18 November 2025 Last Day in the Lillie M. Evans Library

It was a bittersweet day at the library. The staff has been so helpful to this novice. The Director Duttlinger has really been helpful to show the behind the scenes activities.

We started the day discussing the time sheets and discussing the many different opportunities. She wanted to focus on three items today:

•  Reader advisory
•  Grants
•  Weeding

We started looking at Reader Advisory and the tools that are available to the staff. Looking at the usual suspects like Good Reads, Reading Group Guides, and RA for all. Looked at Best Seller lists Publishers Weekly and New York Times. The LME Library has its own recommendations on the website. Was asked to add books to the website. Spotted a Health and wellness category that did not have any books. Asked about that category. So I went for that one and looked over the collection to see what books would fit the theme. Picked out a dozen titles that encompassed various healthy activities looked in the system for the check outs to see if they had merit. Put them in a word document and submitted them for the website with a picture of the book and call number.  

We discussed grants and the importance to the small and rural libraries. The library has a great history with grants. Two additions to the library came from the Live and Learn construction grants through the Illinois State Library. We discussed traditional library grants and going outside the normal channels applying for grants. These would include organizations like the local community foundation, Local and national art groups like the Illinois Arts Council and Arts Alliance Illinois. We went through some of the grant applications and talked about the proper grant application process. Had recently attended a webinar with Anne Craig, Senior Director of the Consortium of Academic and Research Libraries in Illinois (CARLI). It was interesting to see that Director Duttlinger followed many of the same practices.

They both were focused on the rubric and adherence to it in the preparation of the document. Keywords and proper grammar are also key as many grants go through an initial screening process. If driven through a computer program you want to make sure the application is very readable and is straight forward. Proper fonts, spacings and following the instructions provided.

Finished the day completing the weeding project. Biographies was the area, and the library is in the Spoon River area and also close to Galesburg. There were many titles that related to Edgar Lee Masters and Carl Sandburg. Many having a high occurrence of checkouts on them. Keeping these on the shelves.

Having been to the Netherlands it was interesting to see the Anne Frank biographies and also Corrie ten Boom, who helped Jewish people escape during World War two. Several volumes of her Christian writings were very popular with the patrons. Kept these on the shelves due to high readership.

Filled several shelves on the cart of books to be weeded.

Again it was a bittersweet day. I know I will visit the library often as it felt like a good place. I see how the local town supports it. They had several substantial monetary contributions from patrons in my short time at the library.

PLA Forces: Force 4 Asset Driven Impact. The selection of material for the library needs to enrich the quality of life for the patrons. In reader advisory getting to know the patrons likes and dislikes are key. Finding a proper match is a win-win for patron and the library.

Force 5 the Challenge of Leadership. Libraries have finite funding primarily from property taxes. The search for grants can be time consuming, and some may fail to materialize. It is a way to show the Board and the community your leadership ability. The smallest win is still a win for the patrons.

Work total 6 hours                  Semester total 96