Randy Eccles: This is Community Voices on NPR Illinois. I'm co-host Randy Eccles. I'm joined today by Natalie Albers. She is at the Williamsville Public Library & Museum. Natalie, what do you do there?
Natalie Albers: I'm the director of the library and museum.
Randy Eccles: I was interested that, it's library and museum. What is that?
Natalie Albers: We originally were the Williamsville Public Library. We were in a small depot building. Next to us were a couple of train cars that had the museum. Local history that was curated by volunteers. The problem is that those box cars were not the ideal situation for archiving the local history. We were busting at the seams in the depot building. Our community came together with the idea of bringing together the library and museum. With the support of the community. we passed a referendum by over 70% to build the new library and museum. We became the Williamsville Public Library and Museum in 2016.
Randy Eccles: It sounds like great problem solving.
Natalie Albers: Right.
Randy Eccles: With a museum being part of the library, I guess that's not completely unusual, the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, but I don't see it as much at the local level. Tell us a little bit more about how that works together.
Natalie Albers: It's a little more common than people realize because there are a lot of libraries that have a genealogy collection or a genealogy room, which we do as well. Then we also have displays for local history that we try to switch out from time to time. Now we've recently added an art wall as well. We're trying to bring together a broader perspective of local history and art at Libraries. It all goes together in terms of cultural improvement and sharing that cultural experience.
Randy Eccles: Things have changed a lot. The card file is probably not there, I'm guessing. Some people make the argument that with the internet, the library is not necessary anymore. What's your take on that?
Natalie Albers: I would jump back to the card catalog for a moment and say that we do have a small one that is now our seed catalog. There is still a place for the catalog . You have to think of the library as more than just a place for books for many years we've had books, DVDs, audio books. We have now what we call library of things where people can check out things like ukuleles and binoculars and pickleball sets. It's not just about books. It's also a place for people to gather, a place for people to come and learn something new. We host workshops throughout the year. We have ongoing events that bring people together. Little things like adult exercise and coffee hour and book club. It's more than just a place to store stuff. It's a place to come together for our community.
Randy Eccles: What, right now, would you say is the most popular aspect of the library and museum?
Natalie Albers: What we do being a networking place is one of the things that makes us most valuable to our community. Also, being able to share both our resources and the local history. People are constantly coming in and saying, "Oh, I didn't know that." Or, "Do you know this? Do you know that?" We can share information and come together and learn something new.
Randy Eccles: When I was younger before the internet largely, and I was working in radio, I would need to know something once in a while and I could call the Newbury Library or the Chicago Public Library and ask the librarian, "Help me, I need this." They'd get it for me. Is that still a role of libraries? Can you ask them for information?
Natalie Albers: Absolutely. That happens all the time. We're glad to be that resource in our community. Truly. The advantage that we have currently is that we're also part of the Illinois Heartland Library System, which allows interlibrary loan. We have about 20,000 items in our collection, which for a library and museum our size is tremendous. That's great, but we can't have everything for everyone. With interlibrary loan, we can access over 400 libraries and have that item to somebody usually within the week. We get delivery Monday through Thursday, and it really makes our library bigger than what our physical structure is.
Randy Eccles: My daughter wanted to buy a new book in a young literature series that was sold out because it had just been released. She went to the library, and the library had the same sort of issue, but they said they can get it in there interlibrary loan. It was still a really good solution. Do you take books? Do you have enough books coming your way? Do you want people to donate books? How does that work?
Natalie Albers: We have a book adoption event . We do that in cooperation with the All Town Garage Sale in Williamsville. People are allowed to bring in books anytime . Our cataloger goes through it, sees if it's something that we need to add to our collection. If not, we put it in stack for the book adoption. Anything that isn't adopted is sent to Goodwill. The book adoption means the books are free to anybody to find a new home. We do put out a little box — The Friends of the Williamsville Public Library and Museum accept donations. People are welcome to take as many as they'd like. The friends of WPLM help support us to buy books, add to our collection, and provide more programming and services.
Randy Eccles: For those who might not have experienced it, what's a day like for a librarian?
Natalie Albers: No two days are the same. Certainly it varies at each library and each community. We are there to be a vital part of our community, to help people find the information they need. Sometimes, just to be that social connection. We might be the only person that somebody talks to in one day and that's okay. We're happy to do that too.
Randy Eccles: Are there a lot of books to put away every day?
Natalie Albers: Of course. We do have a high school student that helps us with that and staff work on that. It's also a matter of helping people with the public computers. We still have a machine that can fax for things like medical records. If you need to fax, people can make copies and fax. They can use a public computer. Sometimes we help them with their phones or how to use different apps. We're there to do all of that in addition to providing programming and services and access to materials.
