Mat-Su survey seeks parent input on kids' library checkout alerts, collections

What you need to know:

• The Matanuska-Susitna Borough is surveying parents to learn whether they receive enough information about the materials their children access at local libraries. The survey also includes questions about the variety of materials in the borough’s library collection.
• Questions about parent information are tied to ongoing controversy over whether young library users should have access to certain books. They are related to an email alert system was first requested by a Mat-Su Assembly member last year.
• The survey applies to borough-operated libraries and will help shape a strategic plan for the library system’s future. It is open through the end of the month.

PALMER - Mat-Su Borough officials want parents to weigh in on whether they are getting enough information about what library materials their children are using.

The question is part of a survey aimed at parents and guardians of young Matanuska-Susitna Borough library users. The survey is open through the end of the month. It's part of an ongoing borough library system strategic planning effort, officials said.

The survey asks whether parents regularly use the system's online portal to review the materials their children check out and whether they would be interested in receiving email alerts when their children make checkouts.

That alert service isn't currently available under the state-managed online library catalog and management system used throughout the borough. Adding the feature would require a systemwide change by state officials, Borough Community Development Director Jillian Morrissey said in an interview.

No other localities have requested such a system update, Borough Manager Mike Brown told the Assembly during a meeting earlier this month. 

“We make a request for the capability, which we did months ago, but because it's a statewide system, it's going to be responsive to what the users of the statewide system want, and there aren't other communities clamoring for those capabilities,” he said.

Assembly member Dee McKee first requested the email notice system last year in response to ongoing controversy over whether young library patrons should have access to materials that some individuals consider obscene.

Learning whether such notifications are widely desired by borough library patrons could help officials make a case for adding the service, Morrissey said.

The survey also asks parents how they feel about the variety of available borough library materials aimed at school-aged children and young adult readers aged 16 and older, and whether families attend library events.

The survey targets patrons of borough-operated libraries in Sutton, Big Lake, Willow, Talkeetna and Trapper Creek. It does not include libraries in Palmer and Wasilla, which are overseen by the cities.

Parents helping children check out books at borough libraries this month will be asked to take the survey, library officials said. Individuals can also complete the survey at home but will have to manually enter their child's library card number to submit the form.

The survey is limited to one response per child's library card number.

Responses will help inform a comprehensive library plan currently under development, officials said.

-- Contact Amy Bushatz at contact@matsusentinel.com