Zach Stier, Ronda Kelley and Tammy Troup, Librarians at the Ericson Public Library, July 24, 2026

We're talking about the Ericsson Public Library and the, oh, it sounds almost sad to say, the end of the summer reading program. I can't believe that already. Is that right? Yeah, no, I know. Mr. Z, Zach Steers here. Hi, good morning. We have Tammy Troop in the studio and on the phone with us today. We got Rhonda Kelly. Good morning, Rhonda. Good morning. Here we are, all set to go. Yes, it just seems like we just got started. No, it does. Yeah, it's a really active summer, so. Very busy and a lot of things going on. And again, just regular. I mean, without the over and above of having the summer reading program going. Numbers, obviously you don't know until you get a chance to take a look at everything. But how do you feel it went? I think for the children's, I was talking to Rhonda about this yesterday. I always just enjoy hearing, you know, feedback and testimonials and kids and families just really excited to participate. And so I'm pretty satisfied for what I know in terms of numbers right now. But we'll obviously look more into that. Sure. So, yeah. So, and your first one, Tammy. Here in Boone, and it was my first Boone summer reading program. So, I know that from, I've heard from like other libraries, Matter and Ogden, they both felt they had pretty good participation. So, again, it's, you know, yeah, we do it in the summertime. Keeps everybody busy, everybody involved. And everything, what, you know, at the library, there's no cost to. And we've had some amazing presenters and, you know, guest speakers and all of that. So, it's been great. So, I have to throw in the one other thing that happened in July, notified by the State Library Board about what, certification? Yeah, I believe, I believe so. I don't know which specific tier that we're at, but I know that we've met those requirements and continue to do so. It's pretty high. Yeah, I think it's one of the highest, but yeah. So, that's great. Is that the highest fifth? I don't know. Fifth or sixth. Anyway. That would be a Jamie thing, but yeah. Yeah, she did, but yeah, it came out. So, we got that. That's good. That takes work to do. People need, it takes work to get to that level. You have to perform in a number of different areas to do that. So, anyhow, successful with that. Yeah, very much so. So. Well, now we go to a transition time again, don't we? Yeah. So, you know, speaking with, you know, children's programming, it's always been that August is that transition month. So, like our traditional programming, like story times and family fun and all of that, we'll just take a brief pause so that we can, you know, assess what we, you know, want to continue to do, maybe look at some new stuff for the fall. But there are a few things that I've sprinkled in. So, our partner at Youth and Children's Services starting next week will be doing a substance abuse and prevention program, and it's called Too Good for Drugs, ages seven through 10, really looking at how to help them build confidence and communication and decision-making, healthy choices and risky behaviors. So, well, it's a four-part series. So, August will be the third, 10th, and 17th, and those will be on Mondays at 2 p.m. So, you know, with, you know, we want to ensure that we're offering all sorts of programs, and this is a very relevant program. And so, they approached me in figuring out ways that they could have it. And I, you know, so they, we can partner with that. Sure. And then, we have our friends at Domino's.

Domino's has just been really great. And I know Rhonda will talk about Erichon. They came out to Erichon. They provided pizza and, you know, some dessert at no cost. But they also have a reading challenge program that they're calling it. But it's different than one that I, you know, have put together. It focuses on visits to the library, which is great, you know, foot traffic and getting families in. And so, five visits. So, there's a punch card. We'll begin on August 3rd through September 30th, but we'll put out registration for that. Okay. Now, I had to quadruple checking in with them because what's amazing is, after those five visits with their punch card, they get a free medium two-topping pizza. Woo! So, I, the reason why I double-checked because in doing programs for so long, I was like one per family or one per child. And they said one per child. So, that's awesome. That's really amazing for that. So, it's open pre-K through 12th grade. So, that's just visits to the library. Five visits. Of course, they figure, I'm guessing their position is, they figure they get them into the library. They're going to find something of interest. Exactly. You know, programs and, of course, books and all sorts of great things to do at the library. And, you know, we have an amazing, we have amazing families, but this is also a great opportunity that I look at to introduce the library to some that may not have come before. So, we have other groups that do things like read so many books, be eligible for a bicycle, you know, things. Yeah. I mean, you know, there's just a lot of different things. There's a lot more businesses that, you know, I grew up on, like, the Bookit program with Pizza Hut. And, you know, we have our friends at Scooters. We'll have a reading program with them. So, it's really cool to see, you know, businesses really community-minded, but also focusing on, like, books and investing in, like, coming to the library. So, we're really excited. That's interesting. And, it's Pizza. So, it's amazing