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River Bend library overdue for an update

Community asked to adopt a shelf for literacy

By Clay Schuldt 5 min read

NEW ULM - For a decade the students at River Bend Education District have been without a dedicated library space.

Now a trio of River Bend staff members are putting out the call to local businesses and local community members to build its library back up.

River Bend Work Program Coordinator Elise Cronin, Special Education teacher Ann Hoffmann and English Language Arts teacher Kristi Rainwater started a fundraising goal last May with the goal of raising $10,000 to improve the River Bend library.

Cronin said unlike other schools, River Bend does not receive dedicated state or federal funding for its library and does not have designated staff. For this reason, the school's library collection and infrastructure is covered through donations.

Currently, River Bend's library is located on a few small shelves lining one wall of its cafeteria.

Rainwater said 10 years ago, the school had a dedicated space for a library. It was a small commons area space with a few book shelves. There was a dedicated person on staff who managed the space. However, due to space and funding issues the commons area changed into another classroom and the library position was dissolved.

The library books and shelving were then relocated to the cafeteria. The book collection and infrastructure have not been updated in about 10 years and are in disrepair.

Cronin said she realized the River Bend library was in need of an upgrade two years ago.

"I saw the books stacking up on top of the shelf and overflowing in the return bin," she said.

Without a dedicated person to manage the library, putting away and organizing books fell to whichever teacher was willing to help.

Rainwater managed the library as best as she could, but acknowledged it was too much for a single person to handle.

This year, River Bend instituted a new system. Using a free library checkout application, the entire staff at River Bend was trained into checking in/out books. Each teacher is responsible for checking out their own students' books.

While this system has help organizing the River Bend Library, the staff now wants to improve the infrastructure and collection.

"We're starting with the shelves," Cronin said.

The starting funds will pay for new and stronger shelves that can hold a larger collection of books.

Cronin said since starting the fundraiser, the school has received multiple book donation offers. Some of these donations have come from private libraries.

"I am not as worried about getting books," Cronin said. "Plenty of have offered, but we need a place to locate the books once we go them."

In addition, the library needs shelving that can accommodate every type of book for readers K-12th grade. Most of the books in the library are for high school level readers. Currently, the shelving design does not have adequate space for children's book that tend to be larger in size.

Cronin said she estimated they will need $10,000 to pay for the new book shelving. Since fundraising began in May, River Bend has raised $2,000.

As part of the fundraising, the school is reaching out to area business sponsors. Business may make a one-time shelf sponsorship to support the River Bend library. Sponsoring businesses will have their company name featured on the bookshelf they helped fund. The cost to fully sponsor one full bookcase is $1,780.

In June, Alliance Bank became the first business to fully sponsor a bookcase for the library.

Cronin said research consistently shows that a strong school library can make a measurable difference for students.

A national survey by Scholastic and the Gates Foundation found that 83% of students got books from their school library, compared to 38% from public libraries and 20% from retailers.

Rainwater said the overall goal of updating and improving the River Bend library is to get students to read. A dedicated library space would help with that mission.

"Giving students access to choose the books they read goes a long way," Rainwater said. "If they are reading, it's the best way to make sure they practice reading."

Cronin, Rainwater and Hoffmann confirmed that though the River Bend library is in need of update, the students do utilize it.

Asked which books were the most popular with student, Rainwater said that changes nearly every year. River Bend students have a tendency to read a wide variety of books.

Cronin said when taking students to the public library, graphic novels tended to be popular selections.

Cronin said the update to shelving and expansion of the book collection is the first step. Staff does have some additional longterm goals for the library.

Currently, there is no dedicated seating available in the library space. There is also a desire to improve the lighting and possibly add a new mural to wall to further separate the library from the cafeteria.

Those interested in sponsoring a shelf or making a donation can contact Paula Williamson at pwilliamson@riverbend.k12.mn.us or by phone at 359-8784, or contribute directly through the district’s GoFundMe page at gofund.me/5e5bcc98a.

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