BOOKING CHANGES IN LANCASTER : THE FACES ARE FAMILIAR IN NEW LIBRARY.Byline: Karen Thacker Special to the Daily News Mary Marino and Dan Gourdeau went to work at the Lancaster Library three decades ago, when the town's population was a little more than 30,000 and borrowers' choices were books and records. The library at the corner of Avenue J and Kingtree Avenue was the new library then, just opened in 1965. Now Marino and Gourdeau work in another new Lancaster Library, about 2-1/2 times the size of the one where they started. ``There was a lot less walking in the other one, but I'm glad to have more room,'' Gourdeau said. Opened last month at 601 W. Lancaster Blvd., the new $12.4 million library is equipped for adults to surf the Internet Internet Publicly accessible computer network connecting many smaller networks from around the world. It grew out of a U.S. Defense Department program called ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network), established in 1969 with connections between computers at the and for children to play computer games. There are even automated checkout See self checkout. machines. There is more room for books, and check-out choices include music cassettes, compact discs and movie videos. Borrowers can use computers to learn all that is available. The differences between the 1960s and 1990s libraries aren't only in the technology. ``The most-stolen book used to be the Bible Bible [Gr.,=the books], term used since the 4th cent. to denote the Christian Scriptures and later, by extension, those of various religious traditions. This article discusses the nature of religious scripture generally and the Christian Scriptures specifically, as ,'' Gourdeau said. ``But now it's books on divorce.'' Books on child custody The care, control, and maintenance of a child, which a court may award to one of the parents following a Divorce or separation proceeding. Under most circumstances, state laws provide that biological parents make all decisions that are involved in rearing their and car repair are also popular targets, he said. ``I guess it shows people's values are changing,'' he said. Gourdeau, 66, started working at the Lancaster Library in 1968, after transferring from another library. Marino, now 74 and a part-time worker, has been on the staff a couple of years longer than Gourdeau. In the 1960s, borrowers checked out books by signing a card kept in a pocket attached to the inside cover. Staffers looked in a Rolodex full of comparison-signature cards, also listing the library card holders' addresses, to verify (1) To prove the correctness of data. (2) In data entry operations, to compare the keystrokes of a second operator with the data entered by the first operator to ensure that the data were typed in accurately. See validate. that each borrower was registered to check out books. To find books, borrowers or librarians This is a list of people who have practised as a librarian and are well-known, either for their contributions to the library profession or primarily in some other field. thumbed through drawers of cards with listings by title, author and subject. For years after computer technology replaced the pocket cards at the checkout line, people wondered why the due date wasn't being stamped inside the book, Marino said. ``People liked the cards because they could see if Aunt Susie had read the book. Then they'd say they wanted to read it,'' Gourdeau said. Both Marino and Gourdeau enjoyed the simplicity of using the book card indexes and were hesitant hes·i·tant adj. Inclined or tending to hesitate. hes  i·tant·ly adv. about the computer filing system that replaced them. But the new computer system has removed the paperwork of requesting books from other libraries, which kept Marino out of the public eye for years. Such requests used to require Marino to type out a form and send it with a courier A monospaced typeface originating from the typewriter that is commonly used for letters. It is still considered by many to be the "appropriate" typeface for business correspondence. . Now a request is sent to a cooperating library at the press of a button, so Marino can work at the circulation desk. She says it is common for someone to stop at the desk and say: ``Oh, you're back. I haven't seen you in years.'' Gourdeau's face is a familiar one to borrowers who visit the information desk regularly. ``I'll be shopping, and people will stop and say, hi, Dan, or where do I know you from?'' CAPTION(S): Photo Photo: (color in Verb 1. color in - add color to; "The child colored the drawings"; "Fall colored the trees"; "colorize black and white film" color, colorise, colorize, colour in, colourise, colourize, colour AV only) The familiar faces of Dan Gourdeau and Mary Marino, serving library users in Lancaster since the 1960s, can be seen at the new library. Jeff Goldwater/Daily News |
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