Into the 21st Century

If Cameron Asbell’s Zoology advisor had not left Georgia Southern University for research in Africa, things might have turned out differently. Her undergraduate degree in biology focused on the ecology of keystone mammals. “There wasn't another zoologist at Georgia Southern,” said Cameron. “The other professors were in birds and reptiles at the time.” Until she could figure out what to do, she continued working at the public library in Statesboro.

It was not the career Cameron thought she would pursue. She didn’t choose the library. The library chose her. Cameron received a full scholarship to Valdosta State University and graduated with a master's in Library and Information Science in 2012.

Computers were just coming onto the scene when she started working in the library. “It was the early 2000s, and no one knew how to work on them,” said Cameron. She just took an analytical approach, much like she’d learned while getting her undergraduate degree in Biology. “Dissecting computers was much cleaner than dissecting animals,” she smiled. “I took it apart and put it together again.” Before long, she was in charge of IT for the Statesboro Regional Public Libraries, which covered a five-county region.

In November 2015, Cameron left the library in Statesboro to take over as the IT Director with the Ohoopee Regional Library System. At that time, the system covered seven locations in four counties: Toombs, Tattnall, Jeff Davis, and Montgomery counties. On her second day, she said, “It had started to rain, and the staff began pulling out tarps. The roof leaked so badly that the entire adult non-fiction area had to be covered with tarps every time it rained. Also, the lighting was so bad in certain areas that flashlights were available at the front desk.”

Historically speaking, funding has always been a complicated issue for public libraries. “Public libraries fall under the Georgia Public Library Service, which serve as advisors. They issue a state grant yearly from the state budget for the salary of one librarian per county with an M.S. degree. Continuing education is also required. Everything else in the library has to be paid for by local funding. Every other staff member, every light bill, and everything else comes from local tax money. The state's philosophy is, ‘It's your library. It's in your community. It represents your people and your values, so you should be invested in it.’” (Note: The public library in Lyons is owned by the city of Lyons, and a Board of Trustees owns the public library in Vidalia with new members appointed by the city and county when there is a vacancy.)

Cameron talked with the city and county about funding when she was first hired as Director in 2016. “One person said, ‘Why should we put money into the library when you’re not a 21st-century library? Everything in there is old, and no one has worked to change that.’ And he was right. The technology was outdated. The computers were old. While the state does allot money through grants for new computers every year, the grant had not been applied for consistently.” It would take more than nostalgia for days gone by to convince anyone that the library was still relevant and a worthy investment.

The new library, named after donors Tonya and Mark Spivey, is a 21st-century library. This means it has all new technology like STEM equipment, new computers, and a 3D Printer (ABOVE) among other things.

RIGHT As the library Director, Cameron Asbell has lobbied for and overseen the library's transition.

Five months after taking the IT position, the Board of Trustees appointed Cameron as the Director of the Ohoopee Regional Library System. “So much needed to be done. I figured I’d apply for a different grant each year and slowly replace things. I got STEM equipment, 3D printers, and new computers. I even found a federal grant that provided funds for new fiber optic wiring for the entire building.” (The previous internet wiring dated back to 2001.)

The greatest obstacle in getting enough funding for the library was also one of the libraries’ greatest gifts: the Ladson Genealogical Library, donated to the Ohoopee Regional Library System by the family of John (Jack) E. Ladson at his passing in 1999. The collection includes over 40,000 books (the oldest dates back to 1640), 3,000 microfilms including the Lyons Progress to June 1991 and the Vidalia Advance to May 2010, countless family biographies, pamphlets, periodicals, birth, death, and marriage records, church records, Confederate rosters and Civil War materials, periodicals, maps, personal family manuscripts, county histories, and census records from beginning in 1790.

One of the primary goals of the library renovation was to bring the Ladson Genealogical Library under the same roof as the existing library. This resulted in lower operating costs and better access to the collection's 40,000 books and countless records dating as far back as the 1600 and 1700s.

“After John (Jack) E. Ladson Jr. died, the collection was moved to a building in downtown Vidalia donated to the City of Vidalia by the Ladson family with the agreement that the Ohoopee Regional Library System would cover utility costs and staffing,” said Cameron. “By 2020, we were barely surviving, and what funds we had were being diverted from the public library to cover the expenses incurred at the genealogical library downtown.”

