Aiding the technical side of libraries

Jennifer Thompson of the Missouri State Library.
Jennifer Thompson of the Missouri State Library.

When libraries in Missouri need technical support or resource sharing, they turn to Jennifer Thompson.

"We help ensure public libraries in Missouri have the technology and resources they need to serve their patrons," said Thompson, who has been the state library's technology and resources sharing consultant for about one year.

Even if she doesn't know the answer, she will find someone who does, Thompson said.

She spends her days at the Secretary of State's Kirkpatrick Office Building fielding questions and contacts by phone and email.

In between, she also manages the statewide contracts for early literature resources, the online computer library center, interlibrary loans and Show-Me the World resource sharing.

"We multiply the value of a book collection by sharing," she said.

Thompson also reviews and administers the competitive grant applications, mostly for technology. About 200 grants were awarded in the last year.

The trends currently include Chromebooks, which libraries want as a result of more school districts integrating one-to-one device programs, and Maker Spaces, which set up labs for creators from three-dimensional printers to crochet groups.

"It's fun to be on the side to help project happen," Thompson said. "It's so cool to see them in action."

As part of the grant program, she has the opportunity to visit the receiving libraries to monitor the grant's use.

In South Carolina, she worked in public libraries as well as a college library.

"I've learned so much about libraries in Missouri," Thompson said.

In particular, she is interested in helping rural and smaller libraries, which may have smaller staff and collections.

For example, she manages the Tumble Book program, which provides interactive talking picture books be used in conjunction with children's story times or on their own.

Initially an architectural history major and later in religious studies, she said the one constant throughout her studies was the library. She earned a master's degree in library science from the University of South Carolina-Columbia.

The public service and administrative duties were what drew her in, she said.

And she continues to be fascinated by the potential digital technology offers for future library services.

"The ways we access may have changed, but the role of public libraries stays the same - to connect patrons with resources to achieve their goals," she said.