SPRINGFIELD, Ga. — As Effingham County works toward its June 30 deadline to leave the Live Oak Public Libraries consortium and join the Statesboro Regional Public Libraries system, county officials say staffing and asset division are the two most pressing issues.
County Manager Tim Callanan said the transition remains the county’s top priority.
“The most important thing right now is taking care of the transition,” Callanan said. “There’s still a lot of work involved in that.”
Hiring and staffing concerns
Callanan said the county has hired veteran library administrator Pat Herndon as a transition specialist to help guide the process. The Effingham County Board of Commissioners approved a consulting agreement for up to 10 weeks at $100 per hour, with an anticipated workload of about 10 hours per week. Travel expenses are reimbursed under state policy.
But beyond coordination and logistics, Callanan said the immediate focus is staffing.
“We’ve had some employees retire or transfer or resign, and we’ve got to make sure that on transition day we have staff in place — trained staff in place,” he said. “That’s the number one thing that we’re working on right now, building a staff.”
Recent staff departures contributed to reduced operating hours at local branches. Callanan said the county was informed of the reductions after the decision had already been made.
“We were not told until the decision was made that that was going to occur,” he said.
Ensuring both the Rincon and Springfield branches are fully operational with trained personnel by the time the transition is finalized is now a central focus.
Asset division likely headed to state
Another unresolved issue is the division of materials and other assets between Effingham County and Live Oak.
That includes books and other physical materials, furnishings, equipment and potentially technology systems. Callanan said if the two sides cannot reach agreement, state law provides a path for resolution.
“If both sides cannot come to agreement, it goes up to the Board of Regents and the state librarian to make the decision on the asset distribution,” Callanan said. “I think that’s where we’re headed.”
The Georgia Public Library Service is assisting with transition planning, including coordination related to PINES — the Public Information Network for Electronic Services — and GALILEO, the state’s virtual library system, both of which will remain available to Effingham patrons after the switch, Callanan said.
County officials say their focus remains on completing the transition with minimal disruption to library users.
