About LTLS Members

Stokes Named Volunteer of the Year

Vivian Stokes was recently named the 2010-2011 Library Foundation Volunteer of the Year at the Volunteer Recognition Reception held at the Danville Public Library. 

“Volunteers are the lifeblood of any non-profit organization and their time, expertise, and enthusiasm are indispensable.” said Cathy Reardon, Executive Director of the Danville Library Foundation.  “Vivian Stokes epitomizes the best in volunteer service and dedication.”

Her long-time commitment to the Danville Public Library spans a period of more than thirty five years as a volunteer delivering library material to homebound patrons of the Danville Public Library‘s Outreach department.

Library A Week

Fisher Grade School Library

2011 no. 15

Library Profile

Library Name: Fisher Grade School Library Location: 801 S Fifth St, Fisher, IL Type: School Mission: Materials are selected by the school district to implement, enrich, and support the educational program for students and staff. Materials must serve both the breadth of the curriculum and the needs and interests of individual students. The district is obligated to provide for a wide range of abilities and to respect the diversity of many differing points of view. Website: http://www.fisher.k12.il.us/ LTLS Directory Page: http://www.lincolntrail.info/jin Member Since: 1989 An interview with Kelly Friedlein.

What is unique about your library?

We opened this school in 2003, so this space still feels very new to us, and we really enjoy it! We have 312 students in grades K-6. We share library staff between this building and the Jr/Sr High School. My aide works here in the morning and then we switch buildings and I am here in the afternoon. We have scheduled classes, two for each classroom a week. One period is always for book exchange and on is for library instruction, story time, and/pr more books exchange. Students also drop in during times when no class is scheduled to get books, for Accelerated Reader or just because they finished their last book and need something new. Every fall we hold a book fair and use the proceeds to fund out RIF program. We also participate in the Monarch and Rebecca Caudill programs, and we have a lot of fun reading the books and promoting student voting.

What are the primary goals and objectives of your library?

We want to support the curriculum, and meet the needs of our students and staff, both for class work and for their own pleasure reading.

What cooperative efforts are you currently doing?

We work with our teachers to obtain materials they need in the classroom, and pull room collections for AR and for special units of study. We also share materials back and forth with the junior/senior high school collection and we borrow materials through LTLS when our students and teachers request titles that we don’t own. We don’t have a public library in our town and we really miss having that resource for our students, so our cooperation in LTLS is really appreciated.

Tell us a story about your library.

Just recently, the 4th grade brought in the projects for their pioneer units. Every year the students put a lot of work and thought into what they do, and check out books from the library and use the Internet to research their ideas. This year, most students chose to make log cabins, with a few Native American longhouses and wigwams mixed in. It looked like an entire village had sprung up in the library (there are a lot of 4th graders this year). All the other classes we amazed. We had to make sure we left time for project looking during each class visit, and they oohed and aahed over everything. They were pretty amazing projects.

If money were no object, what services would you add?

If money were no object, I’d increase the shelving area for the fiction books and easy fiction books - we have already run short of room in those areas. Also, I would subscribe to several databases for grade school students. It would be nice to be able to buy more non-fiction books too. For example, we would love to replace all of our books on countries at once, instead of spreading it out over several years.

What is popular in your library?

Junie B. Jones is wildly popular right now. Our copied of The Wimpy Kid books are always out. Scaredy Squirrel is also in high demand, as is Fancy Nancy, Fly Guy and books by Karma Wilson. Bailey School Kids series has had a big revival in interest, and Magic Tree House books are always popular. Novels in verse have been in demand since the students read Diamond Willow for the Rebecca Caudill Young Readers Book Award.

How does your library use online tools to connect to your users?

The library does not have a lot online at this building. We do not have the catalog online or have subscription databases.

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  -   [email protected] Executive Director: Jan Ison, Editorial and Design Team: Michelle Ralston and David Lottes

Artist Paul Sargent and Coles County Topic of Gallery Talk at Tarble Arts Center

An informal tour of the exhibition “Bridging the Past: Paul Sargent’s Coles County” will be the topic of an EIU Academy of Lifetime Learning Lunch & Learn program.  The gallery talk will be presented Friday, May 6, noon, at the Tarble Arts Center by Tarble Director Michael Watts.
 
