Library gives thanks to its supporters, for books, services, and ‘Things’

The Library Foundation donated $60,300 to the library in 2018, a total of six percent of library revenue. The library district is a special taxing district founded in 2011 after the one-year closure of the library, formerly a county program: taxpayers annually pay $39 per $1,000 assessed property value within the county.

Fox said libraries are the “educational, cultural, and civic hub of the community” and serve core values of education and life long learning, along with  literacy, access to information, intellectual freedom, and diversity, equity and inclusion.

“Libraries place people connect, grow and learn together,” she said.

She stressed the expanding services in Odell and to the physical branches in Cascade Locks, and Parkdale, “and  the outreach in the community.

“We bring the services to where people are. Many people in our community  can not visit our physical spaces.” These include monthly visits bring library materials to the senior facilities and reading buddy program at the Wy’east apartments behind Rosauers.

“Most significant area of outreach is in the community of Odell,” Fox noted. Odell is the only town in the county without a physical library branch.

“Your donations over the years have supported us to be able to serve our community of many different ways,” she said.

“Your donations are critical to supplementing our budget and helping us provide a high level of quality services to our patrons,” Fox said.

As she put it, “Foundation donors are catalysts, and roots of change.”

Support this fiscal year paid for newspaper and magazine subscriptions at all branches, including the New York Times Sunday Edition, electronic resources (Library2Go, Kanopy, Ancestry.com, Tumblebooks), and the “Library of Things” — a service that offers things for patrons to checkout.

“The collection supports lifelong learning and creativity by providing the physical tools necessary to explore new areas of interest and learn new skills,”

 Fox said, noting that recently added items are a projector with plans to add Nintendo Switch, tools, board games, and more.

Fox also announced that the library will soon have a new reader board in front of the library to advertise our programs and services.

Programs include the Library Express Odell bus in which children use the Hood River Library weekly in the summer and monthly during the school year, and Makerspace, funded by Library Foundation.

She also credited the Foundation for new furniture  purchases a all branches and said, “you wrote a new chapter for the Cascade Locks and Parkdale libraries,” which has new paint, carpet and shelving,  and play areas for kids.

Storytime programs have been added at Parkdale and Cascade Locks, Fox said.

“Storytime builds early literacy skills and encourages families to spend more time in their community and build social connections with other parents and children,” she said.

“We are building a beloved community space,” she said.

The annual Feast of Words event each March has paid for renovated gardens, new furniture and technology.

The next Feast of Words, March 14, will support restoration and preservation of the Hood River Library, including restoration of the masonry on the front entrance of the library, and expansion of the Library of Things collection.

“The collection supports lifelong learning and creativity by providing the physical tools necessary to explore new areas of interest and learn new skills.,” Fox said. “It supports sharing economy, gives our community access to items which may otherwise be too expensive to purchase or take significant space.”