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by Peggy Rudd
I can't think of a better time to be a librarian in Texas! To be sure, there are challenges at every turn: not enough money; technology ? friend or foe; supporting traditional library services while making headway with new ones; major demographic changes. These challenges are forcing us to do something that parents and kindergarten teachers always told us to do: share!
Though increasing demands for service are fueling the need for cooperation and collaboration, it is these developing, evolving interlibrary relationships that expand our horizons, give us new and better tools, open forums for discussion and exchange of ideas, and diminish our feeling of isolation. Sharing equalizes access to information and library materials, making each library larger than its own facility and budget.
But interlibrary cooperation and resource sharing doesn't happen by accident and it must be sustained by hard work and commitment. All participating libraries benefit, although the degree of benefit varies. All participating libraries make contributions, but the level of contribution varies. In the end, it is the people of Texas who reap the greatest reward.
As the new Director and Librarian of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission, I am excited about the prospect of working with all of you to make interlibrary cooperation and statewide resource sharing hallmarks of our public service to the people of Texas.
The 76th Legislature expanded TexShare, the statewide resource sharing network, to include public libraries, in addition to the public and private academic libraries that were already TexShare participants. The Legislature also appropriated an additional $1 million for the 2000-2001 biennium to support TexShare improvement and expansion. The TexShare Advisory Board was expanded from nine to eleven members with the addition of two public library members. The Texas State Library and Archives Commission staff is working to add public library members to the six TexShare Working Groups so that they can work in collaboration with their academic library colleagues to provide policy and decision-making support to the TexShare Advisory Board.
This is an exciting time in the growth and development of the state's resource sharing program, TexShare. But there is much work still to do.
If you have ideas or suggestions for improvement, I invite your input. I can be reached at 512-463-5460 or by e-mail at peggy.rudd@ tsl.state.tx.us. Alternatively, if you're ever in Austin, I hope you will stop by my office on the second floor of the Lorenzo de Zavala Building across from our beautiful Texas Capitol. The door is always open, the coffee pot is almost always on, and there's nothing I'd like better than to talk about libraries with you!