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| Rantoul Public Library |
2009 no. 18
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| Library Profile |
| Library Name: Rantoul Public Library Location: 106 W. Flessner, Rantoul, IL 61866 Type: Public Mission: is to provide current, high-demand, and high interest materials in a variety of formats which meet the informational, educational, and recreational needs of individuals and groups of all ages. Website: http://www.rantoul.lib.il.us LTLS Directory Page: http://www.lincolntrail.info/ran.html LTLS Member Since: 1970 |
An interview with Director, Holly Thompson, with Violet LaPine, and Annette Davis.
| What is unique about your library?
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| We feel that there are several things that help the Rantoul Public Library stand out. We are very lucky to have the Korkowski Aerospace Collection. The collection contains books, magazines, and videos on aerospace studies, as well as models and artifacts. We also have a puzzle exchange at the library. It is volunteer run and meets twice a month. The group uses the library as a meeting space and extra storage for puzzles. Another interesting fact is that our building used to be a bowling alley. We have people come in all the time who are visiting the old Air Force base and remember it being the bowling alley and how it was set up. |
| What are the primary goals and objectives of your library? |
| Our main goal is to make sure that our patrons’ informational, educational, and recreational needs are met. As part of our mission we also try to encourage young children to develop an interest in learning and reading. Due to the economy, we have also been focusing on programs to help people find jobs. We have done a webinar on online job searching and a resume writing program. These have been well received. Sometimes, the person has all the qualifications for the actual job, but not the skills to apply for the job. |
| What cooperative efforts are you currently doing? |
| Cooperative efforts are important to us. We participate in both LTLS and OCLC interlibrary loan. Recently we had a book requested and sent to Australia. We work closely with the Illinois Migrant Council and The Cultivators (a Latino mission) to make sure we are helping the migrant families in our community. We have had family programs, migrant school visits, and collection development help. We have a special membership at the Chanute Air Museum. They give us free passes that we can give out to our patrons. The Department of National Resources has provided us with fishing poles and kits that patrons can check out and use during the nice weather. We also work with the elementary schools. We have them visit and vote for the Monarch Book Awards. The students love voting and being a part of the process. |
| Tell us a story about your library. |
| In the summer we do outdoor, evening movies. Our last one was Astronaut Farmer. There is a part in the movie when the main character says “Someday, I am going to be up there.” and it was awesome because there we were sitting under the stars as he was talking about it. We had a patron pass away that donated money to the library with instructions that it be used for enhancing or helping with the outdoor movies. We bought a movie-style popcorn machine to use at movie nights so that we didn’t have to pop all the bags in the microwave. People love watching the machine pop the popcorn, as well as the delicious taste. |
| If money were no object, what services would you add? |
| We would love to add a fulltime reference librarian. We don’t have the money or the staff to commit someone fulltime to just that position. It would also be great to have more staff at the circulation desk. It would be nice to have more money allocated to marking and program promotion, and even a position who could concentrate on that. Adding basic computer classes to our programming would help out a lot of our patrons, but we don’t have the staff for that currently. We would like to add more computers in the children’s’ area that would not have internet, but be used for educational software and learning. We would set up a multimedia area for our teens with a projector and speakers and give them their own area for gaming. |
| What is popular in your library? |
| The computers are the most popular item in our library. People come into the library specifically to use the computers. As far as circulation, DVDs are at the top of circulation. |
| How does your library use online tools to connect to your users? |
| We have a Facebook page to connect to patrons. We subscribe to Tutor.com so that our younger patrons can have access to live homework help. Recently, we started subscribing to Chilton’s database. We have a staff blog for internal library use, but hope to launch a public blog in the future. |
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Request a visit to your library If you would like to set up a special date for us to visit your library contact LTLS Consultant Michelle Ralston Library of the Week is published by Lincoln Trail Libraries System, 1704 W. Interstate Dr., Champaign, IL 61822 217-352-0047 - ltls@lincolntrail.info Executive Director: Jan Ison, Editorial and Design Team: Michelle Ralston and David Lottes |
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