Ann B. Hutton, Executive Director

What defines a public library as small, medium, or large?  In the early days of the region, the 1970s, 80s and 90s, the definition was simple.  Libraries in communities with populations of over 10,000 were large libraries and everything else was small since the remaining communities with public libraries were all under 5,000.  For the better part of the first two decades of shared library automation, beginning in 1983 when Owatonna and Zumbrota Public Libraries and Austin High School came online, this breakdown correlated closely with the volume of library use as counted by circulation. 

The Internet explosion changed everything.  Not just how libraries did business but how much service each location provided.  SELCO’s Telecommunication Task Force (1999) defined basic telecommunication service as “reliable access to the online library system, remote cataloging, subscription databases and limited Internet access.  SELCO will provide a sufficient network infrastructure, both centrally and remotely, to ensure high-performance at peak hours of operation.” 

In today’s 21st century world of downloadable everything, we would never get away with using “limited” as an adjective to define Internet access.  At the time and facing fiscal realities, the Telecommunication Task Force described basic service by the size of the telecommunication circuits needed for that reliable service --- one-56Kbps, two-56Kbps, and T-1.  A complicated rubric measured city population, circulation, with 9 as a multiplier and defined the new “tier” structure.  While the formula worked relatively well for a few years, increased telecommunication options and decreased prices made this mathematical calculation obsolete. 

In 2003, SELCO migrated to a new integrated library system (ILS).  In order to insure consistent, regular input from the Online Libraries, the Oversight Committee responsible for recommending the new ILS suggested SELCO create an elected ILS Operation Committee.  The small, medium, and large designation, based simply on the current population counts (either the State Demographer’s estimates or census data) is used to define the five elected public library representatives (2 large, 1 medium, 2 small) and the elected alternates.  For a copy of a recently updated population chart, click here.  (PDF 38KB)