5.7. LIBSR 01-23-2018
GREAT RIVER REGIONAL LIBRARY - ONE LIBRARY 32 LOCATIONS
Library Services Coordinator Report-Board Meeting-1-23-18
Winter has arrived, and with it, our Winter Reading Program has begun. In the two days since the program started
we have about 30 adults and teens signed up. We have some great prizes for our patrons, including grand prizes of a
$25 Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift card, and a Kindle Fire HD8, donated by our Friends of the Library Group.
We have started our new open hours, and the response has been positive. The most common feedback we have
received from patrons is that they appreciate that we will be open every day at the same time. On Tuesday and
Thursday of this week, the first week of the changed hours, we saw an average of 25-30 patrons between the hours of
10 am and 12 noon.
Our highlights from October through December 2017 include:
Our Family Story time with the Elk River Police and Fire Dept. was a huge success with about 40 children and parents
in attendance. Special thanks to Officer Sandberg and Firefighter Kreuser. We look forward to doing it again next
year! We also enjoyed good participation in our Lego hour (14), and in our two “Hour of Code” sessions (23) in early
December. As a result of the feedback from children and parents attending those events, we will continue to be
offering similar programs, as well as a STEM class presented by Sherburne County 4-H, for the school age crowd this
winter and spring.
We had a wide variety of adult programs in Oct.-Dec., including an author visit from Joe Kimball, with 22 patrons in
attendance, a Military History Mysteries event, presented by the Minnesota Military Museum staff, two Crafternoon
events, a Holiday ornament/Holiday Harpist evening with 26 patrons in attendance, a Family Holiday movie Saturday,
and our “Making Sensory Bags” event in November, where we had 16 community members including residents from
Guardian Angels by the Lake-Elk River. Extra sensory bags were donated to Guardian Angels and to the
Alzheimer’s/Dementia Support Group at Elk River Senior Center. We will be offering a similar event in April to reach
out this population again. There will be more author visits, this time from Julie Kramer and Chad Lewis, both MN
authors, more Crafternoons including a painting class, a concert by Steve Sklar & Johanna Morrow, a brain games day
for adults, and a visit from Mark Moran, author & appraiser, on the calendar in the coming months.
In addition, we will be reaching out to the teen population by starting a Teen Book Club in January. We hope the lure
of pizza and a good book will bring in teens! We also have some outreach projects in the works with local schools,
particularly the Ivan Sands Alternative High School. In October, as a result of a ge nerous donation from an
anonymous donor, we were able to give about 11-12 boxes of young adult books to Ivan Sands for the beginnings of
their own library, as well as for use in their English classrooms. Coming up in March, we will be having a College
Planning/Financial Aid information night for parents and teens.
We are staying busy, and warm, at the Library!
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