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Good values at public library
Published 12:00 p.m., April 6, 2009
For The Journal
By Walt Dunlap, Library Director
Helping to make Fergus Falls Pubic Library the best deal in town is a wide variety of cooperative efforts. Just what today’s economy demands! The most important of those agreements is its membership in the 11-community, six-county Viking Library System which brings books and other materials to Fergus Falls customers from sister libraries in Pelican Rapids, Perham, New York Mills, Alexandria, Glenwood, Hancock, Browns Valley, Wheaton, Elbow Lake and the Viking Bookmobile. Daily delivery van service means local residents have access to an incredible variety of materials no single library could supply them with.
Beyond Viking’s borders there are 11 other regional library systems in Minnesota and inter-library loan networks dating back 50 years. MINITEX, the state-funded office for coordinating such library service, delivers to Fergus Falls materials requested from public and academic libraries all across Minnesota as well as Wisconsin and the Dakotas. At the same time it picks up materials from our region requested by library patrons elsewhere within Minnesota. How do librarians and library patrons know about the assets of libraries outside their region? The mammoth MNLINK on-line catalog includes millions of books and non-print items, and it can be accessed via home computers. MINITEX also provides a wide variety of electronic databases via its Electronic Library For Minnesota, ELM, available on-line from school, home, work or the public library.
Partnerships with local agencies and businesses also mean better Public Library service. This summer, for instance, the Public Schools and the Library will again host an Accelerated Reader program for youngsters improving their reading skills. Local funding support for the eight week session has been given by the Lundeen Foundation. The Fergus Falls Medical Group and Lake Region Hospital Foundation, located just across the street, have contributed money for the purchase of books on consumer health topics. Lakeland Mental Health and a regional consortium of mental health care providers have donated video programs and books on mental health topics. New and improved book and audio book collections are available this spring thanks to generous donations from West Central Initiative Fund, the Otto Bremer Foundation, Wal-Mart, and Target. The St Paul-based Minnesota Library Foundation and the Friends of Fergus Falls Public Library joined to fund the Reference USA on-line business directory just being installed at the Library. The Friends have played a key role in a variety of joint ventures, incidentally, ranging from Library participation in the ISD 544 “Adopt A Class” project to the community-wide Big Read. The Fergus Falls Area Garden club has been another generous partner, having donated several thousand dollars for the purchase of gardening books during the past few years. Other clubs and organizations as well as dozens of individuals have been a part of the cooperative effort in donating books, audio books, magazine subscriptions and cash to keep their Fergus Falls Public Library the best deal in town.
Fergus Falls Public Library is open Monday through Thursday 9:00 AM until 8:00 PM, Friday 9:00 AM until 6:00 PM, and Saturday 9:00 AM until 1:00 PM. The circulation desk telephone is 739-9387.
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The Daily Journal is happy to host community conversations about news and life in Fergus Falls and the surrounding area. As hosts, we expect guests will show respect for each other. That means we don't threaten or defame each other, and we keep conversations free of personal attacks. Those who persist with racist, defamatory or abusive postings risk losing the privilege to post. To post a comment you will need to register. Or, if you're already registered but have not included your true, verifiable identity with your registration, you will need to update your account to include your identity. Effective Dec. 1, 2009, all posts appear with the commenter's true identity, which must be verified by site staff. Those who registered prior to Dec. 1, 2009, should be aware that once you update your information with your true identity, all prior posts under your user name will also indicate your true identity. If you do not wish to link yourself to prior comments, you should register again with a different user name.Posted by betterworld (anonymous) on April 7, 2009 at 11:24 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Walter and his staff have continued to make this libary the best. It is simply the best. What a shame that library funding gets put on the back burner again and again....
Thanks Mr. Dunlap, and staff, for all that you do everyday.
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