Dodge City Public Library
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Contents |
[edit] For the next 100 years...
On February 11th, 2007, the Dodge City Public Library (DCPL), will celebrate its 100th anniversary. This celebraton was called "A 100-Year Love Affair", and was completed by a release of 100 balloons, obviously symbolic of the 100th anniversary. The library had modest beginnings in downtown Dodge City, KS. Before moving to its current location on Second Avenue, the library was located at 606 Second Avenue. The location before that was downtown at the current Carnegie Center for the Arts site. Although this location was a nice setting for a library, issues and needs of more space required a larger site - hence the moving to a larger site on Second Avenue in Dodge City. The Dodge City Public Library is part of the Southwest Kansas Library System. A scrapbook covering the last 100 years of DCPL is currently in progress. The current Executive Director of the library is Cathy Reeves, former director of the Dodge City Community College Learning Resource Center/Library. Also, there are currently two publications that are free-for-the-taking from the library. There is a regular newsletter for all aspects of the library, which includes a calendar of events. There is also a newsletter - Youth Edge - that is strictly for the Young Adult Dept. & the Children's Dept, now called "Youth Services".
[edit] A vision...
According to its website[1], the Dodge City Public Library's vision is this: "The Dodge City Public Library is a multi-faceted resource center providing materials in various formats and a variety of services to freely meet the continuing informational, recreational and educational needs of a growing, diverse community without regard to race, gender, ethnic origin, or educational status. "
The library has been, and will continue to be a source, for the people of the community of Dodge City & visitors to the city, for any material - including books, magazines, audio-books, CDs, pamphlets, DVDs, VHSs, and many other multimedia materials.
[edit] "From the card catalog to the computer"
The library is located in Dodge City at 1001 North Second Avenue. Beautiful landscaping makes the library justified as a United States institution. Over the past several years, the library has received multiple grants from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Through these grants and other sources, the library has started down the road of becoming an electronically savvy source of information. The library offers wireless internet technology, which allows laptop users to connect to the internet at the library. In a previous newsletter issued by the library, a slogan was placed under an ink sketch of the building: "from the card catalog to the computer". This slogan shows the importance for the library to meet the needs of the public by using advanced computers to increase assistance in finding materials at the site.
[edit] Summer Reading Programs
The Dodge City Public Library is host to several summer reading programs each year. The Children's Dept. & YA Dept. programs usually begin on June 1st. There are rewards for reading a certain number of books or pages, depending on the reader's age. Each Wednesday there is a fun program that any child can participate in. The Children's Dept. is greatly assisted by Junior Volunteers who work many hours a week for no pay to help improve the literacy of today's youth. With the help of Junior Volunteers, the library is able to save precious money for new books, new programs, and many other items. The Children's Dept. theme for 2007 is 'Get A Clue @ Your Library'. The YA Dept. theme is 'YNK @ Your Library (You Never Know)'. Obviously, the themes are mysterious in their nature, and will include programs with that subject.
[edit] Board of Trustees
The Board of Trustees of the Dodge City Public Library is entrusted with the task of bringing the highest quality of resources of learning for the community of Dodge City, Kansas. Members of the Board are as follows: Esther Abbey, Chair; Juan Ferreiro; Beulah Jones; Daniel Love; Cecilia Domingez; Dennis Scheck; and John Smithhisler. The board meets in public once each month, and the minutes can be accessed at the newly designed website for the library.
[edit] Cutting down on costs
In fall of 2006, the Dodge City Public Library board met to discuss how to better use the budget of the library. To cut down on expenses, the board made the regretful decision to close the library on Sundays. This new change took effect in October of 2006. According to Marie Gall, administrative secretary, closing the library on Sundays would result in savings of $8,000 -$9,000 for 2007.http://dodgeglobe.com/stories/082906/loc_20060829022.shtml]
[edit] References & External Links
Dodge City Public Library Official Website [[2]]] Dodge City Daily Globe Official Website [[3]]
