Elkader Library sees growth in ideas, programs under new director
Board Game Afternoons, held each Tuesday at 2 p.m., and After Hours Board Games at 5:30 p.m. the first Thursday of each month were among the new programs offered at the Elkader Public Library in 2024. (Photos courtesy of Elkader Public Library)
Established story times continue to be well attended, and are one way the library reaches out to area youth.
Every second Saturday, patrons can “Uke It Out” at the Elkader Public Library. It’s one of several new offerings spearheaded by director Alexandra Bomhoff.
By Willis Patenaude | Times-Register
A new year often brings an assortment of reflections and reviews, but also resolutions and potential changes. Such is the case with the recent annual report and strategic plan for the Elkader Public Library, presented to the city council by director Alexandra Bomhoff, which detailed the accomplishments of the previous year and goals for the future.
Changes are nothing new to Bomhoff, who arrived in Elkader a year ago, when she took over the position from the retiring Lisa Wilke Pope. Bomhoff has since settled into the role, bringing new visions to the hub of the community and “sacred place” that is the library.
Though the year was exciting and fulfilling, learning experiences were plentiful and, at times, “daunting.” With help from friends and library staff, like summer intern Ella Buckman, Hila Garms and Brandy Tieden, Bomhoff and the library got through the challenges of coordinating the Friends of the Elkader Public Library Book Sale, story time and the Little Learners programming in the fiction section of the library, just to name a few.
Another challenge was developing a strategic plan. This was done over several months in the summer with the Friends of the Library Board of Trustees. The plan includes three main goals: promoting a literate, engaged community; providing the resources needed for personal interest, informed decision-making and lifelong learning; and providing a physical space that is welcoming and comfortable. Among each goal are examples of Bomhoff’s contributions and ambitions for the library under her leadership.
Explaining the rationale behind the first goal, Bomhoff said, “promoting a literate, engaged community fosters community connections and increases community resilience.”
The list of objectives is varied, but motivated by enhancing the library, starting with increasing literacy activities for Central students after school. To meet this objective, Bomhoff has created an ongoing “Books on the Big Screen” program, where films adapted from children’s books are shown the second Friday of each month. The idea extends to adults as well, with creation of “The Literary Lens.” Both include a brief, unstructured discussion after the movie. The program has been a success despite “less than comfortable” seating options, which are currently being remedied.
Not stopping at expanding outreach to just students, Bomhoff is passionate about expanding services to those who are homebound or residing in facilities. This effort is in need of volunteers.
“I look forward to expanding this service but it all depends on staffing and/or availability of folks who would be facilitating getting books to patrons unable to come into the library themselves,” Bomhoff said.
The area that saw the biggest growth was in community building, which included established monthly book discussions and story time, as well as several new programs and clubs. This includes Board Game Afternoon, Dungeons & Dragons, Uke It Out and Mellow Movement, most of which were introduced through patron suggestions.
Several new events and contents were also added to the calendar, like jigsaw puzzle contests in March and October, Lyrics on the Library Lawn featuring musician/author Mean Mary, Love Music at the Library with solo guitar music by Josh Gorman, April in Paris with guitar arrangements of songs written by French composers or made popular by French musicians and Donuts & Direction hosted by Jenny Rose of Helping Services for Youth and Families.
“Community resilience relies on connections among community members, so they can be tuned in to their neighbor’s needs and can step in and help when help is needed,” Bomhoff said.
In terms of providing resources, this goal will introduce new changes to the library while work continues on others. The biggest change will be new computers, which were purchased by the Library Foundation and should be up and running before January is over. Replacing the outdated computers donated several years ago that had just 4 GB of RAM will be newer computers running with 16 GB of RAM. But it’s not just the computers that are changing, it’s how the work stations are organized as well.
“We are changing the number of public work stations to five desktop computers, with a tablet instead of a laptop for the card catalog, and two kids’ tablets for use in the library. We are also replacing the desktop computer we use to check out materials to patrons,” Bomhoff said.
That initiative is underway, but two others are still in progress, including a resource called PLOW (Putting Libraries on the Web), a content management system the State Library of Iowa provides as a free resource to public libraries in Iowa for building and maintaining their websites. The other is creating makerspace, for which Bomhoff is still gathering ideas. Currently, there is a yarn shop that provides donated knitting needles and crochet hooks for public use, but Bomhoff wants to incorporate equipment like a Cricut precision cutting machine or sewing machine.
Additional updates under Bomhoff include replacing a loveseat and the meeting room chairs to dark gray and black, respectively, with portable black bean bag chairs on the way, for when the library shows movies. There is a goal to update the carpet installed at the turn of the millennium and redo paint by 2026.
“Providing a physical space that is welcoming and comfortable enhances the quality of life of the community members who come to the library, and I want patrons to feel welcome to stop in and take advantage of what we have here,” Bomhoff said.
Changes have resulted in growth in library visits, which reached over 12,650 last year, an increase of over 500 from the previous. The number has been trending upward since 2020.
Conversely, the library saw a decline in cardholders, which has been trending downward over the previous four years, even prior to Bomhoff’s arrival, and is likely tied to the waning impact of Covid and dormant/inactive cards expiring.
However, there was a significant increase in the number of programs, with attendance topping out at about 1,750 for the year, far surpassing previous years. Circulation also showed an upward trajectory, with over 13,350 physical items in circulation and over 4,900 digital, demonstrating that, despite cardholders declining, people use the library at numbers exceeding pandemic years.
Commending the job Bomhoff has done, council member Tony Hauber stated, “Alex has done a wonderful job. The recent programming and all of the updates via social media have really highlighted what a great resource the library is. I’m excited to continue to see her vision shape this public resource and to keep reminding us that the library is here for all ages and all people.”
Council member Deb Schmidt added, “She is very involved in using our library for all ages. Enjoy seeing her monthly calendar and the creative things she and her team come up with.”
Bomhoff, wants to continue to bring fun programs to the library and looks forward to continuing to “nurture connections amongst patrons to maintain and increase community resilience.”
“The community of Elkader has been wonderfully supportive of the library this past year, and I feel privileged to be able to serve as library director here,” Bomhoff said.
