In the early 1980's, the Friends of the Library had purchased the Library's first computers for the Children's Department and online searching. A scant few years later, the online services evolved into compact disk resources. Additional pieces of equipment were required to house CD-ROM towers for the public to use these resources independently. Changes in digital information technology were making some print reference sources obsolete and changing forever the character of the library collection. The Friends were instrumental in assisting the library to meet these challenges–from providing new equipment to purchasing indexing and full-text magazines online.
In 1985, the Library began to incorporate new technology into its internal operations when the first computer was purchased for word processing by the Administrative Staff. Slowly, other departments also gained access to computers for improved internal operations. Bookkeeping functions were automated in 1987 at the recommendation of auditors to assist in managing a $2 million budget and 100 people on the Library payroll.
Dissatisfaction with the Wayne Oakland Library Federation's shared and overburdened automation system led the Library to apply for a federal grant to purchase its own system. The $100,000 grant was used as leverage for Councils' approval to finance an additional $160,000 on a five year installment purchase contract. The new Dynix automated system went "live" in December, 1992.
The relationship with the library cooperative continued to deteriorate for the Farmington Community Library and other large member libraries. In 1992, public libraries in Bloomfield Township, Birmingham, Canton, Farmington/Farmington Hills, Independence Township, Rochester Hills, and Southfield withdrew membership from the Wayne Oakland Library Federation and petitioned the Library of Michigan to form a new cooperative which would better meet those libraries' needs. Ultimately, approval for the creation ~ new cooperative was denied; however, the result of this dispute changed an interpretation of the State Aid law. These seven libraries were allowed to retain their full amount of State Aid which could then be used to pay for meaningful cooperative services or to support a joint technology project. In return, the libraries had to rejoin the library cooperative but were required to pay for only those services
The seven public libraries formed the Metro Net Library Consortium, a non-profit Michigan corporation, to manage the joint technology project, which included access to the Internet and joint purchase of online resources which use an Internet gateway. The Farmington Hills Branch serves as the fiscal agent electronic hub for the new consortium; Assistant Director Gerald Furi serves as System Administrator. These seven were the first Michigan public libraries to offer public access to the Internet. Indeed, in 1995, the American Library Association reported that only 20% of public libraries nationwide had access to the Internet and only 13% of that select group offered such access to the public!
Technological enhancements always bring new challenges for both the staff and the public. The public demand for these new resources is voracious. Based on surveys, staff estimated that 75% of local households had a computer in 1996, with 50% also having modems. Library patrons wanted to be able to dial-in to the Library resources and the Internet, 24 hours per day. Staff skills must be updated as new resources become available. One of the new roles of the library is "lifelong learning," with the library staff giving the public instruction on navigating this new "Information Superhighway.
In 1995, staff completed the second Five Year Plan. Preliminary planning activities included:
- the identification of roles, specific to each branch;
- the creation of the Collection Development Policy, which defined the breadth and scope of discrete portions of the library collection;
- an analysis of the 1990 census with projections to the year 2005.
The Library recognized that the nature of and access to information is changing. Some common beliefs were endorsed for continued library planning:
- Print sources will continue to be an important part of the library's collection. While some reference information will only be available in digital form, patrons will still derive pleasure from actually holding a book to read.
- Collection management will be increasingly important to make the best use of the available space to house the library collection and to plan for future spatial requirements.
- Technology is attracting new library users who have never before found the public library meaningful in their lives. Some of these patrons will use library resources without ever physically visiting the facility.
- Overarching all other library "roles" will be the library as the facilitator of and provider for lifelong learning information, which may include changing job skills, casual or personal interests and individual efforts to continue to grow intellectually with the myriad of societal changes.
- Collaboration between the library and other agencies within the community must be strengthened. Technology enables linkages today that were unimagined several years ago.
