U-turn back to Highway 2 and southeast to Alliance or take a right and go through downtown? Finding a snack and Mountain Dew won over, so I headed toward Raben’s Market and pulled into a parking spot on Box Butte Avenue. Glancing up, there was the Hemingford Library. On this occasion, years ago, I had a few minutes to spare and ventured inside for the first time. From a friendly welcome as I opened the door and conversation during my brief stay to the number of books and resources contained in the former post office/bank building the library made an impression. There’d be other occasions to walk among the stacks.
Not long after joining the afternoon shift at the Keep Alliance Beautiful Recycling Center, I helped a lady carry in boxes of used paperbacks. She said they were from the Hemingford Library and asked if we accepted hardcover books. I replied that we did though the covers must be removed and baled with the paperboard. That effort is only a small part of the library’s environmentally responsible attitude as I learned on a recent visit.
“Happy Statehood Day,” Director Colleen Gardner said as I sat down next to the front desk. Sue Hennings, library board president, sorted puzzle pieces at the table to my left while board member Mary Ann Gordon worked on a project across the room. Sue explained how puzzles missing pieces can be cut into shapes for 3-D decorations such as a wreath. Colleen showed me other crafts made from recyclable materials there such as “smash books,” a type of journal that featured used wallpaper, and book safes, where pages are glued and a cavity cut out.
The crafts were evidence of an active place where the community likes to gather. “We’re not a typical library here,” Colleen said. “People can come in and have lunch and watch TV.” Which was what a man happened to be doing that day as I took notes over the noon hour. There is space to work on a puzzle and a discovery shelf featuring a Rubik’s cube, viewfinder and kaleidoscope among nostalgic items (they’d like to add an Etch-a-Sketch). On Fridays the library hosts activities that change weekly. She said youth stop in to play bingo, take part in Lego challenges, learn about saving with “money monsters” and how to find books and other library skills among the topics. The offerings are most popular among sixth- to 12th-grade students, Colleen explained, though younger children come with their parents. “People don’t use us as much as a babysitter,” Sue said.
Among downtown storefronts, the Hemingford library seems cozy yet still offers just under 1,000 books. It reminds me of the atmosphere when we’d come to town as kids and fill our drawstring bags at the Slagle Library. Echoing those memories, Colleen described shows put on with a collection of 30 donated puppets and summer reading programs.
The puppet stage is made from an old refrigerator box. “We did a short class on puppetry,” she said, including why people began using puppets to tell a story, puppet etiquette, how to hold them and look at each other.
A row of conch shells on a display case near the stage was a sign of what the children learned after school let out through “Ocean of Possibilities” in 2022. Sue and Colleen discussed how much trash is in the ocean, talking about groups of young people in California and on the East Coast who scuba dive and see how much garbage they can gather in a friendly competition. “Even our lakes and streams are like that too,” Colleen said. “Those baby calves will eat anything.” Sue said, “When we lived out in the country we’d fill up a big black bag” with trash on walks down the road.
Colleen mentioned a summer reading program on where trash goes and how it’s never gone, noting archaeological digs that still uncover trash from the Romans, for example, compared to the lack of trash at a Native American site. Even “a book is compact and doesn’t break down,” she said.
The library continues to recycle books that are really old or have water damage while accepting donations to consider for the current collection. People can take magazines from stacks of recent issues with leftover copies going to the Mission Store in Alliance. Staff sorts other materials, mainly aluminum cans and plastic, that end up at KAB striving to recycle whatever they can while upcycling for craft classes and projects. The reuse/sharing practice also extends beyond books. Patrons can check out things they may need, yet are not practical to own, from a large coffee urn to a favorite pick of the library’s extensive collection of novelty cake pans.
January began the 100th year for the Hemingford Library, which started in the home of a local woman. Thousands of dollars and countless hours have been spent improving the current location, where the library has been since the 1960s. Continued investment in the facility promotes energy efficiency. A new thermostat complements an updated HVAC system. The front door has been replaced with a handicap-accessible opening upgrade and the back entrance will soon have a new security door. Smaller computers, using less electricity, arrived in December and LED overhead lights were put in during 2022.