HOT SPRINGS -- Garland County Library patrons could have a larger selection of items to check out next year if a proposal to join with the Saline County Library is approved later this year.
The two libraries have been actively discussing the idea for most of the year, and Garland County Library Director Adam Webb said the hope is to have everything ready to go by the first of the year.
"(We're) hoping to get this off the ground by Jan. 1," he said. "There's a 60-day waiting period after you file the paperwork with the ... Attorney General's office -- because you have to get them to make sure that your paperwork complies with the law. And if they don't respond back within 60 days, it default goes into effect."
Libraries joining together to form a consortia is nothing new. There are 16 multi-county consortia in Arkansas currently, with all five counties adjoining Garland County part of some form of consortium or regional library.
Webb said the public will see a significant benefit to the consolidation of the two libraries' collections.
"It means they're going to get a library collection that's much bigger than the one they currently have," he said. "They'll have more online offerings because we'll be able to share costs for all of these duplicate services that we purchase on our own and then they purchase. When you split the bill, it doesn't go up by double, when you join in a library like this; it only goes up a proportion. So we'll actually save a ton of money and be able to buy more services and roll those back into the public."
Saline County Library Director Patricia Hector said this will be "a great partnership" and would allow for greater collaboration for programs and materials.
"There are programs that we could do together," she said. "So like Hot Springs patrons wouldn't have to drive to Saline County and Saline County patrons wouldn't have to drive to Hot Springs for some program. We could do them together and do them in both locations; we can do it virtually. There's just more creativity. The more programmers you have working on this sort of thing, they just feed off of each other's ideas and connections."
In addition, the savings will help defray the cost of a new branch near Hot Springs Village.
"That was something that was a target in mind before we had these discussions with Saline County," Webb said. "We just don't support that community up there, and they all pay taxes. And so we're trying to make that right."
The new branch, which they hope to locate near the West Gate, would also be beneficial to students in the Jessieville and Mountain Pine school districts.
"We really need a public library up there to help support those two districts," Webb said. "We found that pretty quickly, when Jessieville started connecting to the ADLC through us, their students started checking out eBooks like crazy. And there are kids up there who want a library. They want library services, and if we can provide them, I'm happy to do it."
The Saline County Library also has several areas that are underserved that Hector hopes will be rectified by the merger.
"I think that we'll be able to have more resources to reach those unreachable areas," she said. "Both of us have more rural outlying areas that we, you know, we just haven't figured out a way to serve them well yet. I know that I'd love to get something going in East End and Paron and, of course, Hot Springs Village. I'd really like to do more out there."
One hope Webb has for the merger is the ability to add to his staff and expand Saturday morning hours back to 9 a.m.
"I think our patrons would like it, too,"he said. "It's a big complaint that we get. We did that during the pandemic just to try to mitigate how many people are in the building at a time, and we've had a hard time getting back up and running on those hours. And then vice versa. Saline County's not open on Sundays, and this might open the door for discussion for them to be open on Sundays as well. So better hours for them; better hours for Garland County patrons."
As part of the merger, the hope is to merge the boards from each library to create a new board with an additional at-large member who would be a Hot Springs Village resident or who traveled across the county lines for work.
Garland County Judge Darryl Mahoney and Saline County Judge Jeff Arey suggested the merger of the two boards, Webb said.
"It'll change the terms of some of our board members and some of theirs, but utilizing the same five people from each," he said. "And we'll add one additional at large member who maybe lives in Hot Springs village, or lives in Garland County and commutes to Saline or vice versa -- just somebody who has a foot in both communities who can be a representative of both. That way, we don't have ties in board votes."
Webb said there could be changes to some policies, noting the plan is to see what rules have worked best for each library and adopt those for both.
Garland County Library Director Adam Webb and Marketing Manager Erin Baber talk with The Sentinel-Record about the library's plans to form a partnership with the Saline County Library. - Photo by Donald Cross of The Sentinel-Record
Garland County Library Director Adam Webb talks with The Sentinel-Record about the library's plans to form a partnership with the Saline County Library. - Photo by Donald Cross of The Sentinel-Record