Local library abuzz with many activities

If you haven’t been to the local library in a while, you might be in for a surprise. According to librarian Cathy Collins, the library is offering a lot more than just books these days. In fact, you’ll find the Lovell Public Library teeming with activity just about any day of the week.

“It used to be that people came to the library primarily to do research,” said Collins. “It was a quiet and somber place. That’s really not the case anymore, at all. Things have changed.”

Collins said the library is a place for people to come together to teach, learn and to make new friends. It offers a wide variety of activities from bingo to Legos. Some of the regular on-going activities include various arts and crafts programs, one-on-one genealogy sessions and a crochet group called “Stitch Happens.”  Some of the more unusual offerings include a “Play and Stay” activity conducted by staff from the Children’s Resource Center, a troubleshooting session with a technician from TCT and proctoring services for supervised test-taking. 

Special activities for teens include a teen extreme program and a book club for youth. The teen extreme programs tend to be game-like activities.

Collins noted that 12 adult activities were held last month, along with three activities for youth and 11 for young children. She said 28 STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) activity kits were checked out, along with 126 take-home craft kits and five blood pressure monitors. In addition to the countless individuals that used the library’s free Wi-Fi service, the on-site computers were used 110 times.

In addition to the less traditional library activities, a whole lot of reading still goes on among the library’s patrons. According to Collins, in the month of March alone, 3,000 physical books were checked out of the library. In the same month, 1,300 e-books were checked out online using the library’s online service called Libby. The library even offers limited delivery of books to people who are homebound, as well as curbside service for those who, for some reason, can’t leave their vehicle.

“We recently brought books out to a mom who didn’t want to leave her sleeping baby alone in the car or wake her up to bring her in,” she said. “She just called us from the car, and we came out to her.”

To encourage both reading and socialization, a traditional book club for adults called “Chapter Chat” meets once a month to discuss a specially selected book for the group to read and discuss. The library’s assistant manager, Linda Mangus, selects a book from either her own reading experience, one recommended by a patron of the library or one from a national list like the top 10 or top 20 reading list. She also looks at books other book clubs are reading for inspiration.

For those wishing to conduct their own book club outside of the library, book club kits are offered. A book club kit contains 10 books of the same title.

For young readers, the library offers a regular story hour on Tuesday mornings. Additionally, former librarian Donna Capellen conducts a story time activity called “Book and Create” that combines reading a book with a craft project related to the book.

For national library week (April 7-13), the library is offering a coloring contest for all ages. The coloring pages are already available at the library and must be returned no later than Monday, April 22, at 5 p.m. Prizes will be awarded for first through third place winners in five different age groups.

For more detailed information about any of the activities at the library, stop by the library or call 307-548-7228. Or, better yet, drop by and check it out yourself.

“We try to offer something for everyone,” said Collins. “We want everyone to feel welcome when they come here.”