SUMMER LIBRARY PROGRAM 2013

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 12 - WEDNESDAY, JULY 31

Kickoff:  Wednesday, June 12, 2 pm, or you may come in any time to get started.  Story time at 3 pm followed by snack and activity.  Pick up your reading folders and bookmark logs and start reading!  Open to all ages.

Read an hour a week to earn a prize--up to 8 prizes.  Those who complete all 8 weeks receive t-shirt and certificate.  Top 5 readers with greatest number of hours read, receive special prizes!

Scavenger hunt returning this year!  Optional weekly story times Wednesdays, June 12-July 24, at 3 pm.

Final celebration on Wednesday, July 31, 3-5 pm at the Dayton Community Center.

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Parents, Children, Libraries, and Reading

by Carolyn Miller, Kathryn Zickuhr, Lee Rainie and Kristen Purcell

Summary of Findings

The vast majority of parents of minor children — children younger than 18 — feel libraries are very important for their children. That attachment carries over into parents’ own higher-than-average use of a wide range of library services.¹

The ties between parents and libraries start with the importance parents attach to the role of reading in their children’s lives. Half of parents of children under age 12 (50%) read to their child every day and an additional 26% do so a few times a week. Those with children under age 6 are especially keen on daily reading with their child: 58% of these parents read with their child every day and another 26% read multiple times a week with their children.

The importance parents assign to reading and access to knowledge shapes their enthusiasm for libraries and their programs:

• 94% of parents say libraries are important for their children and 79% describe libraries as “very important.” That is especially true of parents of young children (those under 6), some 84% of whom describe libraries as very important.
• 84% of these parents who say libraries are important say a major reason they want their children to have access to libraries is that libraries help inculcate their children’s love of reading and books.
• 81% say a major reason libraries are important is that libraries provide their children with information and resources not available at home.
• 71% also say a major reason libraries are important is that libraries are a safe place for children.

Almost every parent (97%) says it is important for libraries to offer programs and classes for children and teens.

Library visits by children

Some 70% of parents report their child visited a public library in the past 12 months and 55% say their child has his/her own library card. Those children who are library visitors did the following:

• 87% visited the library to borrow books.
• 55% went to do school work — and 77% of the children ages 12-17 went to the library for this reason.
• 46% went to borrow DVDs or CDs.
• 46% went to attend a library event — and 53% of the children under age 12 went to the library for this reason.
• 37% went to use the internet — and 43% of the children ages 12-17 went to the library for this reason.
• 37% went to socialize with their friends.
• 32% went to a library-sponsored book club or program.

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Notifications include missing persons, city emergencies, snow ordinance advisories, found animals, boil warnings, and other vital information.

Text 888777 with the message DAYTONIA to sign up.  The system will send you an autoreply asking for your ZIP code.  Reply with your ZIP code, and you are signed up.

This service is free, however your phone provider's charges may apply for text messaging.

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Sign up here for WEBSTER COUNTY Alerts! In the event of an emergency or severe weather, an alert will be sent to the phone number provided by voice, text, email and/or pager.

This is a free service provided by Webster County, IA, however, normal message fees may apply. To receive text messages to your cell phone, your cell phone must have text messaging capabilities. Notifications are dependent upon external providers and Webster County, IA, cannot guarantee notifications will be received by the intended recipient.

