1. Advocacy Plan for the
Shelby County Public Library
View show, then select a topic by clicking on it:
Description of the library system
The community served
Specific budgetary challenges faced
Advocacy plan
Wendy Wiseman Paige
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S553 Public Library Management
September 11, 2012

2. Description of the library system
The Shelby County Public
Library is a community
resource located just west of
the public square in
Shelbyville at 57 W.
Broadway Street.
This is a view of the ground-
level entrance added in 1966
as part of a $150,000, three- Photo by W.W. Paige
floor addition to the library
that included a children’s
room.
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3. Description of the library system
This view of the SCPL
highlights the original
Carnegie building, one of
164 received by the state
of Indiana. A total of
$20,000 was granted by
Andrew Carnegie to a
request made in 1901.
Land was purchased
across from the city’s high
Photo by W.W. Paige
school. The library was
completed in 1903 and
soon offered 10,000
volumes.
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4. Description of the library system
Prior to the Carnegie library
opening, the high school,
built in 1896, had a room for
a library. Through monetary
and book donations as well
as a small city tax levy, a
library was opened in 1897
with 1,000 volumes. Miss
Ida Lewis was the first
librarian. From that point
until 1963, the Central
School Board governed the
Photo from http://www.shelbycountyindiana.org
public library.
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5. Description of the library system
Starting in April of 1963, the
direction of the library shifted
to the newly created and
independent board, the
Trustees of the Shelbyville
Public Library. This board was
comprised of seven citizens
charged with the responsibility
of overseeing the library’s use
of public monies. Photo by W.W.
Paige
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6. Description of the library system
“I really don’t know how they were appointed in 1963,
but today two are from the City Council, two from the
County Council, one from the Shelbyville Central School
Board, one from the county school boards, and one
from the County Commissioners,” Executive Director
Janet Wallace explained. “They serve four-year terms,
and they can’t serve longer than 16 years. I have
someone who will have served her 16 years.”
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7. Description of the library system
A bookmobile was
purchased in 1968 to serve
the county residents and
schools. With the formation
of The County Contractual
Library District in 1970, the
seeds were planted for the
official county-wide system
in 1975: the Shelbyville- from
Photo
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Shelby-CountyIN-Mobile-Library-Bookmobile
Shelby County Public
Library.
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8. Description of the library system
Photo from https://www.facebook.com/pages/Shelby-CountyIN-Mobile-Library-Bookmobile
These days the bookmobile visits Boggstown
Community Park, the Flat Rock Fire Station, Old
Marietta Market, and Shelby's Crest Apartments &
Town Homes.
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9. Description of the library system
The Local History Room
opened in 1973. Genealogy
gained an expanded area with
the library addition in 1995. By
1998, the growing collection
required space to be rented in
the town hall. In just the last
decade, homes behind the
Photo by W.W. Paige library were purchased; some
were demolished for parking,
but one was renovated for the
Genealogy and History
Division.
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10. Description of the library system
Photo by W.W. Paige
The story of the Shelby County Public Library, the new name that
came along with a new circulation system and website as well as a
branch library in the summer of 2012, is one of growth. Carnegie
East was “born” in 2007 with the purchase of an 1887 building next
door to the library where two public meeting rooms and a computer
lab are finished. The Genealogy and History Department and a
Friends of the Library bookstore will complete the renovation.
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11. Description of the library system
Photo by W.W. Paige
“We had monies in the LIRF (Library Improvement
Reserve Fund) to purchase the building,” Director
Wallace explained, “and the Library Foundation helped
us. too. There was no dissension from the board. They
were excited that we could obtain the property.”
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12. Description of the library system
Photo from www.myshelbylibrary.org
With a population of 44,337 (2011) to be served, the
SCPL has 21,654 registered borrowers.
Hours of the main branch:
Monday-Thursday 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Friday 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Saturday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
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13. Description of the library system
What’s in the collection that draws in 149,948 visits a year?
Print Materials 132,339
Electronic Books Just added!
