Early on in the work of the Montana Rural Education Center, there was a recognized need for some sort of a handbook or manual for rural school teachers who found themselves responsible for their school libraries. In cooperation with the Lucy Carson Library at University of Montana -- Western of the University of Montana, the Center first published such a work in the school year of 1982-83. Unraveling the Patchwork, a library guide for rural schools, was reprinted in 1983-84 because of demand.

Since then much has changed. Libraries have become information centers, many have been automated, and all need to have electronic connections to the outside world. To determine exactly what was needed in the 1990's the Center and the Library undertook some much needed research. In 1991-1992, Ann Eifert, a library student, conducted a quantitative research project with rural schools regarding current library practices. She found that while rural libraries appeared to be moving toward centralization, "schools were plagued with outdated materials." The survey provided a great deal of other helpful information.

Armed with this, two other library students, Vicki Proctor and Denice Rust, worked with Dr. Lee Spuhler of the Montana Rural Education Center and developed a grant application to the Steele-Reese Foundation. The grant proposal was for a pilot program in nine rural schools in southwest Montana which would address not only issues which appeared in the survey, but also the requirements of Montana's new School Accreditation Standards which had been enacted in 1989. The proposal was funded and in the fall of 1991 the students set to work to reform the libraries of the rural schools through the Itinerant Library Network (ILN). The two library students working with rural school teachers, board trustees and parents, gathered, weeded and organized collections. The ILN staff provided in class instruction for students and teachers in traditional library skills, helped the trustees update and in some cases develop new policies, and aided the schools in developing alternative funding sources. In some schools they were able to provide online information access and all schools became part of the interlibrary loan system in the state. The program concluded at the close of the school year in June 1993. The students learned a great deal about delivering library services to rural schools, and the rural schools acquired much improved libraries and in most cases bigger, more current collections and an understanding of more resources.

With the conclusion of the Itinerant Library Network program there was renewed interest in taking what had been learned from that program and turning it into a rural school resource manual. Unfortunately, the funding was not available to do the work immediately and the students graduated and moved on in their careers. Every few months, however, the Montana Rural Education Center receives a request for an updated version of Unraveling the Patchwork. Each time the person is told that the Center and the Lucy Carson Library are working on the production of such a document. This past year it became apparent that the staff here at Western could not create such a work by themselves. The field is moving so quickly and there are many experts of various aspects of library work in Montana. It was decided to ask some of those professionals to author various parts of the document. We are pleased with the response.

We have chosen to keep Patchwork as the title, because this document truly is. Each chapter is like a unique square in a patchwork quilt, representing its author and the material. Together, they reflect common themes critical to the school library. Also, as we thought about it, a library is somewhat like a patchwork with its myriad of resources and programs making up the total program.

The authors of this third edition of Patchwork include three public school librarians and four college professors. Two of the latter have taught in public schools as well. Some have experience in small schools and some in larger ones, but all are experts in their field. The editors wish to thank the authors who, in a short time frame, researched and wrote clear, helpful chapters for this manual.

A special thank you to Professor Glenda Elser and the students in her Advanced Word Processing Class, who put the "patches" together by entering and formatting the full document. Finally, Patchwork would not have been completed without Cindy Leonard, the Center's Administrative Assistant, who also deserves a special thank you for her tireless and cheerful work on the project.

This document is not meant to be an exhaustive volume, but rather a practical guide and a handy reference for the novice in school library work. We hope we have created an understandable, useful document for rural school teachers, new school librarians, county superintendents and rural and small school boards of trustees. We would appreciate receiving feedback as to the effectiveness of this document from members of its intended audience.

The format of the manual is three hole punched, because it is hoped that additional chapters will be printed. It is planned at this time to add at least one more chapter on technology later this year. As changes in library programs occur other chapters will be added. In this way we hope this Patchwork becomes a living document and will be useful now and for many years to come.