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ADVOCACY HOTLINE State Legislative News for Library Advocates   Issue #8 | May 3, 2013 In This Issue Clock Runs Out State Budget Issues Property Tax Reform ILA's Bill Tracker Legislative Coffees and Forums Quick Links    ILA Bill Tracker  Iowa Legislature  ILA Website    Clock Runs Out     Friday, May 3rd is the 110th day of the 110-day 2013 legislative session.  Pay for legislators officially stops after Friday.  Any days spent doing legislative work after that are on their own dime.    This 16th week of the session has been the busiest in many ways as the final pieces of the legislative session are put into place.  The goal of this past week for legislative leaders has been to move all remaining contentious issues - and there are a lot of them - into conference committees for further negotiation.   Typically, legislation rarely advances to a conference committee, the format used when the House and Senate are not able to find compromise language through the typical amendment process.  This year, they will have at least 9 bills in conference committee.    The beauty of the conference committee is that the final product that comes out is not amendable (unless it's voted down, and then the process gets uglier).  Each chamber will simply have a yes or no vote on each of the conference reports.  In situations where the majority party in each chamber has a very small margin (like this year's 26-24 in the Senate and 53-47 in the House), a small group of majority party members in a chamber could hold out for their own specific priorities.  By using the conference committee process, they can bypass that possibility.   Currently in Conference Committee: Education Reform Property Tax Reform Justice Appropriations Economic Development Appropriations Education Appropriations Ag/Nat Res Appropriations Admin/Reg Appropriations Medicaid Expansion Health Appropriations Going to Conference? Standing Appropriations Infrastructure (RIIF) Appropriations Another benefit to using conference committees to enact legislation, and particularly the budget, is that a chamber cannot add a provision into a conference committee discussion that was not in either the House or the Senate's bill.  This year, the House and Senate each passed essentially their wish lists for each budget bill and will negotiate which portions of each bill to accept.   Unlike previous conference committees in previous sessions, this year's conference committees will need to wait until the House, Senate and Governor can agree on an overall spending number for the next fiscal year.  This will require first knowing whether property tax reform will advance to enactment or fall short like it has in so many sessions past, and whether or not Iowa will expand Medicaid or pursue a different option.   Once the legislative leadership and the Governor reach overall agreement, the conference committees will convene and each come to agreement on their individual bills.  Then, at long last, the Legislature will adjourn sine die for the year.   Based on that, this will be the last REGULAR publication until the end of the session.  However, LEGISLATIVE ALERTS and YOUR ADVOCACY should continue in full force.  If you have priorities that have passed in EITHER the House or Senate version of one of the above bills, YOUR ADVOCACY can make the difference on whether or not it ends up in the conference report on that bill.  It's the final push.  It may take a week, it may take more than a month, but it's THE FINAL PUSH NOW.   Amy Campbell & Craig Patterson ILA Lobbyists

State Budget Issues    As the Legislature officially starts the overtime period, it is absolutely critical that you don't let up on your emails and phone calls.  They are working!  The library community still has a number of critical funding opportunities that are in play!  Whether final adjournment occurs this week (there IS a chance) or not for over a month, ILA members' efforts to weigh in can greatly affect the outcome.   ILA is tracking the following funding initiatives: Funding for Iowa Library Services is contained in the Education Appropriations Bill (HF 604), which is now in conference committee.  BOTH the House and the Senate versions contain a $500,000 increase for Iowa Library Services. Funding for Enrich Iowa is also contained in HF 604.  The bill, as passed by the Senate, contains a $750,000 increase for Enrich Iowa.  The House's version was level funded.  We need the Senate's version! Funding for the Learning Express database is contained in the Economic Development Appropriations Bill (SF 430), which is now in conference committee. Learning Express has been included in BOTH the House and the Senate versions of SF 430. The Infrastructure Budget Bill (RIIF - HF 638) is expected to go to conference committee soon.  The Senate version of HF 638 contains $250,000 to Iowa Library Services that can be used for technology equipment at the State Library and the six district offices, as well as for online resources.  The House's version does not have this included.  We need the Senate version!   We need your calls and emails in order to keep these increases in place, especially the Enrich Iowa increase and the technology funds in RIIF since these two only appear in one of the three education budgets (Senate, but not House or Governor's).   In the days ahead, ILA members should CALL OR EMAIL legislators and ask them to support the Enrich Iowa increase in HF 60 and the State Library Technology replacement funds in the RIF Bill.  Then, find 2 or 3 other people on your board, in your office or elsewhere in your work arena and ask them to email as well.  If each legislator gets a handful of emails on this issue, it will make a HUGE difference.  Do this TODAY!   House Emails             Senate Emails Property Tax Reform   The issue of commercial property tax reform has advanced to Conference Committee, the furthest stage in the process this issue has seen in many, many years.  However, most legislators are still skeptical that agreement can be reached on a final bill.  The House/Governor and Senate versions have not changed since the last update.  The basic sections are as follows:   Governor and House: Commercial roll back to 80% over 4 years Rollback is backfilled by the State, but the backfill is capped at the Year 4 amount Increase the State's share of the school funding from 87.5% to 95% (which lowers local levies) Lowers growth limitation on local governments  from 4% to 2% Rolls back taxes on telecommunication property to 60% Transitions apartments and assisted living facilities from commercial taxes to residential taxes (reducing their taxes from 100% to roughly 50% Replace cities local 8.10 levy with an amount of dollars multiplied by an inflation factor Senate: Tax credits for commercial properties that allow them to pay residential rates on up to $324K of value (and commercial rates for anything over that) $50 million/year, and would increase another $50 million/year every year the State has 4% growth The conference committee has met three times this week with no real progress.  Both sides has stated their guiding principles, summarized their respective bills and made arguments about why they believe their approach is superior to the other chamber's.  However, at the present time, neither side has indicated a real interest in compromising.   ILA's Bill Tracker Campbell/Patterson Consulting has finished a complete rebuild of the company website (www.IALobby.com) and a reconfiguration of the BILL TRACKER. The bills we are tracking for you are in there, but be sure to let us know if you have any trouble with the new system.   The Updated Bill Tracker - http://www.ialobby.com/billtracker/bills.cfm?ClientID=7 Legislative Coffees and Forums Campbell/Patterson Consulting tracks legislative coffees and forums around the state and we list them at the website below. Please try to make it to forums in your area to weigh in with your legislators! And keep checking back for more forum updates!    http://www.infonetiowa.org/calendar/events/    If you know of a forum your legislators are holding in your area that is not listed, send it to us at craig@ialobby.com so we can make sure it gets listed.  Your Lobby Team Amy Campbell - amy@ialobby.com Craig Patterson - craig@ialobby.com