Audio Materials 3,443
Video 7,676
Print Subscriptions 132
Electronic Serial Subscriptions 5
State Licensed Databases 35
Other Licensed Databases 3
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14. Description of the library system
What’s the circulation look like?
Annual Adult Circulation Transactions 482,117
Annual Children’s Circulation
186,264
Transactions
Annual Reference Transactions 26,645
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15. Description of the library system
What services or programs bring in the crowds?
Internet Computers 25
Users of Internet 39,375
Total Library Programs 957
Total Kid's Programs 746
Total Audience at all
14,958
Programs
Total Audience at Kid's 8,962
Programs
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16. Description of the library system
After a request from the
community of Morristown,
SCPL opened a branch inside
of its school. The branch is
open to the public after the
school day.
Hours:
Photo from www.myshelbylibrary.org
Monday-Thursday: 3:15-8 p.m.
Friday: 3:15-5 p.m.
Saturday: 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
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17. Description of the library system
Staffing
Executive Director Janet Wallace, with
30 years of service at the library, has
been guiding the SCPL since 2002. She
is the 7th director since the library started
in 1897. Photo from www.myshelbylibrary.org
•Six librarians work within the system
•Seventeen support staff members help with
circulation, computer labs, shelving, and other
general duties
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18. Description of the library system
Funding
Revenue from Local Government $ 671,044
Revenue from State Government $ 25,070
Revenue from Federal Government $ 0
Other Revenue $ 493,494
Total Operating Revenue $ 1,189,608
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19. Description of the library system
My contribution as a taxpayer is not enough:
The tax rate for 2012 in Moral Township, Shelby
County, is .0295 or $39.02. This is one penny off
from the national average. Once I’ve checked out
two or three hardback novels, I’ve certainly used
my share of what I paid in. Realizing this fact
alone has made me add a line to my personal
budget to make a contribution to the library’s
foundation this year.
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20. Description of the library system
In 1986, the Shelby
County Public Library
Foundation, Inc. was
established to support the
public library by providing
funding for “library items
beyond the reach of the
Photo from The Shelby Democrat, December 24,
operating budget”. The
1903.
Foundation has three
priorities: building/
renovation, special
projects/initiatives, and
equipment.
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21. Description of the library system
The Friends of the Library
was organized in 1975 to
supplement funds and
service for library programs
and projects. Some of the
events sponsored by The
Friends include the
Cold Read Competition, the
This is an illustration on an old penny postcard
that is featured on the library’s Facebook page. Summer Reading program,
The library was constructed from Indiana Book Sales, the Spelling
Limestone and features original woodwork inside.
From Bee, the Frightening Fun-
Filled Festival, and the
www.facebook.com/pages/Shelby-County-Public-Library/88592527671
Christmas Tea.
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22. Description of the library system
Sources
Find the Data. Web. 1 Sept. 2012. <http://library.findthedata.
org/l/19899/Shelbyville-shelby-County-Public-Library>.
McCook, Kathleen de la Peña. Introduction to Public Librarianship. New
York : Neal-Schuman Publishers, 2011. Print.
Shelby County, Indiana. Web. 1 Sept. 2012. <http://www.
shelbycountyindiana.org/>.
Shelby County,IN Mobile Library (Bookmobile!). Web. 9 Sept. 2012.
<https://www.facebook.com/pages/Shelby-CountyIN-Mobile-Library-
Bookmobile/160106254047035>.
Shelby County Public Library. Web. 1 Sept. 2012.
<http://www.myshelbylibrary.org/>.
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23. Description of the library system
Sources Continued
Shelby County Public Library. Web. 7 Sept. <http://www.facebook.com/
pages/ Shelby-County-Public-Library/88592527671>.
Wallace, Janet. Face-to-face interview. 29 Aug. 2012.
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24. The community served
Shelby County is one of the
“doughnut counties” to
Marion County. Located
southeast of Marion, Shelby
County covers 412.6 square
miles and has a total
population of 44,337 (2011)
people.
