Ritzville Library Board reports on successes

By Ritzville Library District No. 2 Board of Trustees - Vel Babbitt, Dick Davis, Linda Kubik, Karen Potts, Thomas Pulliam

In 2012 a group of community volunteers participated in a Community Needs Assessment to be used to help the Library District in both long and short term planning. A community vision was developed and 18 service areas were identified as being within the scope of services that public libraries are capable of providing.

Advisory Committee members each voted for the two service areas they felt would best address community needs and support achievement of the vision developed by the group. The top five service goals decided on by the group included: Connection to the On-line World, Success in School, Early Literacy, Genealogy and Local History, and Comfortable Physical and Virtual Spaces. The Library Board made a commitment to focus on these five goals over the next five years.

Now, three years since that vision was developed, the Library Board would like to share with the community the many steps that have been taken toward meeting those goals.

In 2012, the library was already offering some services and programs to meet the established goals. These activities were expanded to reach a broader range of the community and increase access to library services, and new services were introduced. Highlights summarized by service area included connecting to the online world, success in school, early literacy, genealogy and local history, and comfortable physical and virtual spaces.

Through a Washington State Library (WSL) broadband grant in 2012, we became the first location in Ritzville and one of the first libraries in the state to take advantage of high speed internet services as part of the Connecting America program.

Our online presence has expanded with a new website, Facebook page, and app, and in 2013, the library director instigated a pilot project through WSL to migrate small libraries across the state to Koha. Four public computers were updated using funds from our Friends of the Library (FOTL) group and through a grant from the Department of Social and Health Services in exchange for helping people apply for services.

A computer lab was established in our basement meeting space through collaboration with Big Bend Community College (BBEC) and we started offering monthly computer classes on basic topics in 2013 taught by VISTA volunteers from BBCC. Last spring, local high school students began assisting at these classes.

In 2014, we purchased a laptop lab through a WSL digital literacy grant and offered classes on Facebook, online selling, genealogy, etc. at different locations throughout our service area including the senior center and local diner.

We also offer “Tech Tuesdays” for one-on-one drop-in help. As part of a WSL initiative, we offer the Microsoft IT Academy for patrons to improve their computer skills, and in 2014 joined a WSL pilot project to offer free certification exams for our patrons.

After the Ritzville and Lind school districts combined in 2013, the library board voted to make library cards free to all students in our service area even if they live outside the district’s boundaries, which many Lind students do.

When the Lind schools lost their full-time library staff in 2014, the library director started making monthly visits to grades K-5 to provide story times combined with STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) activities.

That same year, we partnered with the Lind School District to open the Lind Community Library after hours in their middle school library and computer lab.

We offer library services and programs to the citizens of Lind and provide free computer use for students who often don’t have access at home. We average 25-50 visitors during the three hours we’re open each week, most of them children.

Starting this fall, we’ve worked with a teacher to offer parenting classes at the library. In Ritzville, we’re partnering with the elementary school this fall on a Prime Time grant from Humanities Washington targeted at struggling third and fourth grade readers and their families.

At the high school level, we’re working with the local 4-H youth development program to develop career prep and leadership workshops.

In addition, the library recently subscribed to 15 databases specifically for student use following conversations with area principals, and also joined the Ask-WA consortium to provide 24/7 chat reference for students needing homework help.

With funding from FOTL and in partnership with the Health Department, we started

offering a “Books for Babies” program in 2014 with free book coupons given to every child at their WIC and immunization visits.

We also started a popular “1,000 Books Before Kindergarten” program with help from a local charitable foundation; in the first year we’ve signed up 68 kids, about 42 percent of our under five population.

A weekly preschool story time is offered in Ritzville and a monthly family story time is offered in Lind. In Lind, we also use the Crazy 8’s Bedtime Math program to promote early math literacy.

An early learning computer station in Ritzville provides access to educational reading, math, and science games.

A WSL Early Literacy grant in 2013 allowed the library director to make monthly visits to five local preschools to present story times with accompanying educational activities, a program we’ve continued even after the grant period.

The library also partners with local preschools to promote their “Raising a Reader” programs.

In 2012, we received a WSL grant to digitize historical photos for our Rural Heritage Project website in collaboration with the Adams County Historical Society.

This led to the creation of an Adams County Community Archive where individuals can bring in their own historical items to be digitized and added to our collection. It also strengthened our partnership with local historical groups and museums; we now have quarterly meetings and shared training events.

We converted a storage room into a research room in 2014, which made our local history collection more available to the public (previously, it was stored in boxes in the office) and microfilm copies of local papers were digitized with funding from FOTL. FOTL regularly host genealogy classes with guest speakers, and a professional genealogist provides free weekly assistance to local researchers.

We’ve also started discussing plans for an oral history project with the local high school.

Recent remodels, furniture improvements, and security upgrades have made the library a safer, more comfortable place for patrons.

Of particular concern in a community with an older population, however, is the lack of an elevator in our two-story building. While homebound delivery is available, a more permanent solution was necessary.

A Washington State Heritage Capital Project Funds matching grant was submitted in 2014 and was ranked 7th of 31 competitive statewide applications. We found out in July that we received funding and work is expected to begin next year.

In addition to focusing on these areas, we’ve created many other successful programs and services.

Through donations, we now check out baking pans, board games, and backpack kits for birding, geocaching, and fishing.

Our backpack kits were so successful that WSL is working to roll out a similar program to the rest of the state.

Using a Pushing the Limits grant funded by the National Science Foundation, we put on a science-focused discussion group for adults in 2013; additional funding allowed us to purchase STEM kits for children’s programming.

In 2014, we started a movie book club for teens in partnership with the local theater, and a “Liquid Lit” book club for adults that pairs classic books with alcoholic beverages at the local diner. We’re working with our state treasurer office’s “Book Your Bank” program and local banks to start offering financial training, and working with our county’s economic development director to start providing assistance to local businesses and entrepreneurs.

For children, we offer monthly Lego clubs, craft days, and movie showings (especially popular when our theater closed for upgrades) as well as our summer reading program which has seen a 175 percent increase in child participation since 2011.

We’re also working with the schools to become a summer meal site in 2016. Overall, the number of programs we offer has increased by 290 percent and the total number of attendees has increased by 930 percent in the past five years. This has translated to an 11 percent increase in library card holders and a 12 percent increase in circulation over that time.

We also started working beyond our county to provide improved library service. Spurred by a WSL grant in 2011, we began partnering with six libraries in a neighboring county to share grant-purchased materials on a rotating basis. Materials have included everything from DVDs to graphic novels to eReaders.

The grant was so successful that we partnered on a large STEM-focused summer reading grant last summer and are currently working on reciprocal borrowing agreements.

As the Board of Ritzville Library District No. 2 we offer our sincere thanks to the community members who participated in the Community Needs Assessment and helped develop the vision for our library as well as to our library director and staff who make these activities and programs so successful.