Library Board Hikes Non-Resident Fee

The Helen Matthes Library Board has raised the annual fee for those who live outside the City of Effingham.

The annual fee was increased to $127.  Library Director Amanda McKay said an increase in the City's equalized assessed valuation means the fee should also go up to non-residents.

McKay reported the library received a Teen Beat Grant worth $5,000 to refresh the teen collection.  The items to be acquired for the collection include Christian fiction, graphic novels, and Manga that McKay said are graphic works that originate in Japan and are to be read right to left.

McKay said over 550 items were added to the library's overall collection during the past year.  She said add those items to the $7,000 to $9,000 raised last year in library book sales, and the increase is sizable.

The Library Board met in closed session to consider candidates for vacancies on the Board.  McKay said the Board came up with recommendations to make to Mayor Merv Gillenwater for successors to Karen Rayl and Charlie Bovard, who are leaving the Board.

McKay reported that fundraising for the library to be developed in the former 5/3 Bank building downtown is now at 34% completed. She also reported that almost 100 adults participated in the Winter Read program and that two thirds of those who signed up completed the program.  Johnna Schultz also made a presentation on the library's Adult Services department.