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During the Jackson County Public Library board of trustees meeting Monday at the Seymour Library, there were some updates about their Discovery Bus programs.
The library offers outreach services where they are able to travel to bring literature to people of all ages, from children to senior citizens. For their summer learning program, the number of participants has surpassed the numbers in 2023 with two weeks still remaining of the program for people to join.
This year, 1,006 patrons have signed up compared to last summer’s total number of 864.
These services are still feeling the effects of COVID-19, in particular with the eight nursing homes in the community they reach out to.
“Our schools and our daycares were kinda back to normal,” Outreach Services Assistant Julie Rumph said. “When we go into our nursing homes, they are still on the fence.”
Although most of the nursing homes welcome Rumph and her team inside to sit with the seniors and put on their programs, there are still the few that require masks or will only let the staff drop off items without properly visiting.
“They’re like our grandparents,” said Rumph.
At the nursing homes, the Discovery Bus program will stock a library shelf with withdrawn books that get swapped out for different books biweekly. They also have a home delivery system, but are down to only five seniors in the community since COVID. Rumph said she contacts churches to see if any seniors she is unaware of would like their services.
Other services provided by the library are four resources, two of them for smaller children and the other two for adults with social skill challenges.
The Discovery Bus will be receiving an upgrade with the purchase of a new vehicle. One of the features of this bus will be an awning, allowing a place to host a storytime session then and there.
“We are so excited — the kids are so excited,” said Rumph.
The board approved joining the State Consortium for Public Library Internet Access from July 1, 2025, to June 30, 2026. Board members received a tentative timeline for strategic planning that will run through December.
The board also received information about the passing of former Library Director Connie Jo Ozinga this past Sunday. Since leaving Seymour in 1997, Ozinga has served as director at the Rochester Public Library in Minnesota, the Elkhart Public Library in Indiana and the Commerce Township Community Library in Minnesota.
The board’s next meeting is 4:30 p.m. Aug. 19 at the Crothersville Library, 120 E. Main St. Board meetings are open to the public and press.