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Newsletter

From The Ground Up - Summer 2023

Have You Tried An Audiobook?

By Theresa Walske, President

SCLS Foundation Board

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Are you going on a road trip this summer? You could check out an audiobook from your library. I have been checking out audiobooks and listening in my car as I drive. It began when a friend and I exchanged two book titles we thought the other should read this summer. But, she said, the two she recommended are much more interesting if consumed by audio. I finished the two she recommended and checked-out more.

If you choose to check out audiobooks, beware, your driving habits will change. I take longer ways home from work so that I can listen to the book. I talk back to the book as I drive telling the main character their next step is not a good idea. I sit in store parking lots or my house driveway too long because the audiobook is not as a point I want to exit the car. I invite you check out an audiobook this summer. Try something new. Just beware, you may be late to your destination.

The South Central Library System is a gift to me and my family. The Fall will bring the Cornerstone Event. This event is an opportunity for the community to pause, reflect, and make a financial contribution to the South Central Library System Foundation. The dollars you contribute stay in our community and invest in the future of the library system. I invite you to join me in sharing gratitude and appreciation for our libraries by making a donation to South Central Library System Foundation. You may make a contribution online or through the mail.

 

 

Idle Thoughts of a Persistent Library User

By: Janet Pugh, member

SCLS Foundation Board

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Thought 1: Several articles in this newsletter have been about particular libraries, services, programs. All I can offer is the perspective of a regular and persistent library user.

Thought 2: In our house where 3 adults live, hardly a day goes by when one of us doesn’t say, “I’m going to the library, do you have something to return or pick up?”

Thought 3: Among the 3 of us we read a lot! Two of us tend to have several books on holds and several books checked out; the other one usually reads one at a time.

Thought 4: Among the 3 of us we cover a range of subjects: mysteries, especially in a series; history; theology; science; romance; auto-biographies; general literature. We are lucky to have such a wonderful selection of books in the System.

Thought 5: Our books come from all over the South Central Library System. Sometimes I wonder how it happens that a particular title was chosen by whatever library. Sometimes, I wish the libraries would get together to make sure all the books in a series are held somewhere in the System.

Thought 6: And about Holds. How come when some holds look like they will take weeks it seems safe to add another that should come quickly? And then… they all come in at the same time? This is a really small problem; it just means that there is a stack of 4 books sitting on the coffee table waiting to be read.

Thought 7: Isn’t it wonderful that with a local library card we can walk into any library in the System and check out a book.

Thought 8: Thank goodness for the South Central Delivery System!!!

Thought 9: “Thank You” to SCLS for the reliable online catalogue and reservation system.

Thought 10: It’s Wednesday morning, July 5th. I have been working on this article, in my head, during the July 4th celebration. Independence Day…..a day we recognize many of the freedoms we sometimes take for granted. Free public libraries were not written into the Constitution; they grew throughout the country as people became more educated and sought more information and a broad range of subject reading. And we still value our libraries for information and entertainment. And goodness knows there is much more to learn and read today than there was in 1876!

I am grateful for our public library system that we are all free to use.

And I am grateful for the great variety of reading material that is held in our libraries!!

 

Foundation Fund Performance

As of July 7, 2023, the fund balance was $5,502,271.91, of which $246,542.87 was held on behalf of the Foundation. 

The gross return since inception on Dec. 1, 2012, is 5.95% and the one-year return was 7.60%.

For more information about investing with the Foundation, please contact Martha Van Pelt, SCLS Director, at (608) 246-7975 or mvanpelt [at] scls.info.

 

Foundation Contributors

These people have donated to the SCLS Foundation since April 2, 2023 through June 1, 2023. The category in which each is listed represents their total Foundation contribution to date.

•    Legacy -- $10,000 +

•    Benefactor – $9,999 - $5,000

•    Steward – $4,999 - $1,000

  • Theresa Walske

•    Advocate – $999 - $500

•    Patron – $499 - $250

•    Friend – $249 - $100

  • Susan Barthel

•    Supporter – $99 - $50

•    Sponsor – $49 - $1