Randy Eccles: When I was in Phoenix, the public computers were really popular at the library, but occasionally there were some challenges with that. Do you have to watch that?
Natalie Albers: We don't censor what people do on the computers. We do happen to have our computers facing the service desk. If something became an issue, that it's inappropriate, makes people uncomfortable, we would address the patron. The biggest issue is kids playing video games. They get loud and we have to ask 'em to use headphones or to tone it down. We've been very fortunate that people want to use the public computers for a legitimate purpose and it's not a problem for us.
Randy Eccles: Talking about libraries, how did you get into this? Tell us a little bit about your background.
Natalie Albers: Before I was the director, I was the outreach coordinator, which was a part-time position. Before that, I was on the board for the library. I was a trustee when we were looking at what our future looked like, what we were gonna do. I joined the transition team that brought together the library and museum and started writing grants. I had a couple of successful grants. The director at the time, Jean Forni, said, "Would you like to come work for me?" That's how I became the outreach coordinator. Now, I've become the director.
Randy Eccles: Did you start off in Williamsville or did you move here?
Natalie Albers: I grew up, up north. I moved to the Springfield area after I got married. I had taught for a while and then went back to school here at UIS, got my master's degree in environmental studies. Worked for public health department and eventually made my way to the library sphere. One of the things that I do now at the library and museum is we've developed an outdoor education space. That's where my environmental education side is coming back into use. It's a big picture perspective that's led me here.
Randy Eccles: It's spring planting season? Yes. Can you help us with that? Can the library can help you figure out your garden?
Natalie Albers: Absolutely. That's why we have a seed catalog. We had a great donation from Baker Seeds that helped us stock that. We also hosted the Easter Bunny recently and gave away several packets of things that bunnies like to eat — carrots, lettuce, herbs, and so forth. We host workshops from time to time, backyard basic events that help people with gardening and backyard ideas.
Randy Eccles: Libraries play a very important role, or at least can, if people take advantage of them. How do you see libraries fitting in current society?
Natalie Albers: Libraries have the advantage of still being accessible. We are welcoming. One of the first things I tell new staff people is we don't judge. We don't censor whatever people wanna check out. If we don't have it in our collection, we will do our best to get it for them no matter what it is. We try to be inclusive in our collection, but again, we can't have everything. Libraries are a place where you can access whatever you need. You don't feel judged, you are welcomed. It's also at the same time, a place to support community because as divisive as things are right now, we still have more in common than we realize. If you can pull people together that are completely different, perhaps in political perspectives, but they're neighbors and they can find things in common. That's part of our purpose as a library museum.
Randy Eccles: What's keeping you up at night?
Natalie Albers: You might've heard of this thing called the Institute of Museum and Library Services that is experiencing basically the same situation that public media is facing in terms of federal funding cuts. It's really easy for people to just say, "Oh, that's on a federal level. It's a national thing. It doesn't affect me." But, it really does, just like cuts to public broadcasting would affect our local radio stations. In Illinois, the largest portion of that funding went to support interlibrary loan, which is libraries sharing materials. We may be a small library in a town of 1,500 people, but we don't feel like a small library to our patrons because we have access to those materials, to over 400 libraries in central Illinois. What I worry about is what's going to happen in the fall when school libraries and public libraries may have to cut back. In terms of that interlibrary loan, they may not be able to get delivery on a regular basis or as often or what happens if that goes away. That's what I worry about for public radio as well. What would happen if our access to that information was reduced. With the library, interlibrary loan could be one of the things we could lose with cuts. In central Illinois, it's the Illinois Heartland Library System. They have a system worked out through various hubs that brings materials between school and public libraries. For the Williamsville public library, we get delivery four days a week, but they're also stopping at the Williamsville Junior High and the high school and so forth. If that delivery were cut, then access to people's materials would be reduced.
Randy Eccles: Not everything's available on the internet.
Natalie Albers: Correct. Not only is not everything on the internet, t's also the ability to hold a book. Some people find comfort in physically being able to hold a book or get an audio book in terms of a CD. Some people still have CD players. We have DVDs still. Not everybody can afford a streaming service. There are ways to make information and entertainment accessible to more people.
Randy Eccles: Are digital books something that people can check out?
Natalie Albers: Different libraries have different resources. In Williamsville, we have access to three digital apps. You have Hoopla, Libby, and Cloud Library. What that means is with a library card, you can access those resources at no extra cost. You can get eBooks, audio books with hoopla. You can also get music, TV shows, movies, all with your library card.
