Library Continues to Serve Community Despite Pandemic

Debbie Aden, Director of the Fairbury Public Library, presented the Library's annual report to the Fairbury City Council at a meeting the evening of Tuesday, February 15. The report covers October 1, 2020, to September 30, 2021. Despite the difficulties caused by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Aden said, “Generally speaking, our numbers remain steady from the previous year.” ActivitiesAden highlighted some of the programming from 2021, “With COVID curtailing many activities during 2020, including in person activities at the library, we really went all out for our Summer Reading Program last summer. Every child who participated received some kind of prize, with two lucky kids winning a bike and tablet. The library sponsored two programs at the Bonham (Theatre), Magician Adam White, and the Henry Doorly Zoo, with over 200 people attending each event. At the library, we had a guest from Jansen bring her parrots for the kids to see and learn about, and a program from Nebraska Games and Parks highlighted native Nebraska wildlife.” Other programming last summer included author and Nebraska writer Jeff Barnes, presenting “Marking Nebraska: How (mostly) Hidden Monuments Tell the Story of Our State.” Aden said the program was well attended and patrons learned about the history of old stone and bronze historical monuments found across the state. Digital ContentRBDigital was a company that provided ebook and audiobooks to libraries. Unfortunately, in May of 2021, RBDigital was shuttered. As a result, the number of electronic materials available and circulating decreased. Aden noted, “We did see a drop in the number of adult materials circulated, but had an almost identical increase in children’s material circulated.” However, digital books and audiobooks are still available via OverDrive. Aden explained, “Nebraska OverDrive is actually the Nebraska Library Commission. We're part of a consortium. Some of the bigger libraries like Lincoln City libraries, Omaha, they have their own OverDrive collections. We're part of a consortium. And so the Nebraska Library Commission is the one that actually purchases those titles. Now, having said that, if I have a request, I can ask the Library Commission, they take requests from individual libraries. And so I can actually request that they purchase that book.” Aden added, “So I guess the short answer is, if you have a request, just ask me and I can see, I can work with the Library Commission to see what I can do.” NewspapersIn the fall of 2020, the library joined the NewspaperArchives database in a project that digitized all newspaper publications on microfilm owned by the library from Jefferson County, including Plymouth, Jansen, Diller, Daykin, Steele City, and Fairbury. Some publications go as far back as 1874, and continue to as recently as 2016 for the Fairbury Journal News. The BuildingThe Carnegie side of the library received some upgrades and repairs in the last year. The old plastic blinds in the south facing rooms were replaced with new curtains, reducing the summer sun that heats up the rooms and giving them a cleaner look. Outside, the building received a much needed fresh coat of paint, both protecting and enhancing the unique architecture.The last of the repairs needed to stabilize the Carnegie building were completed when piers along the southeast corner of the building were installed to prevent further sinking.Library Use Value CalculatorEvery year, when Aden gives her report, she uses a “Library Use Value Calculator” to quantify the value that the library gives to the community, “This library calculator attempts to put an actual dollar amount on the services a library contributes to a community. If the library was not an option, it is the amount of money patrons would spend on the materials and services they would need to find elsewhere. For example, the calculator sets average price of an adult book purchased from Amazon at $17.00, putting the value of the 7178 adult books checked out last year from the library at over $122,000. The estimated total value of the Fairbury Public Library to the community was right about $388,000, which is close to double the expenditures put into the library from the city.” ARPAThe American Rescue Plan Act (AROA) of 2021 is a US$1.9 trillion economic stimulus bill passed in 2021, to speed up the country's recovery from the economic and health effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.Aden noted the library did receive some of those funds, “Last summer, the library received $4,700 in Recovery Act funds. About half of those funds were used to update the Storywalk. In addition to supplies needed to create the story pages for the walk, the metal posts that match the current frames were purchased to replace the wooden posts. With the new sidewalk volunteers installed last summer, the Storywalk has a fresh new look and is more accessible to everyone.” City Councilperson John Ebke said, “I know my family and I just really appreciate what the library does for the city. A lot of things that maybe wouldn't get done or, you know, just lots of things for children, and then informational stuff for adults, too. So I think it's a great asset to our town.”

City To Conduct Blight Study

City Considers Campground Host

Related Articles

Swearing in City Governments

Special Report: Toxic Power

It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

Construction Begins on New Band Shelter