Horton Public Library

The Kansas Center for the Book and the Kansas Humanities Council and your library will kick off this 4th annual statewide reading and discussion project on January 29 for Dreams from My Father. This book was recommended by a committee of librarians and educators and chosen by the State Librarian for its broad-based appeal that encourages and sustains spirited discussion. It is a moving memoir by Barack Obama of his traumatic journey to discover his heritage. Copies of this book in regular and large print and in audio book format are available. Join us at the Library on March 16, at 6:00 pm for what we hope will be a great discussion of this book. Dessert will be provided.

If you haven’t had a chance to visit the Library’s book sale, you’re missing out on finding some great reads! There are still over a thousand books in the basement waiting to find a new home. Stop by anytime that the library is open. Great prices! Lots of variety! Like New and used! Sponsored by the Friends of the Horton Library.

The 9th annual Love My Library adult reading program is set to start on January 18 with sign-up anytime that week at the library. The purpose of the adult reading program is to have fun and get through winter! We plan this 9 week event, which ends on March 20, to encourage reading different genres from your normal favorite, interact with other readers and have some fun during the winter months. We’re planning several book talks (where you get to let everyone know what you like or disliked about a book you read) and these events come complete with hot meals sponsored by the library. So plan on getting to the library mid-January to sign up for this program!

Monday, the patrons and staff started on a new adventure using the Koha software to connect to NExpress, a shared catalog of 31 libraries in NE Kansas.  The catalog is now web-based and accessible from this website.  In addition to having the ability to search the catalog from this site, you can now see your account activity with the library by clicking on the NExpress button.  You will be prompted to enter your LOGIN and PASSWORD – these must be obtained from the library staff.  Once you are in your account, you can see what you currently have checked out, when items are due and renew your checked out items on-line, search the catalog and place holds on items you want to borrow, check your reading history to see if you’ve read a book before, change your personal information (i.e. phone number, email address or street address, etc), and create a list (books to read, favorite authors or whatever you desire).   The Koha system will notify you via email when your hold item is at the library and can also send out advance notice emails a few days before for upcoming due dates on items borrowed.   Items placed on hold (reserved for you) that are at another library, will usually arrive at the Horton Library within a couple of business days as long as they are available to loan from the member libraries.  Otherwise, your name goes on a waiting list and as soon as a copy of the item is available it will be sent to us.

If you haven’t already stopped by the library to obtain your new library card, that can be used at all 31 libraries, come on in – we look forward to getting you set up in this great new system!

Members of the Preceptor Epsilon Theta chapter of Beta Sigma Phi gathered at the library November 17 to help sort through thousands of books in preparation for the library’s book sale which starts Dec 1 and will be available whenever the library is open.  Library hours are M,W,Th,F 1-7; T 9-1 and 4-7 and Sat 9-1.  A thorough weeding of the library was needed before  the Library joins NExpress, a shared catalog of over 30 libraries in the NE region of Kansas, on Nov 30.  A special thank you goes out to Orveda Anderson, Anne Arneson, Gail Coker-Carr, Pat Kloepper, Allison Melster, Donna Patry, Janiece Spencer, Donna Thonen, Carol Vonderschmidt and Connie Yaussi who completed the task in a little under 4 hours.  The Library Director, Rita Higley commented that she wouldn’t have been able to get this done without their help.  Members of the staff and Library Board: Mary Brown, Mary Beth McLenon, Carolyn Olsen, Donna Patry and Megan Seymour provided dinner for the group.

While we are celebrating the Thanksgiving holiday, the Horton Public Library will be joining the NExpress Shared Catalog, a joint service of the Northeast Kansas Library System and 30 other libraries. Together, these libraries will share access to almost 500,000 items, including books, movies and audio books.

Since 2004, participation in the NExpress automation project has increased from nine to 31 libraries. We are part of a group of seven libraries joining in this fall, which also include Bern Community Library, Eudora Public Library, Osawatomie Public Library, Oskaloosa Public Library, Mary Cotton Library-Sabetha, and Seneca Free Library.

