Sean C. Morgan
Editor’s note: This is the second in a series of articles in which we are focusing on efforts being made by local organizations to provide Friday activities to keep youngsters active due to Sweet Home’s four-day school week.
Patrons who use Sweet Home Public Library computers will have more flexibility with log-in times.
The library has been spending a $7,659 grant it received from Trust Management Services, LLC, in May.
Among the items it purchased was new timing software that allows patrons to come in any time the library is open and use the computers, said Library Director Rose Peda. Previously, sessions only ran for an hour on the hour. On the hour, the computers logged out.
The new software tracks a one-hour period from the time a patron logs in on a computer instead, Peda said. The software also tracks printing.
It also helps library staff because they no longer need to log each computer back on every hour, she said. Anyone with a valid library card and no outstanding fines can use the computers.
Patrons may also access wifi 24 hours a day, every day, with their own laptops.
The library also recently purchased a variety of early literacy material, including bookmarks and posters with tips for parents and several key children’s titles.
The grant also covered the cost of replacement and new Eyewitness books, educational books on all kinds of subjects laid out in a magazine format.
Some of the library’s existing books were wearing out, Peda said.
New and replacement audiobooks have been added, as well as DVDs, classics and nonfiction such as National Geographic, Ken Burns, PBS and Alfred Hitchcock selections.
The library will finish spending the grant on GED preparation materials, Peda said.
Elsewhere in the library, money is still being collected to pay for stained glass windows for the east end of the building.
So far, the library and Friends of the Library have raised about $4,000 and have about $20,000 to go, Peda said.
The project will be funded through donations.
The Friends of the Library donate all proceeds from Saturday sales to this project, Peda said. The Friends also purchase books and help fund programs at the library.
The library also is jumping on board with the community in providing “Day Five” activities for Sweet Home students, who are attending school only four days per week this year.
From 1 to 3 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 21, the library will host “LEGO Mania.”
Also on Fridays, the library hosts a preschool story time at 10 a.m.
The library also is starting a monthly Thursday night movie. On Sept. 27, it will feature “Avengers” at 5:30 p.m.
“In October, we’re going to do science themes,” Peda said. Library staff will also keep Halloween in mind as students learn to make fake blood and scars.
In November, before Thanksgiving, “we’re going to teach them about digestion,” Peda said.
The library is trying to get tutors together to help students with homework on Fridays, and beginning Friday, she was hoping to have a math tutor on board.
The library has planned Day Five activities through December, Peda said.
The library also is continuing its efforts to get library cards to rural residents, Peda said. The library is in its third year of a state grant that helps pay for rural library cards.
“We have quite a few still to sell,” Peda said. “Anybody who hasn’t had a card before can come in and get one.”
The cost is $17.50, half the regular price of a rural library card. City residents receive the cards free.
The library is funded by a tax levy on property within the city.