New director settles in

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New director settles in

County News

Wednesday, 01 December 2010 12:59

barnett-edited

News-Gazette Photo/Sam Gilkey
David Barnett, the new director of the Osceola Library System, stands at the entrance to Hart Memorial Library in Kissimmee.

By Sam Gilkey
For The News-Gazette
David Barnett felt it was time for a change.
And so, the 54-year-old dean of library services at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va., looked elsewhere.
Barnett is completing his first month as the new Osceola Library System services director. A 1974 graduate of Lyman High School in nearby Seminole County, Barnett has degrees in library science from Indiana University and the University of Virginia.
“I have family in the area, and it was a good time to relocate,” Barnett said. “I also felt a strong attraction to the library team (when we met) and how each branch is modeled to meet the needs of their service area. We have several long-term staff members who are committed to libraryship and service.”
While there are no librarians in the family, his father was in public education. Barnett recalls a librarian at Lakemont Elementary School who encouraged him and got him interested in reading at an early age.
Barnett will be paid $86,000 a year to oversee a system that, with six branches, stretches across the county. There are 89 employees and 13 volunteers who staff the locations and help thousands of residents find the books, DVDs and information they need.
“The challenge for librarians today is keeping up with the changes in technology that are coming at us,” Barnett said. “We will have to use this technology as efficiently as possible.
“My goals include identifying opportunities for expanding our current resources and services, developing strategic partnerships for potential new services to the community and looking for ways in which today’s technologies can be utilized to maximize our resources.”
Osceola County’s had several different libraries until a plan to consolidate the separate facilities into one with several came about in April 1989.
Barnett said the long-term plan would guide the system in looking at additional population areas that may need to be served.
Currently, libraries are located in Kissimmee, St. Cloud, Narcoossee, Kenansville, Poinciana and Celebration, where a new library will be built.
“The new building will be near Celebration Hospital,” Barnett said. “It is still in the planning stages and architects are working on the floor plan. We want to break ground in the spring of next year with completion in 2012. It will be about 10,000 square feet, which is much larger than the storefront library we now have.”
The Osceola Library System has a method of providing some books through the Internet and Barnett said it is looking at “Kindle-type” readers to see if this is something that can be introduced.
He also said he is interested in an Orange County library project called the Right Service at the Right Time to see if something similar is needed locally.
That website is designed to help users find the answers to where public and nonprofit aid is available.
“Despite all the electronic information out there, there is still a need for help in accessing those services a person needs,” Barnett said. “We will need to provide literacy not only in language skills but in technical skills as well.
“Not everyone will use the libraries, but over 40 percent of the county (residents) have library cards. We will continue to use different ways to make ourselves known and tell the public what we have to offer.”
The system maintains an Internet site (www.osceolalibrary.org) as well as a blog and Facebook presence.
The library will be represented in the Kissimmee Christmas Parade Dec. 11. It hopes to continue the Show Your Card Osceola promotion that offers discounts from local merchants when the library card is presented.
Barnett is still getting used to the surroundings and finding out where things are. But, as might be expected, he finds time to read.
“I am reading John Grisham’s newest book,” he said. “I bought a copy before I was hired. If I had waited a bit I could have checked it out here. But I made sure I got my library card the first day on the job.”