We really enjoy visiting our member libraries and archives, and had such a great visit to the Benton County Historical Society. The outside of the building is deceptively small, and we had so much fun discovering all the treasures housed inside. The mission of the Benton County Historical Society is to “preserve the past and present history for future generations.” They have tons of resources available at their location for anyone wishing to research family or area history. Thanks to donations, original books and documents, microfilm, plat maps, audio history tapes and lots more, you can explore your family’s or your community’s history!
We were lucky enough to get a tour from museum volunteer Fred, who was full of interesting and surprising information about the Benton County area.
We were able to see the main area where research is done. There’s a computer that has a database where most of the resources are cataloged for easy access. They have microfilm, old newspaper clippings, binders of family history, as well as filing cabinets full of history of the community. Continue reading Visiting the Benton County Historical Society!
The tech lab is nicely outfitted with laptops for students. Having this room connected to the library, and a significant part of it, means students are connected to information in paper and digital formats – both important for their skill development.
Also in the tech lab are the YA novels. Like all school libraries working with a broad range of student ages and experience levels, thinking about ways to share books in an age-appropriate, or useful, way is part of the process of designing the book placement.
And I just loved this! As is true in most libraries, space and access are at a premium. These bookshelves hold books for the younger patrons, and used to be turned on their sides. But you can just imagine the chaos when excited young patrons start pushing books out of the way to get to their very favorite one! So they flipped the shelf over, and now all the kids can reach the books, and they stay (reasonably) organized! Libraries are great places for being innovative, and figuring out how to serve our community members in great ways.
I love Nancy Drew, and Hardy Boys, books – so this was very fun to see!! (I may have gushed with happiness here just a bit.) I grew up reading these yellow and blue covered versions of the books – and of course I watched every episode of the TV show!
It’s always good to see community involvement in any library – and student/patron created art is such a great sign of library interest! This technology art hanging on the library wall is both eye-catching, and shows off the future directions of the library and the patrons in it!
This visit was to the Zimmerman High School media center; and you can just tell from the beginning of the library that this will be a nice place! It’s so welcoming, and I love the clear identification – it’s the librarian in me, but that kind of detail (user friendly!) helps libraries connect to their communities.
Right at the front door was one of the individual features of this library: a 
You can see how nice the desk area is, with displays, handouts, and all sorts of things to look at as patrons are processed.
Thinking about those patrons is always a good idea, and this is (hopefully!) a fantastic idea for summer reading! The library books can be checked out for the entire summer now – giving students a great opportunity to get some fun (or even educational!) reading done over the summer!! This is the first year they are trying this idea; so everyone cross your fingers that it is a big success!