Myrtle Creek Library reopens Monday
published June 30,
2017
The Myrtle Creek
Library will reopen Monday with an all-volunteer staff, and kick off its summer
reading program right away.
Like many of the
smaller branches of the former Douglas County Library System, the Myrtle Creek
Library has been closed since April 1. Sutherlin, Oakland, Riddle and Reedsport
have since reopened their libraries.
The Myrtle Creek
Library is unique in the county in that it is now managed not by the local city
council, but by the nonprofit Friends of the Myrtle Creek Library.
"We're very
excited," said Friends Treasurer Julienne DeMarsh about Monday's opening.
DeMarsh said the group
has about 80 people on a list of potential volunteers or donors, with a group
of 21 that has passed background checks and plans to volunteer through the
summer.
On Friday, DeMarsh
said they were working on getting connected to the internet and hope to have
that up and running in time for the opening.
She said it's
important to note that library patrons will need to re-register to get new library
cards.
The 17,000 books and
other items in the library's collection will be available for checkout on day
one. However, a computer catalog system isn't yet available, so books will be
checked out the old-fashioned way, with the patron's name and the item being
written down.
DeMarsh said
volunteers' enthusiasm wasn't diminished by the holiday weekend opening.
"People are still
willing to help us out, so I'm very encouraged by that," she said.
The library building belongs to the city, but it's the Friends
group that signed an intergovernmental agreement with the county to take charge
of and check out items from the collection.
One of the biggest challenges the Friends face is paying for
liability insurance. The main concern, DeMarsh said, is whether the library can
continue to raise enough funds to pay for that insurance and keep the library
running into the future.
For now, the emphasis is on the summer reading program, which
will be held Mondays from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Coordinator Serena Theiss said the activities will follow a
math, science and engineering theme adapted to fit the local library. Monday's
activity will be a Three Little Pigs theme with kids crafting three different
types of houses, a teepee, a rainbow cottage made from popsicle sticks and an
adobe house made from a pinch pot. Field trips will also be held to different
local businesses, including a visit to a water testing lab at Umpqua Research
Company.
The programs are conveniently timed to end just as the local
swimming pool opens up the street, Theiss said.
The doors will open at 10 a.m. Monday. Regular hours will be
from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays; 4 to 8 p.m.
Tuesdays and 4 to 7 p.m. Wednesdays. The library will be closed Fridays and
Sundays.
That gives us more hours/days than
when we had first moved in! We’ve been
without a library for just over three months now. Thanks to the members of the Friends of
Myrtle Creek library, we had our grand opening yesterday. Our kick off was for the summer reading
program “Build a Better World”
Children were told to choose a tee
shirt which we would turn into a bag so they had a container to put prizes and
books in. I read the story of “The Three
Little Pigs” but my three pigs started out life living in Myrtle Creek and each
left the state to live in three particular kinds of houses: adobe, stick or
tepee. We then allowed the children to
pick which house they would like to build and now have them in the display case
at the library.
The grand opening was a huge
success. It is the busiest I have ever
seen the library since we moved here just over two years ago,
Carissa had come to cover the
story. She remembered having had
interviewed me before. She didn’t
remember my name, but she remembered that I had been sad. That’s quite impressive from three months
back and all the libraries she has covered ever since.
I am so grateful for having the
opportunity of being a part of this historical moment.
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