As with so many things, the pandemic of 2020 seemed the last straw. “Governor Kemp had just ordered a two-week shutdown in response to the Covid-pandemic,” said Cameron. “I was at the library on the computer trying to order gloves and other things we would need to reopen. While there, our branch manager, Jan Outler, walked in. She said, ‘Cameron, there’s a guy outside cutting the grass.’ I asked Jan, ‘Does he look sane?’ She said, ‘Well, yeah.’ I said, ‘Then ask him if he wants to be on our board.’ I’d requested a board member from Vidalia, but at the time, they were dealing with Covid issues, and a board member for the library wasn’t exactly a priority.” It was enough for Cameron that he cared enough about the library to cut the grass. The stranger cutting the grass was Howard Holman.

At his first meeting with the board, Howard listened as Cameron reported that jobs and salaries would need to be cut if the library was to remain open. “We had never received any funding for the Ladson Genealogical Library. And a grant to fix one thing a year was not enough. As soon as the meeting ended, Howard began making calls and got people in the community involved, and the board was expanded to bring in people who were good at fundraising.”

The Capital Outlay Grant, which the Georgia Public Library Service administers, was their best hope. “The Georgia Public Library Service administers the Grant,” said Cameron. “They advise public libraries, offer guidance and support, oversee the distribution of state and federal grant money to public libraries, and offer training and support. In addition, the Library Planning and Construction

Department serves as an advisor between public libraries and state funding agencies. They do several projects yearly and lobby State Legislators to vote on funding, and projects are paid for with state bonds.”

The maximum amount available per project was $2 million. Even then, “Once you applied, there was normally a long wait. The second obstacle was local funding. “To be considered for the grant, you have to have your matching funds upfront: 10% for the first million and 50% for the second million,” said Cameron. Local monies proved to the state that the community was invested in and supported the local library. “It was hard to be optimistic about raising that kind of local money when the libraries in Toombs had been the lowest funded per capita in Georgia for about 20 years,” she said.

Part of the 21st Century mindset is to offer more than just an opportunity for book ready and research at the library. There are dedicating spaces for events and learning as well as a fully equipped kitchen for hosting cooking classes or catering meals for events.

Before asking the community for support, an important question had to be answered: Was the public library still relevant today? Didn’t everyone have a smartphone, an iPad, or a personal computer? E-books have all but replaced paper books, haven’t they? Does anyone even go to the public library anymore?

It’s mighty presumptuous and quite inaccurate to assume everyone has the same access to technology. Have we forgotten what it was like for only part of society to have access to information and knowledge?

It wasn’t so long ago that libraries were places for the elite. Just because you were literate didn’t mean you could walk into a library and take a book home to read. Access to information and knowledge for either learning or personal enjoyment was consigned to those who belonged to certain institutions, religious organizations or had a position in society.

We can thank Benjamin Franklin and his friends for moving things in the right direction with a “subscription library.” Nevertheless, these shared books were only available to those who paid fees. By the mid-1800s, the push for public education brought attention to the need for public libraries. At the end of the Civil War, libraries became the focus of Women’s Clubs across America. But the real impact came from the industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie in the early 20th century.

One of Carnegie’s main concerns was access to public libraries regardless of race, gender, or social standing. “Overall, Carnegie gave millions of dollars to establish more than 1,600 libraries in the United States,” according to the Library of Congress (website).

By the mid-1930s, the Women’s Club of Vidalia determined to do something about the fact that the community of Vidalia still had no public library. “I have copies of the letters the Women’s Club wrote to different public libraries like the Baltimore Public Library and the Boston Public Library to ask for their discards to start a library in Vidalia,” said Cameron. “All the books were placed in a small room in the Women’s Club building.” By the 1950s, the collection was moved to City Hall in downtown Vidalia. Then, in 1967, the first library building was built on land donated by the Jaycees.

Although the needs and the resources look different today, the purpose of the public library is as relevant as at any time in history. This was the message board members were prepared to give. A message of Chrome books and Kindle fires to check out, an app with thousands of e-books and audiobooks to access, free access to language courses, an interactive online learning platform with hundreds of practice tests, and a state-of-the-art STEM room. They envisioned a kitchen where cooking classes could be taught and a space large enough to host events. Wifi would be available inside the building and outside while sitting in a vehicle in the parking lot. And most importantly, the new facility would include a climate and humidity-controlled space for the Ladson Genealogical Library. The vision was a 21st Century Library that the community could support. Within a short time, $900,000 had been raised. “Senator Blake Tillery did so much at the state level for us,” said Cameron. With his support, the process moved forward, and the grant was approved. “The grant is usually capped at $2 million. But we were the first library in the state to receive $3 million.” (Senator Tillery recently awarded Cameron Asbell the 2022 Georgia Director of the Year award for all her hard work.)

On April 13, 2023, the community came together for the official ribbon cutting of the new library. “The library belongs to the community,” said Cameron. “And the expanded board we have today is made up of great community leaders.” To honor the support of those who donated to make the renovation possible, the library bears the names of the