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Celebrate 2013 National Library Week by Supporting Libraries in Your Community!

National Library Week is next week, April 14 through April 20. The perfectly named theme this year is Communities matter @ your library.

Public, school, and academic libraries are busier than ever serving the people in your community. They help people fill out job applications, provide homework assistance to students, offer public access to the Internet, assist small businesses conduct research, and much more. Yet libraries face funding crises in many communities. Without proper funding, libraries are forced to decrease or cut resources, reduce the number of librarians and library workers, and reduce hours of operation. Even worse, some libraries face closures.

Fully funded libraries will continue to be valuable community resources. Only fully funded libraries will be able to continue to teach 21st century skills and nurture the love of reading in young people that will serve them their entire lives.

To maintain the libraries in your community, we need your help.

The American Library Association has worked with your state library association to create an Action Alert through our shared Capwiz advocacy system, which will make it easy for you to send messages to your legislators and governor.

Next Monday we will send you an e-mail with a link to your state library association's Action Alert.

Please take a few minutes during National Library Week to raise your voice for libraries. After writing your elected officials, please forward the link to the Action Alert to your family, friends, and colleagues so they, too, can add their voices!

Thank you for advocating for libraries!

Sincerely,

Michael Dowling
Director, Chapter Relations Office
American Library Association

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The production of some 2012 major tax products, including the Form 1040 and the Instructions for Form 1040, is impacted by the recent passage of the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012.  

THANK YOU TO ALL WHO SUPPORTED THE BOOK SALE AND BRUNCH!

The library raised just over $1,000, which was beyond our highest hope.  We exceeded our goal, and funds will be used for regular operating expenses, such as our 36 magazine subscriptions, our annual BEACON circulation system maintenance fee, and annual eBooks subscription.  Thank you to all the generous folks who attended, donated food and goodies, and sponsored our event!

Dayton Public Library to Hold Book 'n Brunch in November

Dayton Public Library and Angie Lambert's The Homeplace had a fantastic Ladies' Night Out on November 11.  The library was the place for bacon lovers -- bacon-wrapped Triscuits (YUM!) and bacon-wrapped smokies.

Angie Lambert's recipe for Bacon-wrapped Triscuits:

Wrap 1/3 slice of bacon around a Triscuit. Place on baking sheet, bake @ 350 or 400 (depending on how big of a hurry you are in) until bacon crisps.  Flip and bake the other sides.  Sprinkle with brown sugar, broil.  Serve room temperature.  Thanks, Angie!

Kathy Swanson located the wacky librarian picture hidden on the library's web site.  Congratulations, Kathy, on being the one and only person to announce the location of the picture and win a free paperback!  The wacky librarian is at the bottom of the magazine list, located under the top pull-down menu "About Us."

Jenny Gallentine is the winner of the library gift bag with assorted prizes and t-shirt.

Nora Erickson is the winner of The Homeplace's (Angie Lambert's) handmade owl pillow.