Randy Eccles: Wow, it's not just about reading. It's about gardening and everything else. It's a center of knowledge.
Natalie Albers: Exactly. Especially if you don't access a school anymore as a student, or during the summer, or somebody who's retired and wants to learn something new. We're the place to go.
Randy Eccles: I don't know how much this has influenced Williamsville Public Library & Museum, are there certain books we should not read — book bans?
Natalie Albers: In the case of some organizations quite a bit right now. Even universities. The idea of anything DEI existing — they are saying they won't pass on funding if you have DEI programs. We are affected by federal funding through the Illinois Heartland Library System and the delivery system. But otherwise, we are supported locally we make the decision of what to add to our collection we try to make that collection as inclusive as possible. If it's something that we don't have, we try to get it for people. Our main thing is that we don't censor. We don't judge. If it's something we don't have and you want it, we will do our best to get it for you.
Randy Eccles: Is Illinois supportive of libraries or neutral from a library perspective?
Natalie Albers: We're fortunate because we're in a state that does not ban books. As a library and museum have the support of our state. Unfortunately, that's not the case in other states. We are very lucky in that sense that it is truly a policy not to ban books in Illinois.
Randy Eccles: Do you have a wishlist for the library? Something that you'd really like to have happen?
Natalie Albers: My wish is that even more people would discover the amazing resource that they have in their neighborhood. We recently hosted an event with the Williamsville Community Foundation. There are always people when we host events like that, that come in and say, "Wow, I've never been here before. This is a great place. I didn't know you had this." My wish is that more people would go to their local libraries or local libraries and museums and see what great, amazing resources they are.
Randy Eccles: Sometimes folks don't think they're welcome, but when we travel, we like to go visit libraries because you can find a lot of things out. We may not have a card. Some libraries recognize other cards depending on how that's organized. Are people welcome at the library, even if they're not from that town?
Natalie Albers: Some libraries have ongoing book sales, for example. I know Chatham Public Library has that. That's an opportunity. I've been to Michigan before on vacation taking advantage of, an ongoing book sale, there's usually magazines or newspapers. It's just fun to see the kind of libraries that different communities have. You can judge a community based on the kind of library that they support. it doesn't have to be a fancy building. It just has to be a welcoming place that has a variety in their collection.
Randy Eccles: Do you meet and talk with other libraries and librarians?
Natalie Albers: We do, we're very fortunate to have things like directors' chats and small meetings and gatherings. We're all in the same boat right now. There is something to be said for, not complaining together really but, just comparing notes. Having that rational bouncing of ideas off each other. Confirming you're not crazy. This really is an unprecedented, chaotic time . Having some consolation in talking to other people who are in the same position as you.
Randy Eccles: A lot of people don't realize that when you're going through cuts and threats, it's pretty stressful. If you're in isolation, you feel like it's something you've done. Having that type of a network where you can discuss it with peers makes it much easier to at least know you're not alone.
Natalie Albers: Drawing the correlation between libraries and public media, I don't know how many times I have connected with people simply because they've started a sentence with, "Did you hear that story in NPR?" They could be a complete stranger. I know that we're gonna have something to talk about. It's the same with books. You can be in a bookstore, be someplace else and say, "Hey, have you read that book?" All of a sudden, you're not strangers anymore.
Randy Eccles: How do libraries and bookstores interact ?
Natalie Albers: It's not a competition. I actually love bookstores. The direction is going to be for libraries to become a little bit more like bookstores, in the sense of a little more visual appeal. Having books facing outwards, having it be a little more fun to browse your library collection like it is in a bookstore. So it's not a competition. We're perfectly happy for you to go to the bookstore. We do have an app. It's called the Share app, where you can scan a barcode in a bookstore. It'll tell you if your library has that book. My daughter likes that app when she's going to the bookstore and making her list of books she wants for a special event. She'll scan the book and she'll say, "Oh, the library has that. I won't get that one. But again, they can't have everything. They don't have this one, I'll buy this one." There's a place for both bookstores and libraries.
Randy Eccles: Is there something that you think is really important for folks to know right now?
Natalie Albers: If you're not a part of the solution, you're part of the problem. It's a mantra that really drives my passion for libraries and museums and for public media. The idea that we have to stand up for what we believe is important now more than ever. If you don't do that, that means that you're okay with the direction things are going in. Many of us would say that is not okay, and we have to stand up. We have to support what we believe is important right now.
Randy Eccles: Natalie Albers, the director of the Williamsville Public Library & Museum, thank you for joining us today on Community Voices.
Natalie Albers: Thank you.
