ASSIGNMENT 2
IS 559
FALL 2014
OCTOBER 3, 2014
ANJANAE BRUELAND
ABrueland
Assignment 2: Library or Information-Related Context
ABSTRACT
This paper describes a library’s potential target audience for a new project and the foundation for
the development of a plan for implementing the project. An economic and demographic
overview of both the community and the library are presented, as well as the benefits and
potential partnerships for the project.
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Assignment 2: Library or Information-Related Context
Four libraries service the Jefferson County area: Parrott Wood Memorial Library in the
far west, Jefferson City Public Library in the north, Dandridge Memorial Library, on the lake and
more towards the center and White Pine Public Library in the far east of the county. Library
budgets are joint responsibilities of the city the libraries are located in and the County. Current
Tennessee Standards for Non-Metropolitan Public Libraries (2014) state that recommended local
funding sources, for a level three library, be at least $6.50 per capita (p.12) with personnel levels
of 1 full time equivalent (FTE) director, 2 FTE support staff and 2 FTE clerks (p.16). Currently
there are two level 3 libraries (Dandridge and Jefferson City), one level 2 library (White Pine)
and one level 1 library (Parrott Wood). Only the Parrott Wood library meets personnel
standards.
These library’s form a system connected through funding and resource sharing, however
there is no central administration for the system bar the volunteer Library Board. Currently there
is one director with an MLS and another working towards obtaining one. Another staff member
is working towards a Public Library Management Institute certificate offered through the state.
Recently, Google Apps for Non-profits was joined so that there would be a centralized
communication and documentation avenue, thereby improving the uniformed presentation of a
coherent library system to the community. This cloud based software will allow for quicker
sharing of documents, calendars and communication, also providing the benefit of streamlining
processes and sharing resources.
Specifically, the Jefferson City Public Library (JCPL) has a total of 23,812 items
according to the Verso’s Library Location Statistics (2014). There are newspaper subscriptions
for two local weekly, one metropolitan and one national newspaper. The magazine collection
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consists of 18 monthly periodicals. Over 20 links to free databases and resources covering
Educational, Health and Medical, Legal, Tutorial services, and Genealogical topics are also on
offer via the Jefferson County Public Library System website (Jefferson City Home Page, 2014).
Other services available to patrons are online interlibrary loan and reserve requests, Wi-Fi, nine
public access computers, copying, printing and faxing.
Programming is limited to one staff facilitated program per week. Grants are sought to
offer computer training/classes and to assist with paid programming. Community members may
and have also developed programming for the library. Summer Reading Programs, in the past,
have required all programming resources, over the Summer. All summer reading programs have
either paid or free presenters; staff set up, greet presenters and handle the promotions, via press
releases, Facebook, and word of mouth. At this time there are no book clubs (Phillips, 2014).
Under new direction, all staff are being encouraged to learn about programming and developing
programs.
Jefferson City has 6.38 square miles of land area of the 274.8 square miles that make up
Jefferson County, Tennessee (US Census Bureau, 2014). The county is home to five
communities: Baneberry, Dandridge, the county seat, Jefferson City, New Market and White
Pine (Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce, 2010).
According to the US Census Bureau, the 2013 population estimate for Jefferson County
is 52,123. Of that, 3.4% of the Jefferson County residents are Hispanic; 5.4% are below the age
of 5; 16.1% are between the ages of 5 and 18; with the largest segment of the population, 60.8%,
being between the ages of 19 to 64, with the second largest segment, 17.7%, being 65 and older.
The Jefferson City population growth rate of 1.4% is much lower than the state average rate of
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Assignment 2: Library or Information-Related Context
2.4% over the same period. The poverty rate from 2008-2012 was 19.2%, with the median
family income at $38,800 (US Census Bureau, 2014).
The author was unable to find specific information or statistics on the Lesbian, Gay,
Bisexual and Transgender segment of the Jefferson County population.
The Strategic Action Plan for Jefferson County, “Building a Better Future” (Luke, 2007)
describes Jefferson County as a bedroom community, meaning the majority of residents leave the
county for work. In the past 28 years, 253 net new jobs per year, were created in Jefferson
County. A high percentage of these jobs were created out of services for the out of county
commuters and new retirees. Relying on these two communities has not made for competitive
economic development in Jefferson County (p.4). In the plan, 11 key events are identified that
have had significant negative effects on the economic, educational and infrastructure
development in the county (p.12).
The action plan further identifies 10 priority issues and then places them into six
foundations. Quality of Life is the third foundation with a vision statement of “Jefferson County
will be a vibrant, healthy, and safe community with a quality of life that sets the standards as a
desirable place to live, work, worship and play” (Luke, 2007, p.21). Libraries are specifically
mentioned in this foundation stating, ”Jefferson County will have a state-of-the-art Public
Library system that exceeds state standards to meet the informational, recreational, cultural and
educational needs and interests of county residents and visitors”(p.22). Currently two libraries
within the Jefferson County Public Library System are undergoing expansion, with a third
beginning the expansion process.
