FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT PERSON: Tom Kern
February 16,
2005
WAUCONDA AREA LIBRARY NAMED
LIBRARY OF THE YEAR
The
Wauconda Area Library has been named Library of the Year by the North Suburban
Library System (NSLS), a consortium of 650 academic, public, school, and
special libraries in north suburban Cook, Kane, Lake and
The NSLS announcement states, "The
Library of the Year Award is presented to one library in NSLS in recognition of
its contributions to the development of the NSLS library community. The Wauconda Area Public Library District has
won this award because, while it has long been a good example in the community,
this year the library has taken its unique mix of community focus, creativity,
and collaboration to the next level of service excellence. The Wauconda Area
Public Library District is 'the little library that DOES!' The staff and administration are active
contributors to system-wide and statewide projects."
“This is a great honor for the library,
as well as the community we serve,” said Library Director Tom Kern. He is pleased that the library has received
this recognition for its many accomplishments.
He thanks and congratulates the entire staff "for all their great
work, both as individuals and as a team.
I also appreciate the vital role that the library trustees have played
in our success. Finally, I recognize the
importance of the support the library has received from the community and the
NSLS library network.” The library has
built strong relationships with community organizations, including the Friends of the Library, the Villages of Island Lake, Lakemoor,
Volo, Wauconda, and Port Barrington, the Wauconda Rotary, the Wauconda and
Island Lake Women’s Clubs, the United Partnership for a Better Community, the local
business community, and
Kern
attributes the winning of this award to a number of factors, especially the
high visibility of the library within the community and the North Suburban
Library System. Due to increased
resources and staffing, the library is able to play a much greater role in
community activities and NSLS networking groups. Another important factor is the enthusiastic
promotion of activities and successes through innovative efforts, including its Library eNews, the library website (www.wauclib.org), the library’s attractive printed newsletter FOCUS,
and the NSLS NorthStarNet-based community calendar. The library’s “Smartest Card” promotional
campaign in conjunction with its “library card sign-up month” collaboration
with local businesses has served as a model for other libraries and
communities. The library’s wide range of
services, including wireless high-speed internet access and a new wireless
computer training lab were also contributing factors. The library’s
web-based annual reports list the library’s numerous other accomplishments
in detail.
Kern
said that the library is quick to share credit for all these accomplishments
with the entire community. “This library
has come a long way due to community support over the past ten years. Voter approval of two library referenda, the
first of which resulted in an award-winning new building, and the second which
provided the funds to expand staffing and operations, were crucial to our
current success. We take pride in
knowing that we provide a state-of-the-art library with exemplary friendly personal
service. Given our relatively small budget of $2.1 million, we provide the same
technology and services as much larger libraries at a fraction of the cost to
our taxpayers.”
Kern
regards this award not only as recognition of the library's many successes, but
as a challenge for the continued excellence, creativity and effort required to
reach the library's future goals and objectives. “Winning this award has raised the bar. Our patrons can and do expect the very best –
we wouldn’t have it any other way!”
For further information, please visit
the library’s website at
www.wauclib.org
or call
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