As Chandler organizes a celebration marking the city’s 50 years of incorporation to raise money for its public library, the Statesman takes a look at what the Henderson County branch means to the area.

Librarian Nancy Bertholf completed this Q&A with the newspaper:

How long have you been involved with the library?

I started doing children’s programs in the early 1990s at the library when it was located on Broad Street. After we opened the new library, I was hired by the county on a part-time basis to organize and facilitate operation at the new site.

I have a masters of library and information science, and have been a school librarian for 30 years. Prior to that, I taught history and english.

Is the library generally running out of space, or do you simply need more room for the historical collections?

The library’s growth has been phenomenal. When we opened at the new location in 1997, we were circulating 40 books per month and had about 700 users registered. Today, we circulate an average of 1,500 books per month and have over 4,000 registered patrons.

Our collection, however, because of space limitations has not grown to meet the needs.

A library serving our population should have at least 30,000 volumes. We have 14,000. However, we do not have space to meet the requirements. We thought, at the time, we were building a facility that would meet future needs. We just didn’t expect the future to come so quickly.

What all is in those collections? How long have they been in the library’s possession?

A representative of Ralph Yarborough’s estate contacted the library shortly after his death in 1995 and asked if I could come to Austin to pick items we would hold permanently in our collection. The items displayed depict his early life in Chandler and his political career.

We also have Chandler pictures and memorabilia from the early 1900s and numerous school photos. There are boxes of items in storage that we do not have space to display.

What is the library’s membership, budget, and staff? What is your main user demographic?

We have 4,600 registered patrons. The library is open 46 hours per week and has one part-time employee plus great volunteers. We serve persons living in the eastern part of Henderson County.

Though we haven’t done a “demographic” survey specifically, I would say that the group is representative of the area with the majority of our users being over 40 and retired. We have a large group of children who use our library in the summer and during school breaks. The Internet registers about 250 users monthly.

We do not record the WiFi use but it is very popular especially with people visiting or passing through town. The library is funded through city and county funds and donations from the Friends of the Chandler Public Library.

I understand the library has been moved two times. Tell me about its growth.

The library started by accident when the county’s Book Mobile broke down in 1983. Because they could not afford to fix it, it was left in Chandler and manned by volunteers.

The volunteers soon realized that a better facility was needed and raised funds to purchase a storefront building on Broad Street in 1987. This worked well until 1995, when the building’s age began to show and it was decided that a new facility would be necessary.

The volunteers and interested citizens, led by Alice and Jerry Kidd, raised over $300,000 to construct the new building on land donated by Greg and Luster Kidd.

What does the library offer in the way of services and products?

Besides a very current fiction section that features all the latest best sellers, we have a large children’s and young-adult collection. The library offers free Internet services for persons over 16, including WiFi access.

Computers provide access to Microsoft software as well and copy service is available for a fee. We also provide fax service. We have DVDs and audio books.

The library participates in the Texas State Library Summer Reading Program and registers 50-plus each summer. Speakers, storytellers and performers are scheduled each summer to encourage children to read. The Kickapoo Literary Society and Book Club meets the first Monday of each month at the library.

Where do you see the library going in five years?

I would hope that a fiveyear plan would include an online card catalog, membership in the North East Texas Library System, and a facility that would meet the needs of our growing collection.

What can be done better in the way of operations?

One of our immediate issues would be updating the computers. Several are getting pretty old and it would be nice to be able to replace all at the same time.

The Gates Foundation has been very generous and we have participated in the two awards presented thus far.