By Chad Koenen

Publisher

A new $10,000 grant from West Central Initiative could open the library to a whole new group of readers in the greater Henning community. Thanks to the grant, the library will now be open every evening Monday through Thursday, as well as Saturday mornings, as local residents hope to bring a renewed interest in both the school and community library. 

“It’s just trying to give people something to do,” said school librarian Pam Wiese. “There are very few in the state of Minnesota that is both a public and school library. We have been for a long time and I don’t think people from the public know they can come in here and check out a book.”

The large $10,000 grant from West Central Initiative will provide funding to transform the library into a place people can call home, and in some cases, simply pass the time when they have a few minutes to kill in town. One example Wiese gave was Wednesday nights when adults drop off their kids at religion classes. If they had no where to go in town they can come to the library to stay out of the cold and pick up a book to relax in the comfort of the library for a few hours. She also said people can utilize the later night hours by doing a little bit of reading as adults pick up their kids from practice or school, as opposed to simply waiting in their vehicles. 

“Since we already had Tuesdays and Thursdays we decided to add Monday and Wednesday with that and every Saturday morning,” said Wiese. “We are hoping that we maybe get some adults in here who dropped their kids off at church and give the parents somewhere to go.”

As part of the large grant, the library purchased a pair of laptops that can be utilized during the open hours of the library. The laptops will allow people to surf the internet, do research on topics, type documents or even just read a book on a computer. 

The library will  now be open to the public Monday through Thursday from 3:30–5:30 p.m., with extended hours every Wednesday until 7 p.m. Saturday hours the library will be open from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Community members are invited to bring youth, adults or whoever would like to pick up a book or use a laptop to the library to take advantage of the additional time the library is open. Since the Henning School library is also a community library there is no shortage of long novels to history books, children’s books and something for people of all ages. The hope is the extended hours will make it more easy to pick up a book or visit the library for people who may work out of the community. 

“We have 24,000 books in here and that is an alarming amount of books,” said Wiese with a laugh. “Our goal really, is it doesn’t do us any good on our shelves, so lets get them in the hands of people.”

The extra hours and grant will provide much more than just additional hours to check out a book as there will be special events and activities that will feature unique opportunities for students and adults alike. 

Beginning in December, Jessica Iliff will be available on the first Wednesday of every month to offer tutoring in all subject areas. Students of all ages are encouraged to take advantage of this personalized academic support.

On Tuesdays, crafters experienced in any form of needlework—knitting, embroidery, crocheting, etc—are invited to bring a project and enjoy time with fellow stitcher’s. Those interested in helping others learn are especially welcome. Participants may contact Laura Smith at the school or simply drop in.

The stitching club will be held from 3:15-5:15 p.m. each Tuesday. 

On Wednesday a sewing club will be held after school. Students are asked to sign up for the youth sewing club as a way to learn the art of sewing and quilting from dedicated area volunteers. The program encourages skill-building and creativity in a supportive environment.

Thursdays will feature a wide variety of STEAM activities that will provide hands-on activities focused on Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math. Students can experiment, design, build and explore in sessions created to spark curiosity and innovation.

Saturday’s will include a pair of story times, one being offered at 9:30 a.m. and another at 11 a.m. that will be read by local volunteers for everyone who is in the library during the expanded hours.