on that. Okay. So, we got that going. We do. And then, we have our wonderful Story Walk at McCose Park, the Douglas R. Steer Story Walk. And, we put out our book, The Bad Seed by Jory John. It's a popular series that will be out there through the month of August. And then, we'll change it out. Okay. We do have a sponsorship program with that. There's different tiers. So, you know, folks are interested in learning more about that. They can email me or Jamie on that, too. Any business would like to have it. You've had a few. Oh, yeah, we have. And, it's really cool because depending on your tier, I mean, you know, obviously, you get to choose the book. You know, money can go towards, like, crafts and stuff like that. So, but I'm looking at ways to expand. We love our picture books, but, you know, it's a Story Walk. There's other things that libraries have done with that, you know. So, I'm just kind of exploring some of those options as well. So, for myself, that covers August. And, like I said, just busy trying to think about fall and look forward to that. Well, then, you start building up to get ready to go back into doing some things with schools. Yeah, I actually started my meetings with administrators early this year because they're just, you know, busy. So, I don't start visits probably until mid-September, giving them some time to transition, but, you know, really wanting to concentrate and always focus on those visits, on what's going on in the school, and kind of elevating some of those topics and stuff. So, I look forward to it. Reading is in the forefront. It's math and reading. Math and reading and comprehension and all of that. Yeah, well, and what's really cool is, you know, in doing those visits so long, kids begin to recognize you. You know, when they see you in the community or they're coming to the library, it's building that bridge too, and I'm happy about that. So, yeah. And come and see me at the library. Please come and see me. Always like, they always, kids have the most interesting questions, and I like to share so many stories, and it's just been really great to continue that. So, very much. All right. Thank you. I think, yes. We got Rhonda. Yes. Whoa. There you are. I'm here. Yep. What's going on for you now that we are moving away into our, what, teens and tweens side here? Yeah, absolutely. Well, like Zach said, we take a little bit of a pause on some of that programming in August, as we're planning for our fall, and I'm definitely changing up stuff for the fall for the tweens and teens, and I have some really fun new programming coming in. So, I'm really excited about that. But, yes, circling back to ARACON, we were so happy with, first of all, all the vendors that came to make it an amazing experience for all our patrons, and like Zach said, Domino's was amazing. We thought they were going to start handing out pizza while supplies left at 11 a.m., but they came in right at 9 a.m. when we started the program, and they started giving out pizza, and they give out pizza all day. They just kept going back to the store to get more pizza. So, it was amazing. It was just, you know, and we just wholeheartedly kept saying thank you, and they said we love being part of a community, and we love what you guys are doing here. So, like huge shout out to them for really being supportive of our library. And next year will be the official, unofficial, 10th anniversary of ARACON, so we're really hoping to expand it even more next year. So, stay tuned for those details. But we had a great turnout, just so happy with everything. I was going to say, someone went by and said, what's going on down to the library? And I said, it's ARACON. It gets really busy here that day. Pretty much it takes over the whole main floor of the library, and next year we hope to have stuff on all three floors. That's the goal, so it'll be extra busy next year. Alrighty. Just really happy, really happy that it went so well in that. It's just such a great place for people just to come and be in community together, and just geek out together. Because to me, that's what the library is all about. All right, good. So, yeah, but moving on to August. We still do have, I'm still running some of our regular programs. So, specifically for the tweens and teens, we are going to have Lego Club. That's Thursday, August 6th at 4 p.m. We have a huge Lego cart, and just come on out and just build whatever whatever you moved to do. We always pull out Lego books, so if you need some guidance and want some ideas, sometimes we'll throw out challenges, but really it's just amazing to see the creativity that comes out of that program. Yeah, come on out and join us in the children's department for that. And then we had Pokemon Club yesterday, and things like that kind of event flow sometimes. Sure. And I was, you know, just, you know, planning for fall. I was like, I don't, you know, I don't know if that's something we'll carry on into the fall. Like maybe, you know, we'll take a little end. We had so many kids come out yesterday, and really all age ranges, you know, middle school students and some of them, you know, brought their younger siblings because they're getting into Pokemon. We had some opera elementary and, you know, high school students come. They had a great time, and I heard from a lot of the parents that Pokemon had just had this real big resurgence, like really just recently within this last year. So we're having Pokemon Club again in August, Thursday, August 27th at 4 p.m. And we just changed it up each time. This time they really concentrated on