PALMER — For nearly 25 years, the Palmer Public Library has been at the heart of the city.

Centrally located downtown at the intersection of W. Evergreen Avenue and Valley Way, the 12,000-square-foot library houses some 55,000 volumes and welcomed more than 101,000 visitors in 2009.

That’s a far cry from the library’s beginning in 1939 or from the days when it occupied what is now the city council chambers, director Pat Kilmain said. Gone are the card catalogues, replaced with banks of easily searchable computers.

ROBERT DeBERRY/Frontiersman Pat Kilmain has been the director of the Palmer Public Library for eight years.

But the soul of the library is still found in the pages of books, said Kilmain, who sat down with the Frontiersman on Monday to talk about the Palmer library and how the industry is changing.

Frontiersman: How long has Palmer had a library?

Kilmain: Since 1939. We’ve been in this building 25 years in January. In fact, we’re going to have a 25th anniversary celebration in January.

F: What’s new and exciting at the Palmer library?

K: I don’t know that it’s all that exciting inside, but outside we have all new street lights in our parking lot to fit in with the city and all the old-fashioned lights. Pretty much, we’re gearing up to have this anniversary party in January, and we had a great summer reading program with more than 1,000 people registered for that.

F: What role do you feel a library has in its community?

K: Oh boy. We have several roles. One is as a gathering place, a meeting place, a place where people in the community come together. We have a big community room we rent out. People run into their friends here, they make arrangements to meet here. Of course, we also provide a lot of reading materials for people in the community. Last year we had over 100,000 people come through our doors.

F: How have computers and technology become part of a traditional library?

K: I’ll tell you, when I came here in 2001, we had one computer that had Internet access. In fact, on staff, that was the one computer. If somebody wanted (that access), they had to come to me to use it. Now, everybody on staff has high-speed Internet connection, and we have 10 desktop computers and we have laptops we’re getting ready to put out for people to use in the library.

F: Are technology and the Internet good for libraries or bad for libraries?

K: We’re evolving in what we do. It did take away all of what we call the “fact” questions. How many people live in this place? People can Google that so fast, and that’s all we do anymore. Simple-type reference that just require looking up a figure or a fact is done on the Internet. ... Our big new thing is to put these laptops out for the public. We have lots of audiobooks on tape and CD, and all of the libraries in the borough are members of what’s called Listen Alaska, which is downloadable audiobooks for free.

F: We get asked a lot at the Frontiersman if the Internet is going to put newspapers out of business. Is the Internet going to put libraries out of business?

K: No. They’re publishing more books than ever and people are checking out more books than ever, so I don’t think so. People come here, they like to hold books. I don’t know about you, but you can’t take your laptop to the bathtub to read.

F: What do you like to read?

K: I, personally, am a big audiobooks user. I read mostly fiction, although my husband is strictly non-fiction, but I read a lot and I listen to books a lot. There are some books that aren’t listenable, but it depends. I am reading a new book by Dianna Gabaldon.

F: In the Mat-Su Borough, the library system is in the fourth year of a five-year reduction of borough funding for municipal branches. How is Palmer dealing with that?

K: Our city council has picked up the slack, basically. Like Wasilla, about 80 percent of our users don’t live in the city of Palmer. Most of everything in our city is supported by sales tax, and some by property tax. Our city council has chosen to keep funding the library, and I like that. It’s very important.

F: The old axiom for success in business is location, location, location. That’s true for the Palmer library as well, isn’t it?

K: We have the prime location. We’re right in the middle of town — downtown — and I can’t see us ever moving from here. In fact, we have room here to expand (which, of course, takes money that we haven’t got at the moment). It means that when people come to town, the library’s an easy stop for them. We have a great parking lot. You can park here and walk to anyplace downtown. We’re right on the edge of the historic district and right across the street from the visitor’s center.

F: Describe the average Palmer library visitor?

K: Oh, gosh. That’s hard. We have visitors of all ages. On Tuesday mornings we run a baby lap-sit program that starts with (children) 3 and 4 months old, all the way up to lots of senior citizens.

F: What are some stereotypes about libraries that just aren’t true anymore?

K: That you need to be quiet in the library, because if you come at certain times of the day, it’s never quiet. We don’t go around shushing people. It’s an active place, it’s not a quiet, sterile place anymore.

Contact Greg Johnson at greg.johnson@frontiersman.com or 352-2269.