Named after the first
Diagram from http://www.stats.indiana.edu
governor of Kentucky Isaac
Shelby, who defeated the
British in both the
Revolutionary War and the
War of 1812, the county was
organized in 1821. Next
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25. The community served
Made up of 14 townships, the
county has its governmental
seat in Shelbyville, located 22
miles from Indianapolis. It is
the largest city in the county
with 18,063 citizens.
Other towns in the county that
include school systems are
Morristown and Waldron.
Diagram from http://www.shelbycountyindiana.org
Fairland, Flat Rock,
Boggstown, and Pleasant
View are also in Shelby.
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26. The community served
Two interstates cross
through the county: I-74,
which almost splits the
county diagonally, and I-65,
which cuts through the
southwest corner.
US Highway 52 runs
through the northeast
corner of the county
connecting Indianapolis to Map from http://www.city-data.com/county/Shelby_County-IN.html
Hancock and Shelby
counties.
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27. The community served
The county is also serviced by
state roads 9, connecting the
northern and southern parts
of the county right through the
center, and 44, that slices the
county east and west through
the center. Both state roads
Map from http://maps.google.com
access I-74. In addition, SR
244 connects Shelbyville to
Rush County, and SR 252
connects SR 9 to Johnson
County.
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28. The community served
The people of Shelby County are
predominantly white, with the
largest minority being Hispanic at
3.7%. African Americans make
up 1% of the population.
The average household contains
2.5 people.
Diagram from
Forty-four per cent are city and http://www.city-data.com/county/Shelby_County-IN.html
town dwellers; 56 per cent live in
the country.
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29. The community served
While the median age in Shelby County is
around 40, almost 20,000 residents are
considered to be older adult to seniors.
Shelbyville has a very active Senior Center and
three assisted-living centers.
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30. The community served
Many people who live in
Shelby County work in
surrounding counties. Shelby
does offer some jobs in
manufacturing, education,
health, social services, and
government. Many acres of
land are still farmed in Shelby
County.
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31. The community served
Shelby County ranks in the upper third in the
state in regard to per capita personal income.
However the poverty rate is nearly 13%.
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32. The community served
Shelby County is doing better than the rest of the
state in regard to unemployment at 7.1 per cent,
but that translates to slightly more than 2,000
unemployed people.
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33. The community served
Almost 65 per cent of Shelby County housing units
are owner occupied, with a median value of
$126,400. Nearly 26% of the county’s housing units
are renter occupied, with a median rent of $540.
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34. The community served
Shelby County has an
active community with
activities slated
throughout the year.
Many of these activities
are centered in or
around the public
square. The three-day
Bears of Blue River
Festival is held in August
every year. A monument on Shelbyville’s Public Square
commemorates Charles Major’s novel The Bears of
Blue River, which was set in the town. (Photo by W.W.
Paige)
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35. The community served
Sources
“Overview for Shelby County, IN.” USA Counties in Profile. Web. 1 Sept.
2012. <http://www.stats. indiana.edu/>.
Shelby County Indiana. Web. 1 Sept. 2012.
<http://www.co.shelby.in.us/>.
Shelby County, Indiana. Web. 1 Sept. 2012. <http://www.
shelbycountyindiana.org/>.
Shelby County, Indiana. Web. 1 Sept. 2012. <http://www.city-
data.com/county/Shelby_County-IN.html>.
Shelby IN. Web. 6 Sept. 2012. <https://maps.google.com/>.
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36. Specific budgetary challenges faced
Shelby County Public
Library faces the same
overall budget challenges
as all Indiana public
libraries: the property tax
cap! In 2010, the
legislature passed a law to
cap homes at one per
cent, rentals at two
percent, and businesses
at three per cent.
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37. Specific budgetary challenges faced
“There’s always the challenge
of funding versus lack of
funding,” said Janet Wallace,
executive director of SCPL. “It
seems like the percentage
going to the library goes down
every year.
“About forty per cent of my
budget has to come from
other sources. We thrive on
grant money.”
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38. Specific budgetary challenges faced
“For some time,” Wallace
said, “patrons have asked
about eBooks. I tell them,
‘They are coming!’”
On August 31, patrons
could start checking out
eBooks.