checking out each other's cards. We had an anime or animation, like Pokemon animation on. They had some fun Pokemon snacks. Next time I were going to pull out some activities just to kind of keep it fresh for them. But yeah, any Pokemon fans come on out and join us for that because that's going to be fun. And then, like I said, carrying on, you know, Rory Readers, our online book, exclusively online book discussion that we have each month will be happening next month, August 12th, which is a Wednesday evening, 7 p.m. You can get the Zoom link by registering on our website calendar. Our Saturday book club that is currently meeting at the Daily Boss, the new coffee shop here in Boone, is going really, really well. So we meet next on Saturday, August 22nd at 11 a.m. And that book that we'll be doing for that month is Mad Honey by Jodi Pakot. And we do have some extra copies still here, so come see someone at the children's desk. We have them down here. We can check those out for you. And then, of course, Walking Club. That is open to all ages. And that is on Tuesday, August 11th and Tuesday, August 25th at 9 a.m. We meet on the front library steps and then embark on our group walk together. So those are the regular ones that we are continuing. Mindful Monday, of course, we're still having an August as well. This one's really special. I'm really, I'm always excited about them. But the end of August, August 25th through the 31st is Be Kind to Humankind Week. And with that inspiration to have some meaningful conversations and bring people together, we are focusing on Mr. Rogers, who is such a part of my childhood. And honestly, my adulthood as well. So, you know, he just left such a legacy of, honestly, radical empathy. So I'm really looking forward to just exploring his wisdom. You know, what we can still take into being adults and just the lessons he taught us about being kind, really, very simply. So that's what we'll be exploring for Mindful Monday during August. And then we're closing out Mindful Monday, typically at 7 p.m. each Monday in person or on Zoom. But the very last one, which will be Monday, August 31st, is a special one. So that will be starting a little earlier at 6 p.m. And that will be exclusively just in person. Unfortunately, it won't be offered online because we will be watching a movie starring Tom Hanks that explores Mr. Rogers' life and legacy. So if you can come out to that, I highly recommend. It'll just be a great time and community together. And also that week, the Be Kind to Human Kind Week, we are going to have people can come in and share acts of kindness that they've experienced, witnessed or carried out as well as at the Mr. Rogers event. And then for that week, we will have ideas out about how they can share an act of kindness. So sort of a pay it forward challenge. So yeah, I'm really looking forward to that. This makes me happy.

And I will remind everybody that you are important and special just the way you are. And you don't have to work hard again if you want to. Exactly. And lastly, August is Romance Book Month. And our friends at the strength shop had a really fun event that kind of sparked this idea for me. There is a book series by actually a Canadian author, L. Kennedy, that recently became a series that I believe is streaming on Prime. It's called Off Campus, which is the name of the book series. And that one was based on the first book of that series. We have most of the series here at the library. But we are hosting an Off Campus Girls Night. And that's Wednesday, August 26 at 6.30. So you can come on out. We'll be playing some of the really fun music from the series. A lot of fun 80s classic rock and just some fun music. The strength shop is going to be here. They're going to have some really fun fitness samples that you can try and just have information about what they offer in terms of classes and gym options. And then friends of the library will be here with some romance books for sale. They're also going to have some blind date with a book based on romance books you can buy. We'll have some also if you bring your library card that you can check out from the library. And then finally, this is coming up after the Domino's Reading Challenge. But in the fall to coincide with the opening season for the Iowa Wild, which is the Iowa Hockey Team, they have a kids program called Wild About Reading. So we will have information available that night for the moms that come out if they would like information about that reading program for their kids. They can give us their information, contact information. And then once that reading program launches, we can get their kids signed up. So just kind of a lot to encompass that fun night. But yeah, come on out. And there'll also be some fun refreshments to coincide with the TV series. And I believe scooters will be coming out with some fun samples too. Just a fun girls night out. Got it all. Got it all coming. Tammy, what about you? What's been happening over there for the adults? So we're still solidly into July. I mean, there's a week of July left. You've got a few things happening. We have a few things happening next week. Well, even tomorrow. So tomorrow we're having our Christmas in July craft swap. So come on out and pick up some craft materials to get going on Christmas presents or pick up some holiday decor. A lot of this stuff is still wrapped. I mean, people just, the holidays can get crazy despite too much. And then you just drop it off the library and somebody else can carry on with that. Next week we have one of our journaling play