2/7/11 Killbuck Community Library

  • By Nick Sabo
  • February 7, 2011
  • 306
                        
Killbuck got a sneak peek at its new library with an open house Saturday/Feb. 5. Walking in the door, it doesn’t look that much different. The library’s ties with the Holmes County District Public Library were severed in January, but the public library donated most of the existing reading material to the new community library board. There’s still four computer workstations, but the Internet hasn’t been hooked up yet. Also, the Killbuck library’s selection of DVDs and magazines are looking pretty slim. The former branch of the public library is striking out on its own as the Killbuck Community Library. Housed in the same building it has served the Killbuck area since the 1990s, the change to a public library represents a positive shift, community library boardmember Claudia Zimmerman said. The Killbuck community library has a chance to be its own unique entity, molded by the specific wants and needs of its patrons. “The biggest change people will see is that it is going to be very Killbuck centered,” Zimmerman, who retired in 2009 from the Holmes County District Public Library where she coordinated materials for the library branches and bookmobile, said. “It is the library the community wants to have.” The library will operate as a non-profit, staffed by volunteers. Services will include book, DVD and periodical check-out, printer, fax and copier services, as well as computer and Internet. The board is focused on keeping popular services, while allowing the community library to take shape. The board has a long way to go. Family films were a popular offering, and the public library reclaimed most of the DVDs. Funds to keep Internet and telephone service will be needed on an ongoing basis. A tri-fold display in the reading area lists the day-to-day needs of the library, such as bathroom tissue, soap, and construction paper for the children’s story hour. The daily newspaper will be from a volunteer’s own subscription, who plans to bring it in every morning. Keeping the library stocked will depend largely on the annual benefit auction and donations of new books, Zimmerman said. Materials can be donated at the New Image thrift store across the street. If the library does not need a book, it will be sold at the thrift store with the proceeds benefiting the library. Children’s resources will be especially important, boardmember Mimi Patterson said. “It will continue to be a focal point for the community, a place where the summer reading program can be housed (for example),” Patterson said. “In the summer time, the kids have no place to go.” Yet, there is a lot of optimism among the volunteers and boardmembers. The auction has been a success annually, and last year the community raised $25,000 to keep the library open another six months as a public library branch. Greg Leadbetter said he decided to volunteer out of a desire to keep the library in the community. “A lot of people don’t have these resources and need them,” Leadbetter said. “This is a library where people can help each other.” The volunteers are committed to making the library whatever Killbuck wants it to be. “If there’s a need, we’ll meet it,” Patterson said. The Killbuck Community Library is scheduled to open Feb. 22. Hours will be Tuesday, 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.; Wednesday and Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.


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