News : Statement from the Vinton Public Library

The Vinton Public Library Board would like to thank our community for your patience during this time of transition. As a board, we recognize the importance our public library has to all individuals in our community. Over the past months we have worked hard to reaffirm our values and how we need to move forward as a board to best serve our community. We have taken steps to post, interview, and hire for our director and clerk positions, as well as start the process of searching for our next Children's Librarian.

The interest that has been shown by the public in how our library functions and how we might be able to improve our delivery of services is something we have been able to witness firsthand and we thank you for your civic engagement. As we move forward, we hope this interest and support continues and as a board we hope to take a more active role in communicating with our community about the services the library has to offer and what the public can expect when they walk through the doors of our Carnegie Library. We have also heard from many individuals in our community who have expressed interest in volunteering at the library and will be working to establish a "Friends of the Library" chapter to help facilitate this.

As a board, we serve as a bridge between the library staff and our community and how we support our staff as well as receive feedback from the citizens of Vinton and Benton County are critical to our role. Raising questions about processes, concerns, and observations are welcome but any harassment, discrimination or disrespect towards our staff, patrons and/or policies will not be tolerated. In addition, we will continue to follow the American Library Association's fundamental values and provide equity, diversity, and inclusion to library materials. Education and information on expectations of the library and staff is important for our community to know and be aware of and it is our boards responsibility to lead those discussions and demonstrate our values through action. Thank you again for your support and we are looking forward to resuming full hours soon.

-Vinton Public Library Board