Between the Stacks: 7/19/2023

I can't believe we only have two weeks of summer reading left! Where did this summer go? On Wednesday, July 19th, at 10:30 AM Kyle Graves will be here for our annual magic show. Then on Wednesday, July 26th, at 10:30 AM we will have our end-of-the-summer reading program party and store for everyone who participated in the summer reading program. It will be a great time for everyone.

If you have worked in libraries as long as I have, you may be lucky enough to discover a patron who loves your Library as much as you do. Diane Ward is such a person. From the time she interviewed me for the job here in Whitehall to the present day, she has been a champion for the Whitehall Library, the Library staff, and the Friends. Diane served multiple terms on both the Jefferson County Library Board and the Friends of the Library Steering Committee. She is always willing to bake cookies for events, help with policy changes, go to endless meetings, and give the staff an encouraging word when they have had hundreds of people in for the Christmas Stroll.

In honor of her years of service to the Whitehall Community Library, the Friends of the Library and the Whitehall staff/volunteers, are hosting an open house on Tuesday, July 25th, from 4 PM to 5 PM. There will be snacks, a special presentation, and a chance for friends and patrons to stop in and tell her how much she means to our community. Please come and help us wish her well as she takes on the role of President of the Montana Federation of Garden Clubs.

August will be a slow month for programming at the Library. We will spend the month sending the staff on vacation, planning for the fall, and doing a whole list of cleaning chores. This fall we will be providing a multitude of programs from toddlers to adults on a variety of topics. This level of programming takes a lot of careful planning, supply ordering, coordinating with different agencies around the area, and staff scheduling. We hope to have a great schedule for everyone at the end of August, so stay tuned.

Just for fun, our Library year runs from July 1st to June 30, and we just finished the yearly stats.

The Whitehall Community Library had 51,550 patrons, hosted 609 programs for 8,927 people, checked out 20,786 items, gave out 175 new cards, had 7,725 hours of computer use, let 1,070 patrons use the library computers for 2,189 hours, answered 1,560 reference questions, found the answer to 1,277 technology questions, and answered 2,281 general questions. We also had hundreds of hours of volunteer assistance from almost 20 different people. It was a wonderful year and we can't wait to get busy on next year.