Thank you to everyone for stopping by!  We had well over 100 attendees, which is amazing for a town of 800.  We were very happy to see many folks from a variety of local towns.

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Dayton Public Library will participate in Ladies Night Out Thursday, November 11, 2012, 3-8 p.m.  Angie Lambert of The Homeplace will have a variety of her Recyk products for sale.

Stay and enjoy warm apple cider, Baklava Bites, bacon-wrapped smokies and bacon-wrapped Triscuits.  Sign up for the drawing for a library gift bag and Angie's homemade owl pillow.

The first 15 ladies will receive a free DVD rental certificate.

The first one to come in and tell the librarian the location the wacky-scary librarian image on our web site wins a paperback book.

Check out the latest best sellers, including FIFTY SHADES OF GREY, by E. L. James, UNBROKEN by Laura Hillenbrand, TO HEAVEN AND BACK, by Mary C. Neal, KILLING LINCOLN, by Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard, GONE GIRL, by Gillian Flynn, THE GLASS CASTLE, by Jeannette Walls, LAST TO DIE, by Tess Gerritsen, WHEAT BELLY, by William Davis, BONES ARE FOREVER, by Kathy Reichs, A DANCE WITH DRAGONS, by George R. R. Martin, HEAVEN IS FOR REAL, by Todd Burpo, THE INN AT ROSE HARBOR, by Debbie Macomber, ABRAHAM LINCOLN: VAMPIRE HUNTER, by Seth Grahame-Smith, FRIENDS FOREVER, by Danielle Steel, ODD APOCALYPSE, by Dean Koontz, SHADOW OF NIGHT, by Deborah Harkness, among many others!

Always the latest James Patterson, Lori Copeland, John Grisham, Philippa Gregory, Clive Cussler, Lisa Jackson, W.E.B. Griffin, Danielle Steel, Jodi Picoult, Mitch Albom, Janet Evanovich, Mary Connealy, Harlan Coben, and more!

New books and DVDs weekly!

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The Dayton Public Library kicks off its summer reading program on Monday, June 11, at 3:30. The party at the library celebrates the start of summer reading and the theme, “Dream Big READ!” which includes all things “night”: stars, darkness, dreams, bats, and owls.  Erin, Webster County Naturalist with Webster County Conservation will be at the library to introduce rescued owls.  There will also be snacks and sidewalk art for the patrons to participate in.

The summer program will run through Monday, July 30.  There are two parts—weekly prizes for reading just one hour a week, and weekly story time on Wednesdays at 3:00.  Children pre-K through middle school are encouraged to participate in one or both.  The library offers snacks and crafts as part of story time.

Children may register for the program now or at any point during the summer, and are encouraged to select their own books and track their own time.  The goal is to keep everyone reading the entire summer, and reading fun books they enjoy.  Participants can count ANY reading time—reading on their own, reading to other kids, or being read to by adults or other kids.

In the past year, the Dayton Public Library has revamped the juvenile book sections, breaking out the juvenile nonfiction from adult nonfiction, and separating middle school books from the picture book area and young adult fiction.  The library has added many popular youth titles to the collection as well.

An ending celebration will be held on Monday, July 30, 2012, 3-5 p.m. at the Dayton Community Center.  This event is open to all library patrons and will include entertainment and refreshments.

SUMMER FACTS by scholastic.com

Get kids to read 4 or more books. Studies show that by reading four or five books during the summer, elementary students can avoid reading achievement losses that normally occur over those months. ¹

Provide easy access to books.  Ensuring that books are available to any child at any time of the year will be a good first step in enhancing the reading achievement of low-income students and an absolutely necessary step in closing the reading achievement gap.²

Launch a lifelong love of reading by letting kids choose the books they want to read. 89% of kids say that their favorite books are the ones they pick out themselves. ⁵

¹ Summer Reading and the Ethnic Achievement Gap, Jimmy Kim, Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk. 2004

² Ameliorating summer reading setback among economically disadvantaged elementary students, Richard Allington. April 2007

⁵ The 2008 Kids and Family Reading ReportÔ conducted by Yankelovich and Scholastic. 2008

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Dayton Public Library Now Offers Downloadable eBooks and Audiobooks

Best-selling and classic titles available anytime, anywhere 

(Dayton, IA) – May 2012 – Dayton Public Library has expanded its services with audiobooks and eBooks, available to download from the library’s website. Beginning June 1, library card holders can check out and download digital media anytime, anywhere by visiting http://neibors.lib.overdrive.com/. 

