Thanks to a $40,000 FY08 LSTA grant, Reddick Public Library District has gone “on the road.” On the heels of a hard-won referendum to become a district library, Reddick Library wanted to extend and expand services to its new rural patrons by means of programs and traveling collections.  This grant allowed the library to hire a full-time Community Relations Coordinator to develop and sustain an innovative, user-centered outreach program in collaboration with community partners.  Partners included Business Employment Skills Team, Community Hospital of Ottawa Adult Day Center, Rutland Elementary School District, Ottawa YMCA, Ottawa Chamber of Commerce, and Ottawa Visitors Center. 

Although each outreach partnership has been rewarding, two special relationships have emerged – that with Rutland School and CHO Adult Day Center.  Rutland School is a rural K-8 district that no longer has a school library.  Reddick Library supports and enhances the school curriculum and its students’ recreational reading needs.  To date, every student has visited the library at least once for library scavenger hunts, book talks, story times, and other activities.  More than 300 books have been delivered to the school to support thematic units.  Reddick Library provides both the Adult Day Center clients and the residents of the senior housing complex (where the day center is housed) with a monthly movie matinee that is eagerly anticipated by the seniors.  The library is also working on expanding its base for homebound delivery of library materials to seniors.

The sustainability potential for this grant project is limited only by the imagination of the library staff and the grant partners!  Thanks, LSTA, for helping Reddick Public Library District realize its vision statement:  LITERACY…CULTURE…COMMUNITY!