Admission is free to this luncheon lecture with participants invited to bring a “brown bag” lunch.  For information contact the Academy office in the School of Continuing Education at (217) 581-5114 or [email protected].

Chocolate Night at Marshall Public Library rescheduled

"Chocolate Night at the Library!" has been rescheduled for Thursday, May 5th, beginning at 6:30 PM (IL), in the library’s Dale McConchie Meeting Room.  This program, which was originally scheduled for January 20th but canceled due to severe weather, will be this year’s annual “Members-Only” Program for the Friends of Marshall Public Library.  However if you are not a member, just purchase a $5.00 membership and you will be able to attend the program. 

Devon Flesor Nau of Flesor’s Candy Kitchen in Tuscola, Illinois, will tell the story of how she and her sister Ann have carried on the family business started by their immigrant grandfather and have made the business flourish in a small town. Learn about chocolate making, and taste some samples from their kitchen!

Children’s Author and Illustrator Coming to Schools and Library

Author and illustrator Bobbi McPeak of Terre Haute will speak to students at the Marshall Schools on May 3rd and 4th and will present a public program at Marshall Public Library at 6:30 PM on Tuesday, May 3rd.   McPeak’s emphasis is on the importance of reading and writing, interweaving how she gets the ideas for her writing and how reading has influenced her, and now how illustrating is playing a large role in her life.  She will also discuss techniques of how she illustrates.  She will show the children how an idea proceeds from a rough draft to the revision process and the importance of rewriting, how pictures and words come together, and the importance of book design.

Artist Presents Print to Danville Public Library

Danville artist Amy Chrisman presents her 12" x 16" Artist’s Proof of the giclee print of St. James United Methodist Church to Danville Public Library Board President Bill Satterwhite.  This is the eighth in her series of Vermilion County Landmarks that she has donated to the library.  The entire series is on permanent display on the first floor of the library.

Danville Library Foundation Offers Special Mother’s Day Appreciation

The Danville Library Foundation is offering the community a unique opportunity to honor their mothers on Mother’s Day.  According to Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, Hodding Carter, "There are only two lasting bequests we can hope to give our children.  One is roots; the other is wings."

 

Throughout the history of civilization, mothers have been instrumental in giving their children both roots and wings.  Literacy is one of the many avenues that have enriched the learning of our area children and provided them the wings they needed to soar in life. 

 

For each contribution to the Danville Library Foundation in a Mother’s name, the Foundation will send the special person a Mother’s Day card from the Library thanking her for her dedication. Contributors are invited to include a paragraph telling how the Mother honored impacted their life or the life of another.  These stories may be shared in future Library newsletters.

 

Mother’s Day contribution forms are available at the Library Check-out Desk or by calling Cathy Reardon at 217-477-5220.  The deadline for submission is     May 2, 2011.

 

Library A Week

Fisher Jr/Sr High School Library

2011 no. 14

Library Profile

Library Name: Fisher Jr./Sr. High School Library Location: 211 W Division St, Fisher, IL Type: School Mission: Materials are selected by the school district to implement, enrich, and support the educational program for students and staff. Materials must serve both the breadth of the curriculum and the needs and interests of individual students. The district is obligated to provide for a wide range of abilities and to respect the diversity of many differing points of view. Website: http://www.fisher.k12.il.us/| LTLS Directory Page: http://www.lincolntrail.info/jin Member Since: 1989 An interview with Kelly Friedlein.

What is unique about your library?

We serve grades 7-12, with about 270 students. This gives us a wide range of patrons with varying interests and reading levels, so having the right materials for every reader is tricky sometimes. We don’t have a public library in our town so we are the only library in most of our students’ lives, which makes us so thankful to have Lincoln Trail to help us meet our students’ needs. Because the staff is shared with the grade school, we get to watch our students grow and change through the years. It’s really fun to work with all the different ages, sometimes all in the same day! I also supervise the students with online classes, who come to the library to work.

What are the primary goals and objectives of your library?

