Wow, I cannot believe we’ve reached the end of 2022! It has been a busy, productive year at the library. We’ve added staff, continued to add services after the pandemic, and completed several building projects. And we’re looking forward to another great year in 2023.

This year we welcomed several new staff members, including Assistant Library Director Meggin Kitterman, who joined us from the Pima County Library in Tucson, Arizona. Meggin has over 15 years of public library experience, including leading a branch library. She oversees the New Ulm Public Library’s service desk and staff, as well as manages our fiction collections for adults. We’re so glad to have her on our team!

One of the first projects Meggin tackled at New Ulm Public Library was an inventory of our full collection. The library currently owns approximately 72,000 items – that is a lot of scanning! Meggin was able to break it down into manageable sections and coordinate staff efforts in order to complete the full library collection – quite a feat!

All of this scanning and inventorying served a very important purpose: the library will be moving to a new integrated library system (ILS) in March of 2023 and we wanted to make sure our records are as accurate as possible ahead of that move. The ILS is integral to library services; it is the software we use to check items in and out, manage patron accounts, search our catalog for requested items, and more. We’re looking forward to using the new system and all it can offer for us and our patrons.

We also were able to hold our first fully in-person Summer Reading Program, “An Ocean of Possibilities,” since the pandemic started. Youth Services Librarian Kathryn Tatnall kept children and teens busy with a full schedule of activities, including visits from pirates, storytimes, STEAM projects, a concert in the park, and more. Library staff were also pleased to see that participants made plenty of time to fill up their reading records, too!

During 2022 we completed several building projects, including replacing the carpet in the children’s room, updating the landscaping around the children’s building, power and window washing both library buildings, and replacing the skylight and roof on the main building. We invite you to visit our refreshed space soon.

The Friends of the Library group held their first used book sale since the pandemic in November of 2022. Library patrons donated used books to the Friends ahead of the sale. We were so pleased to be able to offer this event again! The Friends is a non-profit, tax-exempt 501(c)(3) community organization that believes in the importance of the library and its services for people of all ages. The Friends contribute additional funding to the library for programs, collections, online and print resources, staff continuing education and more.

As I look back at our year, I’m amazed at the wonderful things we were able to accomplish and I’m looking forward to continuing to offer fantastic library services to the New Ulm community. We hope to see you soon!

New Ulm Public Library is located at 17 N Broadway and is open Monday-Thursday from 9:30 a.m.-8 p.m. and Friday-Saturday from 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m. The library will be closed on Saturday, December 24 through Monday, December 26 for the holiday. For more information on library events and hours, visit www.newulmlibrary.org and choose Library Events.