Libraries Transforming Communities Is Increasing Access to McCone County Library

• Posted on September 12, 2024
• by mcconelibrary
• in Uncategorized
• No Comments.

Please share this post so that the community can see the new resources in our county!

This year, our library was awarded two $10,000 grants from Libraries Transforming Communities and the American Library Association. We used the money to improve access to the physical building as well as to increase access to books for children who have reading disabilities or are reluctant readers.
You have seen phase one of our grant work. With the first $10.000, we completely reorganized the children’s department, added new shelving and new fixtures, and added many new titles. With the second $10,000, we spoke with local children and asked what else we could add. Their answers were clear, more mysteries, more sports books, and a lot more graphic novels. We also added a considerable amount of audio books, Vox books, play-aways, and portable CD players to give children even more ways to experience reading books. We completed that stage of our project today. Nearly 500 books and audiobooks were added to the children’s and young adult sections. We have a wide variety of items to fit most interests. We have book and audio bundles for early and prereaders, Vox books that have an attached mp3 player that can read the book to your child, picture books, chapter books, and graphic novels for those who prefer a more visual reading experience. I encourage everyone to browse through the attached gallery and share the pictures with the children in your life. It is my sincere hope that they are extremely excited!
The second part of our grant was to increase physical access to the building. Short of a giant planeload of cash falling from the sky, what we could accomplish was limited, but we were able to make some significant improvements that will make accessing your local library a little easier.
Our stairs are difficult to negotiate for some people, and our ramp is exceedingly long and not the easiest thing in the world to traverse. We are now in possession of a wheelchair on site. We can bring the wheelchair to assist you in entering the building. You can continue to use the chair for your entire visit to the library if needed to make your browsing experience more comfortable. To aid in this, we have installed video doorbells on the flagpole, the base of the ramp, and by the ramp access door. These doorbells will let you contact us and allow us to communicate with you. They are not set to record. They are motion activated and have a doorbell button to contact us directly. These will come in particularly handy during cold and flu season when you may need a book or a movie to keep you or your family entertained and are still contagious. You can message the library requesting the items in question and ring the doorbell when you are outside, letting us know that you are ready to pick up the items in question.
One item on our list remains outstanding. During our community conversations, it was requested that we build an outdoor pickup locker. This locker would be accessed using digital locks. You would message the library requesting the items, either through Facebook, our website, or over the phone. We would collect the items you needed. After all, we have a considerable number of items that are not books and check them out to your library account. We would then place the items securely in the outside locker, set the lock, and then text, call, or email you with the code. You can then retrieve the items at your convenience over the next 72 hours. This is perfect, not only for people who t access the building but also for people whose work hours are incompatible with the regular library hours. It also would allow access to library materials over the weekend. We will let you know when the work on the outdoor lockers is complete.
We will be hosting a library open house in October. We encourage you to visit and check out the changes for yourself