Users may browse the library’s website, check out with a valid library card, and download to PC, Mac®, and many mobile devices. Users will need to install free software. For audiobooks: OverDrive® Media Console™. To read eBooks, users will need Adobe® Digital Editions. Titles can be enjoyed immediately or transferred to a variety of devices, including iPod®, Sony® Reader™, and many others. Some audio titles can also be burned to CD to listen on-the-go. Titles will automatically expire at the end of the lending period. There are no late fees!

Monsanto
Enrollment in the State Library of Iowa’s eBook consortium is made possible through a donation by the Monsanto Fund – America's Farmers Grow Communities^SM, a program where winning farmers designate a local nonprofit organization to benefit from the donations. Randy Danielson of Dayton was selected as a winner in the program, and designated the Dayton Public Library as the recipient. 

This new service, powered by OverDrive, is free for patrons with their library card. To get started downloading audiobooks and eBooks, visit http://neibors.lib.overdrive.com/ beginning June 1, 2012.

About OverDrive
OverDrive is a leading full-service digital distributor of eBooks, audiobooks, music, and video. It delivers secure management, DRM protection, and download fulfillment services for hundreds of publishers and thousands of libraries, schools, and retailers serving millions of end users. OverDrive has been named to the EContent 100 as a company that matters most in the digital content industry. Founded in 1986, OverDrive is based in Cleveland, OH. www.overdrive.com  

Why We Can't Get Your Favorite eBook or Audiobook for Download

Information on eBook publishers that won't sell or license to libraries.

What do these publishers have in common?

They refuse to sell or license eBooks and Audiobooks to libraries.

Libraries can't buy from Amazon or Barnes & Noble for e-content.

To provide digital rights management (the thing that keeps pirates from pirating the loaned file) we have to pay a third-party vendor. We don't receive discounts. Many times we aren't allowed to purchase new releases. With paper books, we receive discounts, get new releases the day they come out, and in a pinch we can buy from any store or vendor with books. Our purchasing power is diminishing quickly in the virtual world, meaning we either can't get titles for you at all, or we can't afford to buy all the titles we should have available.

Publishers tell us their concern is about pirating.

The vendor we pay for access creates digital rights management for our files to restrict pirating. These rights are no less restrictive than the copies you buy personally. There is no absolute way to prevent pirating on the Internet. Libraries are not part of the problem, we're part of the solution. Offer readers and listeners limited access to a file paid for by the library and the need for piracy is reduced.

Publishers have long recognized the benefit of having books in libraries.

Libraries are the gateway to new titles, authors and characters. We promote their authors for free. We buy their older stock as replacements. We buy multiple copies of hardcover books. Nothing about the format of the book changes what is mutually beneficial to publishers and libraries in our long relationship.

This impasse affects YOU - even if you don't ever download a single eBook or audiobook.

Taxpayers are affected by rising costs. It affects readers and listeners by severely limiting what we can offer. It affects our relationship with authors and their publishers. It affects our community when people can't afford to pay for access and they have no other means of getting it.

Power to the patron - contact them directly!

Register your opinion by calling or writing the publishers. Whether you buy it personally or as a taxpayer, you're the customer.

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Dayton Census 1900, 1910, 1920, and 1930, is now available in a PDF document on the library's web site.  The donor has said to be aware that there are spelling errors in some names.  This is a wonderful resource for history and genealogy buffs!

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Monsanto donates $2,500 to the Dayton Public Library through America's Farmers Grow Communities^SM, a program where winning farmers designate a local non-profit organization to benefit from the donations.

The purpose of America's Farmers Grow Communities is to support local farming communities.  The program allows farmers to register for a chance to win $2,500 to designate to a local nonprofit community group or organization.  One winner is selected in each of 1,245 counties in 38 states. Randy Danielson was selected as winner this year and designated the Dayton Public Library as the recipient of the grant.

The photo above shows Curt Loving, a Monsanto representative from Humboldt, presenting Monsanto's "big check" to Tanya Campbell, library director.

