Did you know the Campbell County Public Library has a stargazing club and telescopes for rent?
Public libraries, of course, offer books to check out, but they also provide so much more to their communities. Campbell County has a stargazing club, Kenton County has a history and genealogy department and one of Boone County’s branches has its own art gallery.
“Libraries are not simple organizations anymore,” said Boone County Library Director Carrie Herrmann.
One niche thing that the Campbell County Library offers is its stargazing club through the Cold Spring branch. The location has three telescopes available that can be placed on hold and picked up. Those who need help working can attend the club or get assistance from the library.
On average, Campbell County Public Library offers about 45 monthly programs at each of its three largest branches, Cold Spring, Newport and Fort Thomas. The programming is divided into three age ranges: children from newborn to 11, teens 12 to 19 and adults 18 and up.
There are different club opportunities like Minecraft and Dungeons & Dragons. The library has traveling exhibits like the Smithsonian, Kentucky Science Center, Cincinnati Museum Center, Cincinnati Zoo and Newport Aquarium.
“All those places have gotten more expensive to visit and have memberships for, so we like to bring them to us so our families don’t have to have that expense added to everything else,” Phillips said.
Boone County Public Library offers an archives and history center.
The Boone County Library is currently working with the county clerk and circuit clerk to transfer records from the 1700s to the early 1900s to the library so that they can properly care for them and make them available for the community to use.
Herrmann said they are recognized nationally for their research on African Americans in Boone County.
In Kenton County, the Covington branch of the library has a history and genealogy department. Part of that department is the Kenton County Public Library Faces and Places photo archive, which stores old photos from the region. Kenton County library director Dave Schroeder said that the department is used by amateur genealogists, publishers, newspapers, agencies, people who are doing histories on houses, etc.
The Scheben Branch of the Boone County Library in Union offers passport applications. The Main Library in Burlington offers GED testing, and notary services are available at all Boone County locations. Herrmann said the notary service is popular because it offers weekend and evening hours, unlike a post office.
She said they don’t focus on job programming because Kenton County’s program is so strong.
The Kenton County Library excels at helping people find work through its workforce development program. The program works with people in between jobs, helping them with coursework and resumes. They also have a Northern Kentucky Accountability Group, an education group that helps people with job searches.
Schroeder said they usually have about 100 people at that program every Wednesday morning at the Erlanger Branch.
“We’re drawing people from as far north as Dayton and from as far south as Lexington, and that program has received national attention,” Schroeder said.
The library has four workforce development staff members at the Erlanger branch, two at Covington and one in Independence. Those staff members work with people individually to review resumes and conduct mock interviews.
“Our focus is primarily on folks who have worked for a significant period of time, who have been outsized, downsized, the economy has changed, and they are looking for the next step in their career,” Schroeder said. “Nobody was really doing that in a region in a systematic way. So, we picked that piece up.”
The Boone County Main Library branch has an art gallery where local, regional and national artists display their artwork. The main library also has a couple of sensory-related items, including a sensory room that was created in tandem with Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and the Cincinnati Zoo.
“The sensory spectrum, you either have people who get overstimulated very easily and then there is the flip side, where there are people who need to have intense stimulation all the time,” Herrmann said. “So, this room is designed to work with either side of that spectrum and provides either calming tools, calming resources, or there are things there that the kids or adults can use that give them the extra stimulation that they need.”
At the new Walton branch location, Herrmann said she had the architects design an inclusive restroom, keeping sensory issues in mind. The restroom has lighting that is not harsh and bright; there are no automatic faucets, toilets, or paper towels. It also includes an adult changing table.
The Boone County Public Library has three Innovation Labs (Main Library, Hebron and Walton) with various technology and a mobile version, which is like a book bus but with technology.
“We received a grant to do the mobile Boone Innovation Lab that businesses or communities or schools can book, and we will come out and work with them on some of the high-end technology,” Herrmann said.
The Boone Innovation Labs have laser engravers, cricket machines, 3D printers, large-format poster printers, podcast equipment, and green screens. They also have media conversion stations, which allow people to digitize VHS tapes, eight-millimeter film, cassettes, and photos.
The mobile lab has similar items as the innovation labs, and they have electronic circuits to work with kids and teach them how circuits work. They even have preschool coding toys for younger kids.
The Walton Innovation Lab has a textile emphasis. It has two different sizes of quilting machines, as well as sewing and embroidering machines.
The innovation labs are free of charge except for the materials.
Like Boone County’s innovation labs, the Kenton County Public Library offers the stream center, a maker space. The largest location is at the Erlanger branch of the library; however, Covington and Independence have small versions.
The stream center in Erlanger has laser printers, 3D printers, long-arm quilting machines, embroidery machines, and coding equipment geared toward children. All three locations have large-format printers, which Schroeder said are popular with teachers.
“It’s very cost-effective for them to make posters and other kinds of hands-out displays, all those things that help support the classroom,” he said. “We know, just from anecdotal information, that many of those teachers are paying for those things out of their own pocket. So, by the library offering that service it’s reducing the one less thing.”
The stream centers are free of charge except for the materials.
Two popular programs at all three county libraries are 1000 Books Before Kindergarten and Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.
The 1000 Books Before Kindergarten program is a reading initiative for children ages 0-5 and their caregivers. Its goal is to help children develop their vocabulary, build confidence, and be kindergarten-ready. The Dolly Parton Imagination Library program mails an age-appropriate book for free to enrolled children monthly.
Find more information on the Campbell County Public Library branches here.
Find more information on the Kenton County Public Library branches here.
Find more information on the Boone County Public Library branches here.