“It takes time. It takes
patience.”
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39. Specific budgetary challenges faced
When asked about a county economic development
income tax like Shelby’s neighbor to the north,
Hancock County, Wallace replied, “I would think there
is the risk that other library funding could be cut. With
Hancock County’s being different, it wouldn’t have the
help of the lobbyist to fight for the whole. I would think
the library would constantly have to be on guard and
have the individual legislators fighting to keep the
monies coming.
“I really don’t know if that is the way to go or not—I
know our way isn’t working as well as I would like it
to,” she concluded.
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40. Specific budgetary challenges faced
Sources
“Indiana Property Tax Cap Amendment, Public Question 1 (2010).”
Ballotpedia. Web. 1 Sept. 2012. <http://ballotpedia.com/>.
Wallace, Janet. Face-to-face interview. 29 Aug. 2012.
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41. Advocacy plan
“Public awareness campaigns across the country are
focusing on how libraries contribute to communities by
offering early childhood opportunities for learning,
assistance for job seekers, reading fun in the summer
so students return to school ready to learn, and a
resource for infinite opportunities for lifelong learning.”
--Sally Reed Gardner, “Amalgamating for Advocacy.”
Shelby County Public Library is right on target as it
contributes to the community in all these ways and
more. But Executive Director Janet Wallace knows
there is more to be done, and she’s leading the way.
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42. Advocacy plan
My approach to advocacy for SCPL is three-
pronged under the banner of “We Are Family.” It
will serve to connect a community that is now
underserved as well as accomplish the number
one item on Director Wallace’s Wish List:
finishing the remodeling of Carnegie East, which
will house the Genealogy Department, in two
years instead of the projected four.
“We are pursuing grants and seeking individual
and corporate donations to fund the remainder of
this project,” Wallace says on the library website.
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43. Advocacy plan
With the growth of Genealogy and History at
each addition or renovation of the SCPL, that
department is clearly an important part of the
library. Currently housed behind the main library
in a separate building, the plan is to bring it
“home” to the Carnegie East Wing.
To accelerate that plan from four to two years
requires a big push in public awareness. With the
theme “We Are Family,” I believe it can be
accomplished.
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44. Advocacy plan
Gorman says in “Library Advocacy, “…organized
library advocacy must be carried on within the
structure of a planned and coordinated
campaign.”
With that precept in mind, now is the time to start
planning for the “We Are Family” campaign to get
a big push with a concert by Shelby County’s
own country music star, Matt Mason. Mr. Mason,
CMT's Next Superstar in 2011, comes to
Pleasant View every year for the Heritage Day
celebration, which happens to be Saturday,
September 15.
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45. Advocacy plan
By networking with someone who knows Mr.
Mason’s mother, I feel assured that I will have
accessibility next weekend to talk with Mr.
Mason about becoming a library advocate. I
would be using ALA’s Cultivating Your Local
Notables toolkit. I will jump ahead in the 10 steps
a bit by talking to Mr. Mason now, but access to
him is the key. Knowing that he ALWAYS comes
to Pleasant View during this time of year is also
good information to have. Pleasant View is a
small town, and Mr. Mason has always been
willing to give back to his community, his
extended “family.”
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46. Advocacy plan
When I begin at step one, I will share with the
director of the library that I have made an inroad
if we want to pursue Matt Mason as a library
advocate because he considers Shelby County
to be his family, his home. From there, I would
continue to follow the steps in order to cultivate
him and see if there are other notables who
could join the “We Are Family” campaign as the
plan moves forward to bring the Genealogy
Department into Carnegie East.
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47. Advocacy plan
r
With Wish List number one item, the Genealogy
Department underway with the “We Are Family”
campaign, I would then tie into the idea of legacy
funding using the guidelines spelled out in ALA’s
Planned Giving: Encouraging People to Leave a
Legacy toolkit.
Genealogy is about family. Many people in Shelby
County have lived here all their lives. and their
families still live here. This is a community that young
people might leave, but then they come back when
they are established and want to raise their children in
the way they were raised.