The Dayton Public Library is thrilled to have the opportunity to purchase materials that will enhance the Dayton community's experience at the library.  The grant funds will be used to purchase laptop for in-library use and enroll in NEIBORS, an e-book consortium for public libraries that will provide access to downloadable e-books and audiobooks to Dayton's patrons who use Kindles and other eReaders, or MP3s for audio books.

http://www.americasfarmers.com/growcommunities/overview.aspx

http://neibors.lib.overdrive.com/2B73031F-77DF-46A4-897A-ECDA41D1254D/10/435/en/Default.htm

http://www.iowanewspapersonline.com/story.asp?sty_ID=5781&lstNewsPaper=90

Dayton Public Library receives $2,500 to jumpstart e-reader program through America's Farmers Grow Communities^SM

DAYTON, Iowa (Feb. 9, 2012) - Dayton residents will soon have access to two new computers and a selection of downloadable e-books thanks in part to a donation from the Monsanto Fund.  

The Dayton Public Library received a $2,500 donation through America's Farmers Grow Communities^SM, a program where winning farmers designate a local nonprofit organization to benefit from the donations. Randy Danielson of Dayton has been selected as a winner in the program, and designated the $2,500 to the Dayton Public Library.  

"This donation will be used to set up downloadable e-books and audio books for our patrons," said Tanya Campbell, library director. "We're also looking at purchasing a laptop for use within the library."

Grow Communities was created to benefit nonprofit community groups such as local libraries that are important to America's farmers.  For Danielson the opportunity to help grow his community became a reality when he was selected as a Grow Communities winner during the second annual program. Danielson decided on the Dayton Public Library because he wanted as many people as possible to benefit from the donation.

"I just think the library is a great asset to the community and everybody can use it," Danielson said.

In a ceremony held Thursday, Feb. 9, at the Dayton Community Center, Danielson got the chance to present the Dayton Public Library with the $2,500 donation.

In 1,245 eligible counties, farmers could win $2,500 for their favorite community nonprofit. The Monsanto Fund expects to invest more than $3.1 million in local rural communities this year alone. Through Grow Communities more than $742,500 has been donated to nonprofits in Iowa.  Visit www.growcommunities.com to learn more about America's Farmers Grow Communities.  This program is part of a broad commitment by the Monsanto Fund to invest in farm communities, in order to highlight the important contributions farmers make every day to our society.  To view all of the winners, visit www.growcommunities.com.  

About the Monsanto Fund

The Monsanto Fund, the philanthropic arm of the Monsanto Company, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to strengthening the farm communities where farmers and Monsanto Company employees live and work. Visit the Monsanto Fund at www.monsantofund.org.

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For nearly 250 years [public libraries] have afforded patrons, regardless of economic circumstance, a mind-boggling collection of materials representing 50 centuries of human thought. Plato and Santayana, Shakespeare and Hemingway, Bacon and Darwin stand shoulder to shoulder on its shelves. The library is also a place to learn English, look for a job, read to children, do a term paper, or simply to oil a squeaky day.

The public library - an American institution older than the flag, envy of other nations, cradle of literacy, bootstrap for generations of immigrants, storehouse of fuel for the imagination, hotbed of adventure and romance, and one of the greatest democratic institutions ever created - is struggling to survive. This is nothing less than a national calamity.

No one's life is in danger because they can't get their hands on one of Shakespeare's plays, and so libraries are often undervalued by local officials bent on preserving “essential services.”

But, in fact, libraries are essential. Reading is still the most basic survival skill in today's information-driven society. Moreover, the gap between rich and poor is widening, and the libraries level the playing field.

A danger greater than closing is that if we keep pauperizing libraries, they will deteriorate to the point that it will not be worth going at all. For children from homes where the only book is the telephone directory, the library is their one great hope. But if they go and find nothing to read, they will soon be watching television instead.

If anything, we ought to be increasing library hours and services. This is no time to be locking up the books. What in the name of Ben Franklin is going on here?

The text above is excerpted from commentary by William Ecenbarger, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, in the March 11, 2005, edition of the Christian Science Monitor:

http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0311/p09s01-coop.html

IOWA PUBLIC LIBRARIES ARE ESSENTIAL TO IOWANS

Visits to IA public libraries are up 30% in the past ten years -

Iowans made more than 16 million visits to their public libraries last year

Checkouts from IA public libraries are up 10% in the past ten years -

Iowans checked out more than 27 million items last year

Iowa public library card holders are up 15% in the past ten years -

Nearly 63% of Iowans now hold public library cards

Source: Iowa Library Association web site / legislative menu

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