The 2014 progress report of the action plan states that two new companies have moved
into the county bring 265 new jobs and over $11.2 million in the next five years. Annual Travel
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related expenditures in Jefferson County totaled $51.4 million, creating 370 tourism-related jobs,
and a total payroll of $8.9 million (Black & Gentry, 2014, p.2). The reports also states the
addition of a new elementary school last year, a new freshman academy, and major remodeling
of the high school getting started (p.1). Two benchmarks were missed and both were related to
the “lack of industrial and office land ready for construction and empty buildings ready to
occupy” (p.16).
The 2013 Jefferson County unemployment rate of 9.4%, as reported by the Bureau of
Labor Statistics, includes youth unemployment in it totals. Of this KIDS COUNT, reported the
Jefferson County youth unemployment to be 31.3% (The Annie E. Casey Foundation, 2014).
Studies show that youth who miss out on an early work experience are more liekly to
endure later unemployment and (are) less likely to achieve higher levls of career attainment.
Everyone needs opoortunities in their teen years and young adulthood to experience work and
attain the job-readiness skills needed for long-term success (The Annie E. Casey Foundation,
2012).
Jefferson County is a bedroom community in the process of re-shaping itself into a
economic center. While there are many strategic initiatives for bringing this about the youth in
the community are struggling to find employment and thereby unable to develop job readiness
skills. Some of the obstacles in addressing this issue are: the lack of employment opportunities
within the County; the low education and experience level of the teen to young adult; and the
competition for employment with not only their age group but with older, more experienced and
possible higher educated adults. Add youth living in families with lower incomes, and belonging
to a racial or ethnic minority and the likely of unemployment increases 2.5 to 3 times more than
youth from a highest income families (The Annie E. Casey Foundation, 2012, p.3). This struggle
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Assignment 2: Library or Information-Related Context
has both economic and quality of life aspects, and the Jefferson City Public Library can assist
with this latter aspect. The Jefferson City Public Library will partner up with the local high
schools to develop year long internship projects for juniors and seniors. Other community
partners will be sought to assist in developing the necessary projects that provide job-readiness
skills and connection to the community. JCPL is well suited to serve this population, as it is a
well-connected anchor in the community, that has the space and the resources. This project will
also benefit the library as some of those projects will be focused on library deliverables: such as
public relations, teaching computer classes, and facilitating programs. Youth working on these
projects will be learning the soft skills of customer service, time management, coping
mechanisms, patience, and the practical skill of the specific project they are working on. The
community will benefit due to the familial support of the youth in the projects beginning to
participate more within the community; additional programs and services at the library itself, as
well as the projects that may be developed for other community organizations.
Possible community partners:
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All other libraries within the
system
Community Center
City Hall
Fire Department
Police Department
Local businesses
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Carson Newman
BOOST (tutoring program)
Appalachian Outreach
Genealogical Society
Boys and Girls Club
Chamber of Commerce
References
Black, B., & Gentry, D. (2014). Progress Report 2014.
Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2014, August). Local Area Unemployment Statistics Map. Retrieved from
Bureau of Labor Statistics: http://data.bls.gov/map/MapToolServlet
Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce. (2010). Communities within Jefferson County. Retrieved from
Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce: http://www.jefferson-tnchamber.org/county_information.aspx
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Assignment 2: Library or Information-Related Context
Luke, H. (2007). Strategic Action Plan Jefferson County "Building a Better Future". Jefferson City:
Jefferson County "Building a Better Future" Planning Task Force.
Phillips, D. (2014, October 1). Jefferson County Public Library System. (A. Brueland, Interviewer)
Reffitt, D. (2014, May 14). Jefferson County Board Chair. (A. Brueland, Interviewer)
Tennessee State Library and Archives. (2014). Tennessee Standards for Non-Metropolitan Public
Libraries. Nashville: Tennessee State Library and Archives.
The Annie E. Casey Foundation. (2012). Youth and Work, Restoring teen and young adult connections to
opportunity. Baltimore: The Annie E. Casey Foundation.
The Annie E. Casey Foundation. (2014). Youth Unemployment. Retrieved from KIDS COUNT data
center: http://datacenter.kidscount.org/data/tables/3017-youthunemployment?loc=44&loct=5#detailed/5/6420-6514/false/36,868,867,133,38/any/13215,10107
US Census Bureau. (2014, September 30). Jefferson County, Tennessee. Retrieved from US Census State
and County QuickFacts: http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/47/47089.html
VERSO. (2014, September 30). Circulation Item Location Report. Jefferson City, Tennessee, United
States of America.