Section B - Goals, Expansion and Physical Plant

Policy Number B096

Service Facilities - Size and Location

The Board of Trustees of the St. Charles City-County Library District recognizes that the predominant service area of the District is an extension of the St. Louis Metropolitan Statistical Area and that access to the many varied and specialized collections made available through the District's membership in formal and informal networking arrangements, as well as the burgeoning variety of materials available on sources such as the Internet, negates the necessity for the District to develop a single central resource collection.

The District's physical plant will, therefore, consist of the following facilities:

A. Three regional branch facilities facilities consisting of 175,000-225,000 volumes* and containing specialized in-depth collections.

1. The Kathryn Linnemann Branch specializing in local history and genealogical support materials.

2. The Middendorf-Kredell Branch specializing in documents, including geographical informational services. Documents, may however, be placed at multiple locations within the District to best serve customers with specialized needs.

3. The Spencer Road Branch specializing in materials and services designed to assist local both nonprofit corporations, and business and public management enterprises.

B. Four general purpose branch facilities consisting of 75,000-100,000 volumes* of general interest.

The remainder of the county will be served by a mix of services, which, at the discretion of the Board may consist of the following.

1. Branches containing 8,000-12,000 volumes* in smaller population areas.
2. Library Express facilities containing 15,000 – 20,000 volumes* augmenting regional and general purpose branches, with collections emphasizing high circulation of popular materials and offering no reference services or in-depth children’s services.
3. Specialized outreach services for those isolated because of geographical, physical, or circumstantial reasons.

In addition, the District shall make an active investment in cooperative programs to develop a dynamic informational infrastructure for county residents. This shall be done through intertgovernmental cooperation. A community information system with Internet gateway, and cooperative acquisition of documents and g.i.s materials accessible through other public agencies shall be emphasized.

Administrative facilities, processing, etc. are to be considered logistical components of the public service functions inherent to the Library District, and as such may or may not be physically located with a branch facility. In no case will the physical proximity of administrative offices or logistical services to any library facility be construed as a determination that any library within the District be considered as a headquarters or main resource center.

(REVISED 1-12-04)