Change is afoot at the Carnegie Library in Wessington Springs with the announcement at Monday’s city council meeting of a new library assistant, library board president and extended hours through lunchtime on Fridays.
Longtime educator Connie McLaughlin has accepted the position of library assistant, a position that became vacant after former library assistant Kay Thompson retired at the end of last year. Last year, McLaughlin retired from Wessington Springs Elementary School after more than three decades of teaching.
“I was looking for something interesting to do with flexible hours,” McLaughlin said of accepting the position. “It’s been good so far.”
With the recent resignation of Val Channel from the library board, who has served many years as a board member, Joel Boschee stepped into the role of board president.
Librarian Rhonda Behrens also presented a new board member to the council, Rebecca Heumiller, which the city moved to instate on the board at the meeting.
Finally, due to customer demand, library hours were changed from 10 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. on Fridays to accommodate patrons wanting to visit the library over the noon hour.
Behrens also announced that information about the summer reading program, “Oceans of Possibilities” will be forthcoming later this spring.