Ainsworth Public Library

The Ainsworth Public Library is working on our library accreditation and part of the process is to do a community needs response plan.  We are doing a Library & Community Survey to help the Library Board gain insight to better serve our community and know what needs the community has.  Be assured that your answers will be kept confidential.  We want to hear from everyone, regardless of how frequently or infrequently you might take advantage of the library’s services.  Input is important, no matter your age.   We want to hear from children, teens, adults, and senior citizens.  Everyone in the family may take part in the survey.  This survey will help us reevaluate how the library may best continue to serve Ainsworth and Brown County citizens; this could mean an expansion of services or modification of existing programming. 

The purpose of public library accreditation, according to the Nebraska Library Commission, is to encourage excellent library service in communities across the state; accreditation is the standard by which the services are offered, and measured against guidelines developed by librarians.  The Ainsworth Library currently holds gold accreditation, the highest a library can receive in Nebraska.  With gold status, a library becomes eligible for increased state financial aid which includes education and improvement grants, as well as USDA money that could be used for community facilities.

We’d love to hear from you and share your ideas.  The survey can be found online at libraries.ne.gov/ainsworth (see link below) or on the Ainsworth Library Facebook page.  We will provide paper copies on request. We know that your time is valuable, but we need your feedback.

 If you have questions, please contact the library in person or call 402-387-2032

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSesRSaw5oNTF81fgJ2dUmrna6wm9y4m53XBq1YR3vUzh1CdZA/viewform?embedded=true

The Ainsworth Public Library will be celebrating the 80^th birthday of Smokey the Bear by holding a reading challenge.  The reading challenge will be open to all ages.  It will run from July 21^st to August 31^st.  This six week program will have a goal of reading a total of 720 minutes.  That averages out to 20 minutes for six days of the week.  You will record your reading time in the on-line Reader Zone app.  Please contact the Library for the code to enter. 

An ending program will be held in September.  Specifics will be announced later on this.

Sign-up now and help Smokey celebrate his birthday!

The 2024 “Adventure Begins at your Library” Summer Reading Program ran from June 1 – June 30^th.  It was a fun theme and the sixteen Fun-Hours at the Library covered travel adventures, sky adventures, water adventures, and land adventures.  Crafts consisted of suitcase with a pass book; pool noodle boat, lighthouse, safari vest and hat, compass, and a hot air balloon.  We had a total of 53 children sign up for Toddler Time; Preschool Storytime; K-1^st Grade group; and the 2^nd-4^th Grade group. 

The grade school age children kept track of the time they read during June in the on-line app called Reader Zone.  We had a total of 14 readers use Reader Zone.  Total time they read came to 6,527 minutes.  Top readers included Leon Carpenter with 1,232 minutes and Kimberlyn Doke with 1,102 minutes.  Other readers meeting the 500 minute goal were Sutton Owens Brodbeck, Ariyah Voss, Landon Arens, Easton Lammers, and Jett Hansmeyer.  The 14 readers will receive a book bag full of various prizes and a personal pan pizza from Pizza Hut.

We hope that everyone enjoy the Reading Program.  Up next will be the Smokey Bear Reading Challenge.   Information will be released soon on this challenge so be watching for this information.

We are doing a “Happy Dance”!

The street in front of the library was opened to traffic yesterday.

You may now park in front of the library.

Come visit the Library!

Ainsworth Library Board Meeting will be held on July 10, 2024 at 5 p.m.

This meeting is open to the public.

AGENDA

1.         Call meeting to order

2.         Give notice of the posting of the Nebraska Open Meeting Act

3.         Roll call

4.         Approve minutes of last meeting

5.         Approve claims for payment

6.         Monthly Library Report for June/List of titles purchased plus show artwork over fireplace purchased with Memorial money)

7.         Summer Reading Program review

8.         Performance Review Report for library director

9.         Public Library Accreditation and public survey

10.       Review & Update library policies on Bi-Laws

11.       Smokey Bear Reading Challenge

12.       Upgrade computers for staff and public access

13.       Proposed Budget for 2024-2025

14.       Workshops/Meetings:

            a.         Unattended Kids-June 10^th-Zoom

            b.         Public Library Accreditation Workshop-June 12^th

            c.         State Advisory Council on Libraries Board Meeting-Lincoln-July 19^th

15.       Correspondence:

            a.         Nebraska Broadband has a new newsletter “Horizon”

            b.         Articles of interest from Library Journals/newsletters

16.       Set next meeting date/time

17.       Adjournment 

So happy! Cement work was done this morning on our handicapped access on the front walk. Hopefully soon, we can use the street again!

Can you believe it? It is the last week of our “Adventure Begins at Your Library” Summer Reading Program!

Week four will feature land adventures (safari, jungle, camping) theme.

Tuesday: Preschool 1-2 p.m. Toddler Time 4:30-5 p.m.

Thursday: K-1st Grade 1-2 p.m. 2nd-4th Grade 3-4 p.m.

Don’t forget to record your reading time in Reader Zone if you are in the K-4th grades! The last day to record will be June 30th. Top readers will be announced after July 4th.

The Ainsworth Library Board held its regular monthly meeting on June 5, 2024 at the Ainsworth Public Library.  This meeting was advertised in the local newspaper, on the radio, posted at the library and on the library’s website and FaceBook page.  The meeting was called to order at 5:03 p.m.  Notice was given on the posting of the Nebraska Open Meeting Act.  Roll call showed four members present.  They included Todd Flynn, Stacy Gilliland, Luke Hitchcock, and Alane Lentz.  Member Phyllis Leach was absent.

