The event will begin around 2:30 p.m. in the upstairs meeting room of the library after the Homecoming Parade.  Mary Cotton Public Library is fully handicapped accessible and has an elevator to the second floor.

David Glynn    President

Shelley Smith   Vice-President

Rose Magee   Secretary

Lynn Hartter   Treasure

Ruth Kellenberger

Carol Nolte

Vonnie Harvey

and Our Newest Member Gina Murchison

Alice Zahner

Alice Zahner has been chosen as the Mary Cotton Public Library Volunteer of the Year in honor of National Volunteer Week.  Alice began volunteering on a regular basis at the library during the summer of 2009 just as we were getting ready to rebarcode all of the books and pack them up for the big move back to the main library at 915 Virginia.  She along with other volunteers such as Patti Deaver and Sandy Matney spent lots of hours getting the books packed properly and labeling boxes so that they could be replaced on the shelves quickly and efficiently. Alice continues to volunteer 2 to 3 times a week, shelving books and assisting wherever needed. She is often recognized by the children as the “Reading Lady” from school where she also volunteers.

 The library would also like to recognize the many people who spent volunteer hours helping the city crews move the books on moving day. These included members of the Blue Crew from the High School, several bank emplyees, various faithful patrons and Friends of the Library,  members of the Kiwanis, Lion’s Club, and Knights of Columbus groups along with several volunteers from My Friends House.  Although it might not have been said enough, without these helping hands, the job of moving 20,000 plus books and shelving would have been a much bigger job and taken much longer that it did.

http://ksdocs.blogspot.com is a blog being maintained by the State Library of Kansas and currently has lots of interesting facts and links to historical sites in Kansas.   It would be a great resource for planning any kind of trip in and around the state or for any student wishing to find more information about the history of Kansas. 

MCPL Trustees

 2009 is starting out great at the Mary Cotton Public library.  During a recent walk-thru of the old building, it was obvious that the design changes and renovations are going to be a big improvement to operations.  The children’s area on the second floor will be a much larger space for children to participate in story time and related activities. It looks like there will be plenty of display space for books so that they will be more visible to patrons as they seek reading materials. Best of all, the space is going to be draft-free and comfortable for everyone. It’s already apparent what new windows and insulation can do for this building.  No more cold toes during meetings and no chilly drafts while using the computers…..Yes, no more fluttering curtains and polar winds whistling thru the stacks. (Just kidding…. It wasn’t that bad… but it did get cold and was hard to heat.)

What is making this possible? You! the people of this community! YOU are the heroes of this venture. Without your continued support, this project would never have been attempted. Pat yourselves on the back for recognizing that the library is a part of the town’s history and needed to be preserved. Although it is a long process to get there, the renovations will enable us to keep the library as a central location for social and literary events that are so important to keeping a town alive and thriving.  Newcomers to Sabetha will see how important literacy and education are to the community and will feel comfortable coming to a place that can offer everything a much larger library can offer, plus the intimacy of a friendly face and neighborly greeting when they walk thru the doors.  

Keep watching the progress at 915 Virginia. It won’t be long before you start seeing the steel skeleton of the new addition going up. Once the contractors get it enclosed, the rest of the project will fall into place.  New elevator, new accessible restrooms on both floors, more space for computers, and more space for books will lauch the Mary Cotton Library into an era that even our children’s children will be able to enjoy.

Many citizens have been recipients of the Friends of the library tax credit sales promotion over the past week. As a person considering whether or not to contribute to the Friends of the Library project, one would expect to see why it is important that the library is maintained and preserved for current users and the future generations.

As of October 24^th, Sabethans have visited the library over 16,400 times in 2008 and checked out and circulated 47,939 items.

The dollar value of these items can be broken down in terms of actual dollars and cents if they each had to be purchased individually. Consider the following information, generated in part, by an online value calculator that can be found on the Maine

Here are the facts:

Children’s book circulation—22,634 items valued at $452,680.

Adult book circulation—14,002 items valued at $378,054.

Magazines—951 items at $3329.00

Movies/DVDs—5958 items at $131,076

Audio books—1276 items at $52,316

If patrons had purchased all of these items that they enjoyed at the Mary Cotton Public library so far this year they would have spent over $1,017,455.00    This does not include the value of children’s programs, internet resources, research services, genealogical research and so much more.

The figures are truly a testament to the commitment and dedication of public library users in Sabetha and the surrounding community. Mary Cotton Public library really is a bargain when put into black and white.

The Mary Cotton Public Library is now offering wireless access for patrons with laptops.  We also have access for students who have school laptops and would like a quiet place to do their homework.

The current collection contains over 24000 items, is open 48 hours per week and has free internet connection on 8 patron computers. Friendly, helpful staff are available to assist patrons at all times.