Jun 1, 2013 4 min read

If you’ve ever been on a waiting list for a white-hot best-seller at the local library, you know how frustrating it can be.

You wonder if you’re going to get the book before it comes out in paperback, or even before it filters down to the remainder tables.

That pacing-the-floor impatience might not disappear entirely, but it could very well begin easing this week, as 14 libraries in Washington County institute the WAGGIN one-card system for its facilities. Though each of the libraries will continue to operate independently, they will have one common library card starting Friday, and the catalogs of all the libraries will be sharing a one-stop, online site that can be accessed at each of the libraries, or from personal computers or mobile devices.

An example of how this will work: Let’s say you are a Washington resident and stop at Citizens Library, on the hunt for a copy of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby.” Thanks to the recent movie adaptation, all of the copies at Citizens Library are checked out. However, you see through the shared catalog that Fredericktown Area Public Library has a copy, and, by coincidence, you will be driving through the Fredericktown area that day. You will be able to stop by Fredericktown Area Public Library, produce your card and check out its copy with no hassle.

Before this new system, you would have needed a separate library card for the Fredericktown library or, at the very least, would have had to ask that Citizens Library request Fredericktown’s copy of “The Great Gatsby” and have it shipped across the county. That will still be happening, but you will be able to put the book on hold from wherever you have computer access.

Patrons of all the libraries will have to switch to the common card, which they can do when they visit a library or, eventually, online. Thanks to the new system, they also will be able to manage their accounts online, renewing books or other items or putting holds on things they would like to check out.

This switch to a single library card and a single catalog for all the libraries has been in the works for about three years, according to Diane Ambrose, the executive director of Citizens Library. The role of libraries has been changing rapidly thanks to the onrush of digital technology. No longer merely a repository for books and magazines, libraries now have DVDs, CDs, eBooks and audio books among their holdings, and banks of computers at libraries have been a lifeline for residents without the means to purchase their own equipment. With information readily available with a few clicks, “People want instant access,” said Ambrose.

Washington County is one of the last counties in Southwestern Pennsylvania to institute an automated system. It came about thanks to a $250,000 local-share grant from slots proceeds at The Meadows Racetrack & Casino in North Strabane Township and had the strong backing of Washington County’s commissioners, Ambrose explained, “Because it touches every resident of the county. It’s good for the whole county.”

Three libraries from outside the county also are included in the system: Eva K. Bowlby Public Library in Waynesburg; Flenniken Public Library in Carmichaels; and Uniontown Public Library.

The switch to a single card and shared catalog “is going to bring everyone closer together,” said Diana Blair, the director of Bentleyville Public Library. “It’s going to give you more options. And being online, too, is going to be a great thing.”

The people who frequent Blair’s library will have ready access to the holdings at the Peters Township Public Library, located about 18 miles from Bentleyville. Pier Lee, the longtime director at Peters Township Public Library, explained that “you can see all the collection together. I feel this provides a service to all our residents. We need to share our resources, especially in economic hard times.”