Summer is going by quickly, and the library has had some great events as part of our annual children’s Summer Reading Program, along with some exciting events for adults. We’re very grateful for the opportunity we have to connect with individuals and organizations in our area to bring services and activities to our community. As a community gathering place, the library is uniquely placed to be able to bring together resources and opportunities provided by a wide variety of partners.

Some of the most important partnerships we have are with other libraries! The Traverse des Sioux Library System leverages the resources of libraries in nine counties to better serve our communities. This pooling of resources allows us to easily borrow and lend materials between libraries and makes possible our great e-book collection through the Libby app. This regional library system also facilitates the disbursement of grant funds through the Minnesota Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund, which helps us bring great programs to our area that otherwise would not be possible. We often partner with the other libraries here in Brown County to collaboratively bring programs to multiple communities in our county too.

New Ulm has a rich variety of organizations that benefit our community in a multitude of ways. We’re grateful to partner with The United Way to offer their yearly free tax preparation service each spring. We’re very thankful to partner with such great organizations as The Grand Center for Arts & Culture, The Brown County Historical Society, State Street Theater, Communities and Seniors Together, New Ulm Community Access Television, One New Ulm, a number of senior living residences, and many others.

The library also partners with schools too! We’re always happy to see students at the library, and we enjoy when classes come to take tours of the library as well. School partnerships go beyond just the space and resources available within the library though. We partner with Community Education to collaboratively bring presentations and programs to the community. We provide library cards to New Ulm Middle School students, and we offer resources to teachers at several schools to help them complement their curriculum. We also offer test proctoring, and provide access to our free digital resources, including research databases.

We’re grateful to partner with a number of government departments such as New Ulm Park and Recreation for a variety of programs, Brown County Emergency Management and other emergency services and preparedness organizations for our annual Emergency Preparedness Fair, and the Brown County Assessor and Public Health for important informational presentations. We’re also thankful to partner with a number of businesses and economic organizations in the community.

You might not have realized it, but the library is deeply connected to many of the places and services you interact with here in New Ulm. We are proud of our partnerships, and we are eager to connect with more parts of our great community. If your organization, class, business, school, club, or group is interested in partnering with the library for a project, program, grant, or long-term collaboration, we would love to hear from you! Just reach out and see how we can help one another to enrich New Ulm together.

The library is located at 17 N. Broadway and is open to the public Monday-Thursday 9:30 a.m.-8 p.m. and Friday-Saturday 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m.