News : Henkle Shares Library Information with local Kiwanis

Carolyn Hibbs introduced the librarian of the Vinton Public Library to the area Kiwanis Club for their weekly meeting at the end of April. Kelly Henkle introduced herself to the group and shared some of the updates with the group. Henkle has served as librarian over the last 2.5 years.

The library has expanded its hours to accommodate residents. Following the survey last year, the library has added more evening hours. On Tuesday and Thursday, the library remains open until 8:00 p.m. The library also opens early on Friday mornings at 7:00 a.m. The hours were created to help families better access the library. This brings the total hours that the library is open to 50 hours a week.

The Memory Cafe is another unique feature for the library. It's an event for those living with dementia who are still living in their own homes. The group meets on the 2nd and 4th Fridays. Caregivers and family are also welcome to join the group. Volunteers and staff are there to lead the group in activities and serve a snack to those in attendance.

The Memory Cafe is provided through a grant from the American Library Association. It is the only library that used their grant to work with those living with dementia. The library was selected to be featured by the ALA. A photographer and articles will feature the library in the ALA publications. Henkle hopes that it will inspire other libraries to follow.

Henkle bragged on the Children's Librarian, Kelly Roberts for her creativity in summer programming and her passion for outreach using the mobile bicycle library. She visits the parks during the summer and will be at the youth garden on Mondays in May. She hosted a toddler prom and is creating educational opportunities including writing classes with Amy Stourac to teach the children to write.

Some of the updates in the library are the mobile shelving units in the children's section. This allows the complete shelf off books to be moved to the wall creating more space for events at the library. When put back in position the lock into place.

One of the maintenance things that was done and not on the list of fun activities, was a bit of bat mitigation, removing bat remains and cleaning up some of the debris from them.

There are some fun things to see at the library. If you've wondered where the book tower carving went that was formerly in the front yard, it's located inside the north entrance of the library. It is housed behind a glass panel complete with lighting. In the children's area is an "under the sea" mural painted on the walls of the children's section of the library.

Hekle said that circulation has continued to increase at the library. This includes the checking in and out of physical books as well as digital materials. She reports the final numbers each year to the State Library of Iowa which monitors the library accreditation, City Council and each month to the Library Board.

Highlighting the Summer Reading Program, just a reminder here: The kick off party will be June 6th, from 11:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. There will be hotdogs and chips, and you can sign up and earn your first prize that day! (A coupon for ice cream or fries at Tootsie's) For those who complete the program will receive four prizes. Adults who complete their challenges get to enter for a chance to win prizes. The library also has a "1,000 books before Kindergarten" and adult reading challenges happening all of the time.

During May, the library is partnering with Benton County Public Health to "Chalk the Town" green as part of the "Make it Okay" state program to lower the stigma associated with mental health issues. The library is handing out green chalk for anyone who would like to decorate a side walk toward this effort.

The May calendar includes a presentation on Tuesday by Tyler Sullivan concerning Iowa's Scenic Views by Foot. He will be at the library at 6:00 p.m. He likes to write a poem about each county and run 1 mile in each county as well.

Libby & Hoopla

These are digital resources offered through the library. Limited to those inside the Vinton city limits and rural Benton County (If you are in the city limits of other towns, you need to go to the library in the town where you live to access these services.)

If you have a card, you can check out digital books through Libby, which is provided through the state. The choices include books, magazines. Hoopla offers ebooks, audio books, movies and some television shows. Henkle encourages the use of Libby first (it is cheaper for the library because of the state provision) but of course she said if your book is only available through Hoopla, it's not a problem!

Tidbits

Traffic in the library has doubled since Henkle began. Going from 60-70 to an average of 130 people each day.

There is a section of the library dedicated to local history.

The library doesn't receive funding from the federal government, but only through the State Library of Iowa. However, the state covers the fees for Libby and the interloan book program through Iowa Shares, which is paid for through the SLI. Henkle didn't see anything that should be affected through budget cuts at the federal level.

Library Week

One of the attendees at the meeting, spotted Henkle leaving the library with "a suitcase full of books." Henkle explained that she was going out into the community with books that could be checked out, library card applications ans some swag from the library to encourage more participation in the community.

Be sure to stop in and check out the activities at our local library, and grab a few books while you're there!