Clinton County Public Library offers much more than just ‘borrowed books”

What started out as a little green bookmobile and later a small library with only a handful of shelves for books over the old Albany Fire Station has now blossomed into one of the busiest and most used resource for thousands of people in Clinton County.

The Clinton County Public Library began as the bookmobile in January of 1955 with the late Eloise Smith the first bookmobile driver/librarian. That first small bookmobile contained about 500 books according to an oral history recorded by former librarian Elizabeth Upchurch in 1976 during an interview with Smith.

A copy of that oral history is at the library on tape for anyone who would like to hear it, but cannot be checked out.

Since the early beginning, the library has found new homes and has evolved into one of the most modern and most-used facilities of its type.

Although many people use the library, many on a monthly, weekly and sometimes almost daily basis, many still don’t realize all the things the Clinton County Public Library has to offer, including the bookmobile, special programs, children’s events and the availability to have access to wireless internet, and offering check outs for CDs and DVDs, to name a few.

The library moved from the old fire station building to a new home on the Burkesville Road in 1968. Upchurch became librarian in 1979 following Smith’s retirement and several years ago, with the help of Empowerment Zone funding, the new library was constructed in its current location north of Albany across from the high school.

Gayla Duvall, current librarian, will have served in that capacity for 25 years as of this coming April 1 and has herself seen a lot of changes.

Debbie Sells, the bookmobile driver, has been doing that job for some 36 years also as of April 1, a job that Upchurch had done before becoming librarian herself.

Duvall said by far the biggest change with the library was the change to computers, something that was not available to the staff and public when she first began.

The public library is a taxing district and operates on revenues from property and personal tax, about a $13,000 state allotment annually, and through private donations, which Duvall said was a big asset.

Last year, the library’s total budget was $171,285 and includes all aspects of costs, including books, technology, utilities, payroll, gas and maintenance on the bookmobile, etc.

Duvall noted that the local tax rate is lower in Clinton County than any surrounding county and she has to manage what finances the library has within the framework of the annual budget.

When most people think of a library, they only think of books, but the library has CDs, DVDs, magazines, computer access, books on tape, learning kits for kids and Duvall said in the future, when the budget allows, she would like to get some mini-iPads or Kindle Fires for preschool students to use.

The library and bookmobile run hand in hand and Sells has a schedule of stops on a rotating basis to around 65-70 homes and also delivers books to day care centers, businesses, the hospital, TENCO, housing projects and has a story time at the nursing home for residents there as well.

As an indication of just how much the library is used, some 44,741 people patronized the local facility and/or bookmobile the last calendar year.

The library operates with a limited staff of five full and mostly part-time people as well as some volunteer help.

The library is overseen by a five-member board appointed by Clinton Fiscal Court. The current board members are Phillip Groce, Pam Morgan, Jamie Sparks, Linda Barnett and Amanda Messer.

Among the favorite things Duvall enjoys is having the pre-school and kindergarten students visit once per week for story time. “When they begin using the library at that age, when they are middle school they won’t be afraid to come and access the library,” she said.

Duvall also noted the library was in the process of putting the Clinton County News online and already people can go to the library’s website to the “resources” tab and pull up a lot of information, such a e-books, information on book titles available and other information.

The librarian is also proud of the fact that the local library was fourth in the state, per ratio, of 119 public libraries, for children’s program attendance this year and the local library does place a heavy emphasis on providing educational and other types of services for the county’s young people.

Duvall said “you have to love this job to do it,” indicating the salary for librarians and staff isn’t high. “I like getting up in the morning knowing what’s going to happen today (at work),” adding that she loves working with people.

Sells said the patrons on her bookmobile route through the years have become like family to her and also credited Duvall for doing a good job of managing the library and the financial aspect, noting that books and other materials were expensive.

As far as circulation range, there were 24,684 adult fiction books checked out last year; 16,533 attendance for children’s programs; 9,391 computer use; 13,915 children’s books; 8,660 magazines; 85 microfilm; 14,997 DVDs; 3,140 young adult, and perhaps the most impressive, some 385 total programs of some type presented at the library.

As an indication of how much the library is utilized and the services it offers–not only in books–the following is the impressive list of events hosted by the Clinton County Public Library in 2015:

* Quilt show.

* Valentine’s Day at the library where children were encouraged to come hear a story and create a Valentine craft for a loved one.

* Red Flags of Fraud.

* Library Open House.

* Spring Crafting Showcase.

* Computer Question Night.

* Summer Reading Program for Adults. A self-directed program where adults could stop by and pick up their reading log, which gave them a variety of reading choices. Each adult was asked to select 10 books from the possibilities and read them during the summer. Upon completion, adults were awarded a participation gift and invited to a breakfast with the opportunity to win prizes from a drawing. There were 70 who participated.

* Underground Railroad.

*Summer Reading Program (June and July) with lots of fun events including a Teddy Bear Sleep over where children brought in a stuffed animal and left it with the library, then they could follow it on Facebook to see what they did all night.

* Adult Book Club was a spin off program from interest following Summer Reading. On the first Tuesday of every month participants come out to enjoy discussion and refreshments and pick up the featured book. The program has been so much fun and the library hopes to add a meet the author event along with a trip this summer.

* Adult Cooking Class, partnering with local Nutritional Education Coordinator Stacy Smith to host a monthly cooking class for all ages featuring healthy meals from the Plate It Up Kentucky program.

* I Love to Read Program is a program that is similar to summer reading, but offers incentives for children all year long who are reading. The library has partnered with the Clinton County Early Childhood Council to develop and maintain this program. Each quarter a new reading log is available and children are encouraged to return it during an event to receive prizes for their hard work. In order to participate, children must sign up for a library card and use that card to check out books. So far, there are around 80 participants.

* Fall Reading Program. This is a three-day reading program for children. It’s being held during the fall break from school. The hope is to keep children reading and get them actively involved with the library. Each day features activities that include story time, crafts, games, songs, and more.

* School Library Tours. With the help of some very interested local school teachers, the library was able to organize field trips with library tours for both 4th grade and 6th grade students this past year.

* Library Float for the Foothills Parade. This year the library entered a float in the parade featuring Pete the Cat and proudly finished in second place. The greatest accomplishment from that participation was the opportunity to pass out just over 2,000 books to the children in our community.

* Spooky Story Night. The library hosted an event in the spirit of Halloween, where children were encouraged to come out and hear a Spooky Story and then enjoy a variety of games set up throughout the library. Each child went out with a bag full of goodies and a new book. Attendance was over 200.

* Showcase of Clinton County Crafters. During this event, many local crafters came out and set up items for sale to the public. Refreshments were served and a great crowd attended to stop in and shop.

* Christmas at the Library gave us an opportunity to invite families into the library for stories, holiday crafts, and fun with Santa Claus. Every child received a free Christmas book and were able to make and take ornaments home.

Upcoming Events:

* On January 23, the library will host an Artic Blast for kids to come out and explore some fun Science activities with snow and ice.

* In February, there are weekly activities around the theme “February is for Lovers”…book lovers, food lovers, movie lovers, and of course food lovers. Each Tuesday night the library will host an event specific to that week’s theme and anyone who checks out a book for that theme will be entered into a weekly prize drawing.

* March 12–Reading is Out of This World featuring Star Wars. The library has invited members of the 501st Legend (Star Wars characters) to come hang out at the library and engage in a variety of themed activities for families to enjoy.

Anyone wishing more information about the library and the services it offers, including having the bookmobile deliver books to your home, business or other location, call the library at 387-5989. They are online at www.clintoncountypubliclibrary.org and you can also like it on Facebook.