LARNED – Over the past year, the Jordaan Memorial Library in Larned has ramped up its activity schedule. This is due in large part to Christy Meyer, who was named Library Director in January 2023.

Meyer and her team of librarians, Dava Keith and Amy Elmore, on Thursday went over a list of things to do that doesn’t necessarily involve reading, but does invoke education for a sizeable crowd at the Larned Chamber Coffee Hour. It was a big list, but they talked fast. "We offer a lot of good things, even if you are not a reader,” Meyer noted. The short list includes 10 available computers with free Wifi, DVD and audio checkout, microfilm and reader, talking books for the hearing impaired, and a projector for free use at the library.

The Kansas Room, which is stuffed with books, maps, and other research materials on all things Kansas, can also serve as a meeting room. There are other meeting rooms, one that hosts different Lunch Bites programs with a meal for $10 every first Friday of the month at noon; and a back room that’s good for more quiet study meetings and trainings.

There are the things you’d expect to find in a library, with well stocked shelves for fiction, non-fiction and children’s reading tastes. If it’s not on the shelf, a librarian can help find it anywhere in Kansas or out of state through interlibrary lone.

The kids also have a play room; because the library is a safe, comfortable place to be, Meyer said.

After Keith went over the basic day-to-day offerings, Elmore recited some numbers for programs and attendance from the past year. Her 2023 stats revealed:

• 3,315 materials borrowed through the library’s Libby app.

• 67 kid-centered programs offered.

• 82 adult-centered programs offered.

• 7,161 books checked out by kids.

• 5,448 books checked out by adults.

• 660 participants in all Summer Reading specialty programs.

Elmore also noted that two Pre-K girls have surpassed 800 books read in the library’s “1,000 Books Before Kindergarten” program.

February events

The “Bookopoly” reading challenge for adults kicks off a packed February schedule on Feb. 1. The challenge, patterned after the Monopoly board game, has tickets for books read that correspond to the spaces landed on with a roll of the dice. The tickets lead to special prizes as the game is played through the end of May.

There are also several kids’ programs that kick off in February and run through the end of spring. The event schedule, which is printed at the beginning of each month, is also available on the library’s Facebook page.

“We just want people to know that the library is more than a place to read books; it is a place to learn and also have fun,” Meyer said.