Get a Library Card and a Fresh Start

By Susan Braunstein, Library Associate

Do you have a library book or two that’s a bit overdue? Or possibly, quite overdue? Here’s your chance to return those library materials and clear your fines.

From September 8-14, the Rapid City Public Library will feature a fines forgiveness week. Bring in your overdue library materials with non-perishable food items, and we’ll remove those fines from your library account. A donation of one pound of food for $5 worth of fines is recommended, and the food will be donated to the Food Bank. So what are you waiting for? Search under the bed, sofa cushions, in dusty corners, and under the car seats to return your library materials, clear the fines, and make a food donation to a good cause.

The fines forgiveness event is part of September’s Library Card Sign-up Month, which encourages everyone to get or renew a library card. To encourage you to sign up, a number of local businesses are participating by offering prizes and discounts.

One lucky card registrant will receive an Apple iBook computer donated by Computer Village. When you get a new library card or renew an old one, your name will be entered in a drawing for the computer. Mayor Alan Hanks will deliver the computer to the winner at the end of the month.

Other businesses encourage you to show your library card when you visit them during September, and be eligible for drawings or discounts. Our business partners include:
• Mt. Rushmore Birds - 10% in-store discount
• James Van Nuys Gallery – Show your library card to be entered in a drawing for a mini print valued at $125
• Mostly Chocolates – a year-round 10% discount with your library card;, and be entered in a drawing for a box of chocolates
• Black Hills Community Theater - Show your library card and be eligible for a drawing for two tickets to “Cinderella,” playing from November 7-23
• FastSigns - 10% discount when you show your library card when placing an order
• Riddle’s Jewelry – Show your library card to be entered in a drawing for a $150 gift card
• Culver’s - Get a free dish of frozen custard when you order a value basket or dinner
• Staple and Spice – Show your library card to be entered in a drawing for a healthy basket
• Philly Ted’s – Receive a 10% discount – year round!
• Bully Blends - 10% discount on any Fair Trade coffee or tea products
• Kids Closet - 10% discount
• Perk It Up - 10% discount on any 12 oz. and 16 oz. drinks
Watch for these businesses to appear in READ posters that will be displayed in the library throughout September. You can also check the incentive listings on the library’s website at www.rapidcitylibrary.org/september.

If you’re a sports fan, you’ll be pleased to know that the new Rapid City Rush hockey team is also helping to sponsor the library’s September events. Hockey team members and their mascot will visit the Family Story Time at 6 p.m. September 16 at RCPL-North; they’ll also read stories at the Book Buddies Story Time at the downtown library on September 23 at 9:30 a.m. And for even more incentive, if you get or renew a library card in September, you will be eligible for a drawing for an autographed hockey stick, to be presented by Mayor Hanks; the lucky winner will also be featured with members of the hockey team in their very own READ poster.

Have you seen our library Bookworm, at the corner of 7th and Quincy? We hope that elementary age students will give him a name in the “Name the Bookworm Contest.” Chainsaw carver Tim Amos created the cute bookworm from a tree stump. Visit the worm in person, and stop by either library to pick up a contest entry form, or download one at www.rapidcitylibrary.org/September. The winner of the contest will receive a $25 gift certificate.

Young students can also enjoy fun crossword and word search activities for students the first week of school, to learn about library resources. If they complete the puzzles and turn them in at the library, they will receive a treat.
When you get your library card, a world of information is available to you. Some of the favorite reasons to visit either RCPL location include: check out a book, DVD, or audiobook; use the Internet or the Wi-Fi connection; enjoy a refreshment from the Perk it Up coffee shop; use the online resources to look up a magazine, learn how to fix your car, or investigate financial investments; attend a variety of programs for all ages; conduct genealogy research; use a meeting or study room; purchase a book from the Friends of the Library book sale; visit the aviary and aquarium; and use our 24 hour Ask a Librarian online chat service.

Author Toni Morrison has one of the most poetic descriptions of libraries: “access to knowledge is the superb, the supreme act of truly great civilizations. Of all the institutions that purport to do this, free libraries stand virtually alone in accomplishing this mission. No committee decides who may enter, no crisis of body or spirit must accompany the entrant. No tuition is charged, no oath sworn, no visa demanded. Of the monuments humans build for themselves, very few say ‘Touch me, use me, my hush is not indifference, my space is not barrier. If I inspire awe, it is because I am in awe of you and the possibilities that dwell in you.’”

Get your library card and share the awe.