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May 7, 2002 David Peterson Named Saint Paul Public Library Volunteer of the Year
Staff at Saint Paul Public Library sometimes refer to Peterson lovingly as "Videoman" for the many hours he spends repairing the library's damaged VHS videotapes. Peterson, an employee of 3M, spends up to 35 hours a month on the maintenance of Saint Paul Public Library's collection of over 30,000 videotapes (12,000 separate titles) allowing customers of the library system's 13 branches and Central Library the chance to view tapes which otherwise would have had to have been discarded. Twice a month Peterson will pick up a box of videocassettes which have been reported as malfunctioning. At that point he said it often becomes a detective job, as he needs to diagnose what is actually wrong on a tape with a note attached to it where the total description of the problem amounts to "bad tape." After diagnosing the difficulty he'll repair it if he can, splicing snapped tapes, and replacing broken reels or crushed shells. David sends out a detailed monthly report to each branch regarding his repairs. His notation regarding a damaged copy of the dinosaur movie "The Lost World" noted, "Velociraptors seem to have taken a bite out of the tape. I saved and attached the sample in the event that there was an enduring paleological interest in the event." For a copy of the children's video "Peter Cottontail," in which the user reported "bad tracking," David noted that the tape has "been up and down the bunny trail too many times." Peterson said he acquired his splicing skills while working as a producer at a public radio station. A friend who owned a video rental business recruited him to start splicing videotapes and he built his skill from there. Always a frequent library visitor, Peterson noticed the growing collection of tapes and asked if he could lend a hand with repairs - a request library staff were only too happy to grant. Asked why he volunteers for the library, Peterson replied that "Librarians are very important to me. If it helps them, that's enough." Peterson was one of 250 volunteers honored at the May 2 event. In 2001, Saint Paul Public Library volunteers gave over 13,000 hours to their neighborhood library services. Copyright 2002-2008, Saint Paul Public Library - 90 W. 4th Saint Paul, MN 55102 Melanie Huggins, Library Director | Library Board Webmaster: SPPLWeb@ci.stpaul.mn.us |
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SAINT PAUL, MN - Saint Paul Public Library recently named Frogtown neighborhood resident David Peterson as its 2002 Volunteer of the Year. Peterson was presented the award on May 2 at Saint Paul Public Library's annual Volunteer Appreciation Dinner.