraries, two branches and a

bookmobile A bookmobile or mobile library is a vehicle designed for use as a library. They have been known by many names throughout history, including traveling library, library wagon, book wagon, book truck, library-on-wheels, and book auto service. Bookm ...

. LSLC was established in April 1987 to provide well-coordinated, countywide services and cooperative programs to assist member libraries in meeting the diverse needs of its residents. The LSLC support and centralized services include (public Internet access, a shared

online public access catalog The online public access catalog (OPAC), now frequently synonymous with ''library catalog'', is an online database of materials held by a library or group of libraries. Online catalogs have largely replaced the analog card catalogs previously u ...

(OPAC) system, subscription to database- and online homework-help research services, consulting services, continuing education training in internal library operations (including budgeting and accounting), governance, business-information services, youth services, public relations, assistance with countywide programs and services, technology support (including WANs –

wide area network A wide area network (WAN) is a telecommunications network that extends over a large geographic area. Wide area networks are often established with leased telecommunication circuits. Businesses, as well as schools and government entities, u ...

s – and LANs with servers for managing telecommunications), web hosting, email, calendars, the

catalog Catalog or catalogue may refer to: *Cataloging **'emmy on the 'og **in science and technology ***Library catalog, a catalog of books and other media ****Union catalog, a combined library catalog describing the collections of a number of libraries ...

, circulation, headquarters and library PCs and peripherals, training and security. The system also provides services for ordering,

cataloging In library and information science, cataloging ( US) or cataloguing ( UK) is the process of creating metadata representing information resources, such as books, sound recordings, moving images, etc. Cataloging provides information such as aut ...

and processing library materials with collection development, collective purchasing, managing catalog

database In computing, a database is an organized collection of data stored and accessed electronically. Small databases can be stored on a file system, while large databases are hosted on computer clusters or cloud storage. The design of databases spa ...

s, negotiating vendor discounts, and outreach services to special populations through the bookmobile and collection development.

Purpose

The purpose of the system is to bring together its 14-member public libraries to plan and create a cost-effective network of technology, facilities and resources to meet the informational, educational and recreational needs of the residents of Lancaster County. The Library System ensures that a network of support services is provided to member libraries.

Recent activity (as of 2011)

In the first decade of the 21st century, the Lancaster County libraries saw more than a doubling in the number of county residents using libraries; 251,348 county residents had library cards. In the same ten-year period, circulation increased by 90%; 3,495,399 items were checked out. The system's online catalog had over 913,006 library holdings shared throughout the county. A large number of virtual visitors accessed the online catalog and databases through the library system website. Over 340,335 sessions, logins or visits to LSLC databases were made annually; most of those searches were accessed remotely from home, business, school or work. The LSLC also delivers services via a bookmobile. It provides countywide service in the form of over 800 stops per year in primarily low- and moderate-income areas of the county, with special focus on children and older adults. The bookmobile outreach effort includes providing services to traditionally underserved groups (such as the

Amish The Amish (; pdc, Amisch; german: link=no, Amische), formally the Old Order Amish, are a group of traditionalist Anabaptist Christian church fellowships with Swiss German and Alsatian origins. They are closely related to Mennonite churches ...

) and outreach at the Youth Intervention Center. As an agent of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and Lancaster County, the system promotes the improvement of member library services by providing countywide planning, policy development, centralized support services and access to core resources.2010 LSLC budget request (final budget was modified)
Retrieved 2011-05-10.

Member libraries

*Adamstown Area Library (serving

Adamstown Adamstown may refer to: Locations Australia * Adamstown, New South Wales, a suburb in New South Wales Ireland * Adamstown, Castletownkindalen, a townland in Castletownkindalen civil parish, barony of Moycashel, County Westmeath * Adamstown, Conr ...

, Brecknock, Denver, East Cocalico and West Cocalico) *Columbia Public Library *Eastern Lancaster County Library (serving New Holland) * Elizabethtown Public Library * Ephrata Public Library *Lancaster Public Library (branches at Duke Street (Lancaster City) and Mountville)
Lititz Public Library
* Manheim Community Library * Manheim Township Public Library *Milanof-Schock Library (serving Mount Joy and Marietta Boroughs and the townships of East Donegal, Mount Joy and Rapho) *Moores Memorial Library (serving Christiana and surrounding areas) *Intercourse Library ( Intercourse and Gap branches) * Quarryville Library * Strasburg-Heisler Library *Shut's Environmental Library (in Lancaster County's Central Park) Each member library has a website accessible through the system's website.

Bookmobile

The bookmobile makes regular stops at 80 locations in Lancaster County. Stops include senior-citizen centers, assisted-living centers,

preschool A preschool, also known as nursery school, pre-primary school, or play school or creche, is an educational establishment or learning space offering early childhood education to children before they begin compulsory education at primary scho ...

s, after-school programs, rural areas and urban neighborhoods. The bookmobile offers thousands of books (including

large print Large-print (also large-type or large-font) refers to the formatting of a book or other text document in which the typeface (or font) are considerably larger than usual to accommodate people who have low vision. Frequently the medium is also incre ...

and

audiobook An audiobook (or a talking book) is a recording of a book or other work being read out loud. A reading of the complete text is described as "unabridged", while readings of shorter versions are abridgements. Spoken audio has been available in sch ...

s) and

DVDs The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

. It has a wheelchair lift for accessibility. The bookmobile brings library services to people who have trouble getting them otherwise, with the highest priority to low- and moderate-income neighborhoods and organizations; low- and moderate-income individuals and families;

senior citizens Old age refers to ages nearing or surpassing the life expectancy of human beings, and is thus the end of the human life cycle. Terms and euphemisms for people at this age include old people, the elderly (worldwide usage), OAPs (British usage ...

; children and rural areas.

References

External links

Library System of Lancaster CountyBookmobile websiteNational Center for Education StatisticsInstitute of Museum and Library ServicesPennsylvania Library AssociationAmerican Library Association
{{DEFAULTSORT:Library System Of Lancaster County County library systems in Pennsylvania Education in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania