March 13, 2009

Sherman launches library
Children’s comic and other festivities mark grand opening

By Sam Craig
The Chronicle

     The Sherman County Public Library is inviting the public to a party to have a good time without the fear of being “shooshed” by the librarians.
     The new library, located at the Sherman County Junior/Senior High School in Moro, is opening its doors for the first time on Saturday, March 14 and they’ve got quite a shindig planned. The new Sherman County Public/School Library will be replacing the old library they’ve simply outgrown.
     To turn the page to a new chapter, so to speak, the library is inviting the public to come down to check out the new space and enjoy some complimentary entertainment.
     The library’s grand opening festivities kick off at 11 a.m. with a party just for kids.      Featuring “komedy 4 da kids,” an act starring Angel Ocasio, who graduated from the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus “Clown College.” Ocasio’s act is full of jokes, juggling and other clowning that will keep the kids laughing.
     After the children’s party, the library will cut the ribbon in its official opening. The ribbon cutting ceremony will feature talks from Jane Kirkpatrick, an award-winning, Sherman County author and library board member, as well as Jim Scheppke, Oregon State Librarian.
     At three, local authors, Kirkpatrick, Winifred Morris, George Rohrbacher, Rick Steber and Sherry Kaseberg will be signing books.
     At four, Hood River band, Django’s Cadillac will perform jazz in the library until six.
     “We actually got a grant from the Sherman County Cultural Trust last year to fund Django’s Cadillac,” said head librarian Arla Melzer. “Then at five, Rick Steber is going to do storytelling during their break.”
     To finish the evening, the library is offering a lasagna dinner in the cafeteria with dessert.
     The new library is a much bigger place than the old one. In fact, it’s nearly four times the size. The old library was a cramped 1,980 square feet, while the new one comes in at 7,200. Plenty of room for the books that are currently smooshed together and the computers that are stacked vertically at a circular terminal.
     “We’ll be able to offer more books,” Melzer said. “Right now we’re overflowing, we’ll be able to offer a much bigger children’s collection with a nice children’s space with computers just for children to use. We’ll have a separate computer room so the computers aren’t sitting out in the middle of the library.”
     The librarians are thrilled to have more space to give kids, as well as the adult population, a bigger place to learn.
     “We’re going to be able to offer a program space and to hold our summer reading programs here,” Melzer said. “Right now we are in the middle of the library to do those, so that’s exciting. The program room is going to seat approximately 50. We’ll be able to offer more technology classes in the program room and just in general, more classes, because we’ll have the space.”
     The library replaces the first Sherman County Library, set up in 1996. The new building isn’t tax dollars at work, but rather a gift in the form of donations from residents and grants from large companies. Nearly $2.5 million came in from grants and donors over the last few years.
     The new library offers several improvements over the old one, a bigger one being the way patrons enter.
     “The way the building is designed,” Melzer said, “the students will enter through a breezeway from the school building and the public will come in from the outside. So that the public no longer has to come into the school to access the library. That’s going to be a big plus for the public, because they have to put up with the bells ringing, the halls being filled with students and whatnot. It’s just going to be really, really great for our community to access the library.”