WebJunction

The library and its community
The community of Winnebago is located on the Winnebago reservation in Nebraska. The nearest town of any size is Sioux City, Iowa (pop. 90,000), 25 miles to the north. There are approximately 750 persons living in the village, and another 1200 living in the surrounding rural area. The patron base includes all students of the Little Priest Tribal College, all employees of the tribe, the village of Winnebago, and rural areas served by the Winnebago Post Office. There are over 1,300 patrons currently registered. The number of enrolled members of the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska is approximately 4,500. 70-80% of the patrons that come to the library are members of the community with no connection to the college, and most of those are children under 18.
The library collections of 18,300 items are now housed in a beautiful, new three-level 10,000 sq. ft. log building complete with custom-built wood shelving. It has a group study/meeting room, a kitchen, a 30-seat classroom, a large open area on the lower level, two individual study rooms, a leisure reading room, archives, a KidZone, Teen Zone, and the Community Technology Center. The library has a Flickr account with photos of the construction in progress.

Public access to computers and technology classes
There are now 20 public access computers, including an 11-station Community Technology Center (CTC), where classes are offered every month in basic computer skills and applications such as keyboarding, e-mail, Internet, Word for Windows, Excel, and Digital Imaging. We provide software for fledgling entrepreneurs such as Publisher, TurboTax, PowerPoint and PhotoShop. Every Thursday night is Gamer's Night in the CTC -the youngsters take over the otherwise adults-only lab to play Runescape, the online role-playing game. The computers on the main floor are always busy and there is a waiting list.

Using resources on WebJunction
Winnebago staff found the “most wonderful set of lesson plans” for computer classes that were developed in Hibbing, MN. They are now using them in the computer classes.

Community partnerships
The Winnebago Public Library is in the process of forming partnerships with both of the local schools to help improve chances of reading and school success for Winnebago children. They partner with Public Health and present two programs per year to young mothers on the importance of reading and storytelling to children. Public Health has also used the library building for several of their programs, like infant CPR, Baby Sign Language, and others. They reach out to the community through the library web site and with frequent articles in the newspaper.

The biggest challenge right now
The library is desperately short of staff, having lost their children's librarian. It looks like it will get worse before it gets better. One library assistant does not work in the summer and the grant funding for the library technician will run out before the end of summer. They will be down to 2 full-timers by August. There is hope that a grant initiative will be funded and they will regain a children's librarian position. The library assistant will return in the fall.

The greatest success of which the library is most proud
Building a new building was a monumental effort. It is beautiful, well organized, and even serves as a tourist attraction. Someone who is in the know about these things commented that it is the best tribal college library in America. There is no doubt that it has the best view in Thurston County.

Patron feedback and appreciation
Winnebago Public Library staff hear it all the time: Patrons or visitors come into the building for the first time, and stop at the doorway. First they say softly, Wow! Then they say WOW! And then they say WOW!!!!!! Their eyes pop and their jaws drop as they see everything the library has to offer. Charles Bernholz, government documents librarian at the University of Nebraska Love Library, remarked that the library's Indian Law collection has items that he doesn't have. The erstwhile children's librarian used to be greeted by small children downtown with "Hey Library Lady! Would you read me a story?"

Visit the Little Priest Tribal College Library/Winnebago Public Library website:
http://www.lptc.bia.edu/Library%20Webpage/Main%20Page.htm/
or contact Gretchen Healy at ghealy(at) lptc.bia.edu.