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48. Advocacy plan
r
With nearly half the population of Shelby County
in the aging category, it is important to talk to the
seniors about planned giving not only to help
bring about the completion of Carnegie East for
the Genealogy Department but also to fund the
future needs of the library to be that “resource for
infinite opportunities for lifelong learning” that
Gardner talks about. In addition, since the
Genealogy Department provides housing for
documentation dating as far back as 1822 for
Shelby County and surrounding counties, it is
also important to encourage seniors to consider
leaving their documents to the library.
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49. Advocacy plan
The final part of my “We Are Family” campaign
involves bringing Waldron Junior-Senior High
School into the Shelby County Public Library
system as the second branch library. Waldron is
separate from Morristown, but it is under the
same school superintendent.
I would work with the literacy group in Morristown
who wanted the public library in its community to
approach Waldron. Since the same
superintendent and the same school library
media specialist are involved, it would seem that
this might be a seamless transition.
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50. Advocacy plan
Currently Waldron is underserved. The
bookmobile does not even go there. Since the
bookmobile no longer has to travel to Morristown
with the branch library now open, I think it is key
that Waldron gets that slot on the schedule to
start to build an interest in library services.
Now that the Shelby County Public Library has
opened one branch library, it has a template from
which to work, making this second “branching”
an efficient one, having learned what went well
and what needs tweaking.
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51. Advocacy plan
“We Are Family” will take at least two years to
complete. There are three parts to it, but they
neatly fit together under the umbrella of family.
1. Bring the Genealogy Department to the completed
Carnegie East wing by using our notables to build
awareness regarding library funding.
2. Continue to support the Genealogy Department
and the library through legacy funding, targeting
our senior population who may have valuable
documentation to contribute as well.
3. Connect Waldron with the county through its own
branch library.
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52. Advocacy plan
“We Are Family” will be promoted through the library
website, through the email newsletter, and through the
local daily newspaper.
The library will continue to seek grants for such programs
as the current one, “Making Sense of the American Civil
War: A Reading and Discussion Series in America’s
Libraries,” that has drawn in a room full of people older
than 40 the last two Saturdays.
“Infinite opportunities for lifelong learning” will continue at
the Shelby County Public Library.
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53. Advocacy plan
Sources
“Advocating in a Tough Economy Toolkit.” American Library Association. 2
Sept. 2012. Electronic.
<http://www.ala.org/advocacy/advleg/advocacyuniversity/toolkit>.
“Cultivating Your Local Notables” American Library Association. 2
Sept.2012.
Electronic.<http://www.ala.org/advocacy/advleg/advocacyuniversity/localnota
bles>.
Detroit, L. B. “Save the Troy library: Adventures in reverse psychology.”
(2011, November 15). Video. < http://youtu.be/nw3zNNO5gX0>.
Gerding, Stephanie. “Advocate for More: Focus on Legislative Funding.”
Public Libraries. 46.2 (2007): 36-39. Print.
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54. Advocacy plan
Sources continued
Gorman, Michael. “Library Advocacy.” A presentation at the 52nd
National Conference of the Associazione italiana biblioteche. (2005,
November 23). Electronic.
“McCook, Kathleen de la Peña. Introduction to Public Librarianship. New
York : Neal-Schuman Publishers, 2011. Print.
Monroe County, NY & City of Rochester, NY. (2012, January 15).
“Libraries matter: See the light.” Video.
<http://youtu.be/Zta6ePjRWOM>.
Planned Giving: Encouraging People to Leave a Legacy.” American
Library Association. 2 Sept. 2012. Electronic.
<http://www.ala.org/advocacy/advleg/frontlinefundraising/legacy_>.
Home

55. Advocacy plan
Sources continued
Reed, Sally Gardner (2009). “Amalgamating for Advocacy.” American
Libraries. 40.3: 34–36. Electronic.
“Resources: Advocacy University.” American Library Association. 2
Sept. 2012. Electronic.
<http://www.ala.org/advocacy/advleg/advocacyuniversity>.
Wallace, Janet. Face-to-face interview. 29 Aug. 2012.
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