November 30 – MAYVILLE, ND – It’s been a little more than three months since Lexi Whitehorn became full-time director of the Mayville Public Library. She has already implemented programs and improvements in a volunteer-run entity following the death of the previous director.
Whitehorn said she still has volunteers who sign up every month to help with activities and operations to keep the state’s first public library running.
“We have about 20 to 25 pretty active volunteers,” she said. “What happens is that at the beginning of the month I send out a sign-up for different activities we have, or different things I need help with, and then they sign up. That’s how we’ve been doing it since August.”
Whitehorn became the new director on August 21. One of the volunteers, Cheryl Angen, had started in March and helped keep the business running after the death of Margaret Rice, the previous director, earlier this year. Angen said part of the volunteer work includes helping at the front desk, placing books in the library’s system, reading to children who come from the local daycare and school, and filling in wherever help is needed .
Angen said Whitehorn has added many activities and new books to the library. She has organized craft evenings for adults and children and introduced graphic novels. She organized free childcare from 2pm to 4pm on the first Wednesday of the month when school lets out early, escape rooms for kids, and more.
“The changes have been phenomenal,” she said. “Lexi has done so much.”
Angen became a volunteer after she retired from the Mayville State University bookstore last December, she said. She had worked at the store for 28 years and about a month or two later she said she was bored. With an interest in books and a degree in primary and early childhood education, she decided to get involved.
“This was the perfect niche,” she said. “We have preschoolers coming in and toddlers coming in and elementary kids coming in. It was just a really fun way for me to reconnect with young kids. … (We) didn’t have nearly the activities that Lexi has now. “
Whitehorn moved to Mayville from Bismarck and heard the position was open. She previously worked for the North Dakota State Library and has a master’s degree in educational administration and a bachelor’s degree in English education. She always loved books and thought going back into teaching would be a good job.
There is more in store for the library, Whitehorn said, including more digitization of the card catalog and updating technology and online resources; a visit from North Dakota writer Jill Kandell, author of “The Clean Daughter: A Cross-Continental Memoir” on Dec. 5; setting up a documentary evening through Canopy, a new resource for the library, where people can watch the documentary and talk about it afterwards; a financial literacy course; a presentation on pocket prairies; and two interns from Mayville State University.
There are also upcoming December festivities, after which Whitehorn said she will take a break in January to plan the summer reading program. The library’s 125th anniversary is also approaching, and Whitehorn said she would like to focus more on the library’s history.
Open Monday through Friday, she said people are welcome to come in.
“We like it when people come by, even if it’s just to look at the building,” she said.
Angen added, “I just hope that people realize what a treasure this building is and what a gift it is to our community. And I will do everything I can to keep it going with Lexi.”