Stacy Gilliland made the motion to approve the minutes of the last meeting.  Alane Lentz seconded this with all members voting in favor of.  Alane Lentz moved to approve the claims for payment.  Luke Hitchcock seconded this with all members voting in favor of.  The Monthly Library Report for May 2024 was presented.

MONTHLY REPORT FOR MAY 2024

CIRCULATION TOTALS:          2021                 2022               2023                2024

                                                  922                  939     _          1024                1,030

HAPPENINGS AT THE LIBRARY:   Radio Spot was done 4 times this month.The Internet was access a total of 61 times.  Over Drive checkout of e-books & audiobooks showed 488. Library Board meeting was held on the 1st.  Director attended two Director’s Zoom meeting on the 2^nd & 9^th; Learn about Kanopy on 6^th; Public Library Accreditation Process on 14^th; Preventing Burnout & Fatigue on 23^rd .  Three new library cards were added this month. Library Foundation Board held quarterly meeting on the 22^nd.  Katherine Kerrigan’s last day for COE was on the 7^th.  Summer Reading Program Registration was held from May 1^st-18^th.  A total of 53 children signed up.  No water pressure on 15^th after construction crew worked on line.  City got it back on.  City was called on the 24^th about broken tree branch over the parking area on 5^th street.  It was fixed right away. Storytime was held on the 21^st with 12 attending.  Library was closed on Memorial Day.

Discussion was also held on the sprinkler system and issues at the curb by the construction.  There was no water pressure.  City employee came and adjusted the flow of water which corrected the problem.

The Summer Reading Program “Adventure Begins @ Your Library” started on June 1^st.   We had a total of 53 children sign up.  Toddler Time had 8 children.  An adult must stay with them during the program.  Preschool has 17 children registered.  K-1^st Grade group had a total of 12 students and the 2^nd-4^th grade group had a total of 16 children.  K-4^th grade will keep track of time read by way of Reader Zone from June 1-June 30.  We have the readers divided into four sessions.  We will have preschool and toddlers come on Tuesday and the K-4^th grade will come on Thursday. We will use a travel adventure theme.  Week 1 will be travel adventures; Week 2 will be sky adventures, Week 3 will be sea adventures, and Week 4 will be land adventures. 

It was noted that the Brown County Commissioners had acknowledged our request of $11,000 and we will have to wait and see if they will allow it in their budget.  The City Clerk had not gotten back with the numbers for increase on utilities, insurance, etc.  We will finish up our request at the next meeting.

Our public library accreditation expires at the end of the year.  In order to make our Community Needs Response Plan, we will need to do a community survey and/or hold a community meeting.  It would be nice to have a community member to be on our committee for this plan.  Director has been putting the word out there on this.  Information on our Peer Libraries was shared and compared with our library.  The Broad reviewed some of the questions for a survey and approved of them being put on FaceBook, website, and handed out to the public. The Accreditation Form will open on July 1^st and we can start to complete it and see how many points we have and if we will be a bronze, silver, or gold star library this round.  Accreditation is now good for five years instead of the previous three years.

The library received their State Aid for 2024 award letter.   Our library will be receiving a total of $1,317 this year.  The award was determined using the following formula:

                Base amount                                     $ 565

                Per Capita Pay                                   $ 242

                Accreditation Bonus                       $ 400

                1% Incentive Pay                              $ 110

Yearly Employee Performance Review was completed on Wanda Raymond and Ellen Voss. Alane Lentz made the motion to approve the review.  Todd Flynn seconded this with all members in favor of.   The Library’s Director Review will be completed by library president and then approved by the board at the next meeting.

The Chamber had requested the library to extend hours on June 27^th when a lot of bikers are in town.  Chamber thought that it would be nice to be open so bikers could come in to use the internet, catch up on the newspapers, or just to cold down.  Library Board approved of being open till 6:30 p.m. on the 27^th.  Director will work the extra time on that date.

ESU 7 will be doing a Migrant Education Program on Tuesday in June and July from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.  Ana Garcia and Nicole Flynn will be the instructors for this program of 24-25 students.  They have asked if they could meet at the library during that time.  Since we have our Summer Reading Program running on Tuesdays, it was not possible to have them here in June.  I told them that they could meet here in July.

Under workshops and meetings, we had reviews on the Thursday Director Zoom meetings on May 2^nd and 9^th; the Kanopy for Nebraska OverDrive Libraries on May 6^th; the NCompass Live: 2024 Public Library Accreditation Process on May 14^th; and Preventing Burnout & Fatigue Meeting on May 23^rd.  The Library Foundation Board held a meeting on May 22^nd and items discussed at that meeting was shared with the library board.  It was noted that a Public Library Accreditation Workshop would be held on June 12^th.  Board members were encouraged to attend this three hour class or to watch the recording.

Under correspondence, an email from Sam Shaw at the Library Commission was shared.  They have been comparing date from the FY2019 public library survey (the last year before COVID related closures and restrictions) and the recent public library survey.  Some troubling trends have emerged. They had a survey for libraries to complete to better understand the changes in the statewide numbers and reasons for declines in many library service measures.  Our library completed this survey on 5-29-24.  Our library had a photo of one of our small library patrons at a storytime making a craft in the Central Plains Library System newsletter. Articles from various library newsletters and journals were shared with the board. 

The next meeting date was discussed.  Due to the meeting falling on July 3^rd and the 4^th of July holiday the next day, the meeting was moved to July 10^th at 5 p.m.  Since there was no further business to come before the Board, the meeting was adjourned at 5:51 p.m.