The NExpress Regional Catalog uses Koha, an advanced open-source integrated library system use by thousands of libraries worldwide. Our patrons will be integrated into a shared regional database, which means a patron from any participating NExpress library can request, borrow items from and return items to any other NExpress library. Under this new system, all patrons will be issued a library card.

In preparation for this migration from our current Follett system, we have weeded the collection and modified catalog records. The weeded items as well as donations received over the past year will be offered for sale beginning December 1 in a HUGE SALE in the basement of the library. The sale will be open any time that the library is open. Other preparations include Staff training on the new system, which will be held on Thursday, November 19. On this date, the library will OPEN LATE at 4:00 p.m. Thanksgiving Holiday hours will be as follows: the library will CLOSE EARLY at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, November 25, and reopen on Monday, November 30. Feel free to stop by the first week of December to obtain your new library card, see the NExpress catalog in action and find out how this exciting new system will work for you!

Once again this year, the Library offered books and candy to Trick or Treaters at the Library last night.  Nearly every year since 2000 the Library has opened their doors to the community children with special treats of free books and candy.  It’s a fun way to promote the joy of reading and be a part of the community activities!

Picking out a book at the Trick or Treat event at the Library

Wow – this summer and fall have been VERY BUSY at the library.  In preparation for moving to a new automation system, the staff has been busy weeding the library and patron records in anticipation of joining NExpress, a shared catalog of over 30 libraries in the NE region of Kansas.  Additionally, there have been 2 new staff members, Brittany Hoyt and Brenda Honea joining the library in July, so training staff has been part of the activities as well.  Plus, the inside of the library has seen several sections moved to different areas in the hopes of making collections more accessible.  The Non-fiction section has been downsized and the Large Print collection has moved to some of that space.  The Young Adult section has expanded to fill nearly the entire East wall on the south side of the library.  The Native American collection has moved to the South wall.  The Classic section has been expanded on the South wall.  The videos are all in one bookshelf where the Kansas and Native collection used to be and the Fiction section has expanded tremendously where the videos were once shelved.  Whew… I think that’s all the changes we’re going to make right now until the end of November when we go live with NExpress.    I’ll give you a full post on that a little later – it’s going to be exciting for our patrons!

This year’s Summer Library Program is Be Creative / Express Yourself @ Your Library.  The staff has developed a fun-filled program around the creative arts with Dance, Music, Theater and Art as a focus for each week.  Two weeks have gone by and the first week saw the kids experiencing the World of Dance with Assistant Librarian Brooke Haltom showing them the fine art of Southern Ball Dancing.  The kids learned the Virginia Reel and the Box step among others.  The Library Director, Rita Higley donned her tap shoes and showed the kids simple tap steps and had shoes for them to try it themselves.  Other dances including Ballet and the Salsa were also demonstrated and tried by the kids.

The second week was devoted to the Sound of Music.  A musical petting zoo complete with numerous instruments was set up in the basement and kids were given 30 minutes for hands on play.  The remaining 30 minutes was devoted to creating their own musical instruments.  Quite a noisy day, but loaded with fun!

Pictures of both weeks events will be added soon.  Two more weeks to go and the kids still have plenty of time to Express themselves and Be Creative @ their Library!

All of these little pigs need to find a home.  The library staff each decorated one to present Pigs on Parade, a fundraiser for our Preserve the Past campaign.  This effort is to raise money for the preservation of historical items donated to the library.  One such item is a 1935 map of the Pony Express Trail drawn by K. W. Fink 6-20-1935 and copyrighted by W. R. Honnell of Kansas City, KS.  It is currently under glass on one of the table tops.  We hope to raise enough money to purchase a covering that will protect it better from light or to frame it if that is a better way to prolong its life.   The staff is selling tickets 4 / $1.00 and you get to choose which pig you’d like to win.  Later this month the drawing will occur that will send these pigs to a new home.  We appreciate your support in helping us preserve the past in Horton, KS.