We want to support the curriculum, and meet the needs of our students and staff, both for information and pleasure reading. I hope students graduate knowing the difference reading can make in their lives and continue using libraries in the future.

What cooperative efforts are you currently doing?

I cooperate with the staff as they plan projects and I find materials to help them with their goals for their classes. In the fall I work with the junior high to teach them databases usage. Throughout the year I work with the teacher who has a study skills class, she teaches her class about Internet usage. Of course, I rely heavily on the cooperation of Lincoln Trail and interlibrary loan. It would be so nice to have a public librarian to work with - that is the cooperation that I miss having the most.

Tell us a story about your library.

When I came to Fisher, the librarian’s position had been unfilled for a while. When I talked to the students, the thing I heard the most was that there was nothing good to read! So for the past 11 years I have put a lot of effort into having a great fiction section, and I feel that it has really paid off. I don’t hear that complaint hardly at all these days. I think the complaint I am more likely to get is that I need to get an extra copy of some hot title because the student is tired of waiting on the hold list.

If money were no object, what services would you add?

It would be great to push out the walls and have a full sized computer lab (right now there are 12 computers in the lab), and have room for comfortable seating instead of just tables and chairs. I would love to have an extensive graphic novel collection, with extra room to shelve it. More databases and online resources would be wonderful, and more money to spend on the non-fiction collection, which always seems to need more updating.

What is popular in your library?

Fantasy and romance are always popular, as are contemporary fiction books, and I have a group of James Patterson fans. Right now I am looking at my Abraham Lincoln Book Award shelf with only three lonely books sitting there, so that list has been really popular since I put out the books two weeks ago.

How does your library use online tools to connect to your users?

The main way I communicate online is through the school’s website; I have a blog on it which I mainly use to inform students of new book purchases. I don’t have a link for the single subscription database we have, but I do give out the website along with the password in the fall, so students can access it at home.

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  -   [email protected] Executive Director: Jan Ison, Editorial and Design Team: Michelle Ralston and David Lottes

Cemetery Restoration Workshops Offered June 4 and 11

The Danville Public Library and the Illiana Genealogical & Historical Society are joining forces to bring a cemetery restoration team of Hal Hassen, State Archaeologist, and Dawn Cobb, State Anthropologist, and John Heider, professional cemetery preservation specialist. They will provide tips, techniques, and laws for the care and restoration of cemeteries.  A summary of the classes is below.              

Registration forms are available at the Library, IGHS (215 W. North St., Danville) and on the library’s website at www.danville.lib.il.us.  Checks should be made payable to “Danville Public Library” and mailed with payment to Roberta Allen, Danville Public Library, 319 N. Vermilion Street, Danville, IL  61832-4769.
 

Stokes Named Volunteer of the Year

Vivian Stokes was recently named the 2010-2011 Library Foundation Volunteer of the Year at the Volunteer Recognition Reception held at the Danville Public Library.

"Volunteers are the lifeblood of any non-profit organization and their time, expertise, and enthusiasm are indispensable.” said Cathy Reardon, Executive Director of the Danville Library Foundation.  “Vivian Stokes epitomizes the best in volunteer service and dedication."

Her long-time commitment to the Danville Public Library spans a period of more than thirty five years as a volunteer delivering library material to homebound patrons of the Danville Public Library‘s Outreach department.

According Mary Jane Starnes, Outreach Department Director, “Of all of the volunteers the Outreach department has had through the years, Vivian is one of the remaining original volunteers who faithfully and consistently serve the patrons who cannot come to the library to receive materials.  Her friendly visits to the homebound patrons are vitally important in improving the quality of their lives.  As one Outreach recipient stated in her nomination, “Not only does she bring me books, but she visits a while and keeps me informed of the things going on in the community.  She is a friend.” 

Starnes added, “Vivian’s interest and spirit for volunteering is also demonstrated by the numerous items she has donated throughout the years for the Library Foundation’s Used Book Sales.”

“We truly appreciate Vivian for her willingness to give of her time, energy and talents for the betterment of the Danville Public Library and the Foundation,” said Reardon.