TORRINGTON – The Goshen County Library Board met at the activity center at 12:15 p.m. Tuesday for the discussion of topics regarding continued county support and engagement of the library facility for the duration of the summer.

Present at the meeting were library director Cristine Braddy, board president Ellen Creagar, vice president Dee Ludwig, treasurer Michel Traher, secretary Larissa Felipe, and board member Kathy Hawes.

The meeting was notably a positive lunch hour in regard to both devotion and enthusiasm for each serving member; as well as the everlasting place of sanctuary and peace the library continues to provide for all county residents.

According to director Braddy, the summer is immediately off to a busy start for the facility as shown by very heavy involvement already with the annual Summer Reading program.

As the library director eloquently put it, one particular arts and crafts item seems to always act as a fantastic motivational tool for young children looking to discover the wonderful world of books.

“This summer we have 323 kids registered for summer reading,” Braddy explained. “We have 47,000 minutes already logged in, and the kids get a bead for every hour they read.” 

“I have kids all around town showing me their beads,” Braddy laughed. “I will say people have continued to be appreciative and are always thankful. We have never had quite as many compliments as we had last week. We had one mother in particular telling us how we do such a great job, and didn’t know how we could get this any better.”

On that particular note, Braddy was reminiscent before the board regarding the immense dedication given by her own staff, as well as the beneficial and positive partnerships created by other Goshen County officials and departments.

When it comes to the public health and well-being of county residents, the Goshen County Library is just as engaged with the topic as much as anyone else in the area.

“Our staff has been just awesome,” Braddy continued. “June is just crazy for us this year. We have WyoGives Day, and Summer Reading and we have staff who have been going to the senior center each week. And we have been teaching people how to use our Telehealth Booth. I am just very, very pleased with having our staff in here. They get a ton of public training done, and there’s just a lot of networking for them. Goshen Public Health has already put some valuable time into us based on some of the things we see and need. Around the state, we have to be working together. If someone does something here it can very much be impactful to someone else.”

A noteworthy topic of discussion for the library board pertained to the upcoming event of WyoGives Day, which will be celebrated on July 10.

Coincidentally and appropriately, this particular day happens to be the state of Wyoming’s birthday.

“This July 10 we will be doing a huge push, and it’s our biggest fundraiser of the year,” Creagar stated. “As far as WyoGives, if we get online by the tenth your donation will be very incentivized.”

Additionally, Creagar would discuss the ongoing priority this summer in helping make county senior citizens much more comfortable when visiting the library facility.

“Basically, we want to be tackling, making, and updating more accessibility for seniors and other folks as far as things in the library,” Creagar said. “We want to continue updating sitting areas, tables with power to them, new key padlocks on the doors and café-style seating in the library. We just always need to be revamped as we did after the pandemic. We put things in there just to get by, and now of course we realize we need some different things.”

Shortly before the meeting’s adjournment, president Creagar made a significant point in discussing the incredible diversity among library staff. According to Creagar, this dynamic in and of itself is what keeps progression and understanding headed in the right direction.

“Everyone has just all been super supportive so far this summer, particularly the county commission” president Creagar added. “What makes us so unique is we have employees from every generation. We have staff who are Generation Z, Millennials, Generation X, Baby Boomers, and Traditionalists. We have every single one of those represented in our library. It’s a wonderful thing for them to relate to folks in those age groups as well as seeing how other folks are. Our generations can be informative with our decisions. I think it’s a beautiful thing and also a challenge. You have to learn how to relate to people who you are not usually with. They may not be in your group or understand how you grew up, but that’s what just makes this very cool. It’s a very cool challenge, and big-time kudos to Cristine for managing this. You all have been so instrumental in helping us grow and expand.”

The Goshen County Library Board would end their meeting at precisely 12:53 p.m. and will reconvene Tuesday, July 23 at 12 p.m.