5.4 LIBSR 01-24-2023LSC Report to the Elk River Library Board
Lori Lundstrom
January 24, 2023
Winter Reading Program kicked off with the theme of "Read for a Better World" on 1/3/2023. Patrons
can register for the program in person, at the library or on the Beanstack app. The program created for
adults and teens features weekly drawings in Elk River for prizes like mugs, books and Caribou Coffee
gift cards. We will be drawing for a grand prize of a $25.00 Amazon gift card when the program ends on
February 28th. A special thanks to our Elk River Friends of the Library for sponsoring the gift cards and
books for the program!
In children's programming news: We kicked off our 2023 weekly Monday morning storytimes with a
special storytime by someone from Oliver Kelley Farm called "Oliver Kelley Farm Visits the Library." She
was dressed in 1800's period costume and children could choose from one of two crafts afterwards.
Look for the story and accompanying photos in the Star News! We will continue to offer our
LEGO/STEM club and "Schooled in Art" class every month. Our last children's Legacy event of 2022 was
the Magic Bob Halloween Magic Show with an attendance of 32.
In teen news: after a hiatus of two years, we reintroduced a teen book club. This has been developed
and led by our youngest Library Assistant. It is called Examining History: Historical Graphic Novel Book
Club for Teens and Tweens. The very first meeting was in September, but by November our attendance
was up to 13. We are looking forward to seeing these kids again in 2023! We had to reschedule our
Skateboard Art Legacy program from January 7 to February 4. In future, since our library is now open
one hour longer on Saturdays, it will be easier to have programming on Saturday afternoons.
Senior programming: October and November we introduced a program new to Great River Regional
Library called Art Bright. This was a program started by SCAUW [Sherburne County Area United Way]
which wanted to expand into a library setting. I coordinated with the instructor Paula Benfer to set them
up as two separate 4 week sessions. Each class was filled to maximum capacity with the exception of the
very last class due to inclement weather. It is geared towards members of the memory loss community
and their significant other/caretaker. We are looking into expanding this to another GRRL library in
Sherburne County for mid spring. Although it is geared to the elder community, it is open to all adults.
Adult programming: In November, we added a new monthly Genealogy Workshop. Our first class in
November saw 5 people, and we again have five people signed up for the January class. Our Adult Book
Club continues to meet the first Tuesday evening of the month.
All-ages/family programming: the fall season brought us some amazing music with the Harpist Colleen
Austin in November followed by the A Cappella group the Mistletones in December (attendance of 56
including kids.) We got a lot of enthusiastic feedback!
Future programming: upcoming Legacy events includes guitarist David Malmberg on Wednesday
February 22 at 2 pm, and "Jigs and Jives Celtic Music" with Andrea Stern on Monday February 27 at
5:30.
Before our meeting is adjourned and everyone leaves the building, be sure to check out the newly
painted back wall of our children's area! It has gone from dark gray to a bright and cheerful orange!