series with Jason Walsmith of the Nadas. He's going to be out in the library's garden talking about storytelling or stories in place. So he spent over three decades on the road traveling with the Nadas. And he has some ideas about finding your place wherever you are. And I think that it's a really, really great idea. And continuing with that series in August, we've got biologist Jim Colbert meeting us out at J. Carlson Wildlife Area. And he's going to tromp around with us and talk about the importance of valuing nature in place. We have Andy Bartlett, the Legislative State Park Manager, talking about, you know, just recreation across, you know, the century that Ledges has been there and how that's changed and how that mission has adapted. Historian Sarah Aege will join us Monday, August 24th for Voices in Place. And she's a historian of the suffragette movement. And so she's going to talk about the values that, you know, women of the Midwest had that shaped their role in the suffragette movement. And then finally, at the end of August, Monday, August 31st, we have a barn historian talking to us about barns in Boone County and the efforts that are underway to preserve these, you know, critical pieces of our agrarian past. So there's really, really great, you know, folks speaking for that series. And again, next week, July 31st, as part of our recognizing 125 years in the community, you know, we're kind of solidly in that late 60s, early 70s era. And in the band, the other brothers from Des Moines, they're going to be performing at Herman Park Forest. So this is going to be free to the public. And in their blues band, they were the 2026 International Blues Festival semi-finalists. And if you like blues, if you like that kind of like gritty rock, you're going to love the other brothers. I mean, it's just a really, really cool sound. And they'll be out at Herman Park then. On the 31st. On the 31st, yeah, being in at seven. And let's see, what else do we have? Monday, August 17th, the third Monday of the night, we have a tech night. And at that class, we're going to be doing an introduction to smartphones. So, you know, if you've had one for 10 years, or if you just got one, it's always good to brush up and see what features are expanding. And I just recently changed a feature on my smartphone. So it's just, it's just nice to stay abreast on like, what's changing, what you can do. The biggest thing is every time they give me an upgrade, it's something's different. Or apps are changing, things like that. Yes, yes. Now what? Now what? And it's really, I mean, just bottom line, helpful to know what's turned on by default and what you can turn around and turn off, you know, for whatever reason.

And then we have a 1976, the 70s era craft. So we're going to be making crocheted granny squares. So that'll be fun. And, you know, folks can, you can decorate a back pocket of your jeans or make an Afghan. We got it. We got it. But other than that, you know, we have our library partners, Tucker Mitchell with understanding, you know, presenting on understanding Medicare with a bridge home, community and family resources. We still just have folks just coming out and, you know, ready to be there, ready to offer their services and, you know, provide that support all month long. And that's one of the things a lot of people forget because it is sometimes a lot easier for people to get together, make contact with different groups, different agencies while they're sitting in the meeting room at the library or in the fire side room. You know, it just, yeah, a lot easier to do. Yeah. Yeah. It's just, it's nice sometimes just to have, you know, somebody to talk to a face right there rather than, you know, just entering data into an online form and hoping somebody gets back to this is, you know, just, just a time to like, to stop by, learn about services and then you can follow up or proceed forward. But it really is, you know, they are just a great group of people and, and, you know, really serve a great role in our community. So as you're looking at August, things that, you know, start, I mean, you got that whole series coming up there, but are there some other things you're looking at, too? More reading or other, other kinds of activities?

You know, August. That's a, that's a throw you right at you. Right. Yeah. That's, you know. It is that transition time. It is, yes. And one of the things that I didn't talk about and, and it's something that we need to think about at these shoulder seasons, Saturday, August 1st, our friends over at Cultivating Community, they're going to be presenting a fall gardening workshop. So this one is going to be really important. You know, fall is a great time to grow leafy greens. I don't know if other people, you know, want to like think about lettuces and things like that, things like that. But, you know, the fall is, is a great time. You can get another, another whole harvest in, in August is when you want to get started on growing leafy greens, peas, beets, radishes. There's, there's lots that you can put in yet and, and have a good, good turnout while the weather's starting to get cooler. That's okay. We'll do that. As always, of course, follow along with a lot of things at the library. You can go to the website and you got a ton of information there. Calendar, among other things. And then sign up for the Facebook items. Yeah. I mean, you know, if you sign up for that, you get on there every time you put, post something out, text messaging, things like that. Absolutely. There's multiple, multiple ways to stay informed. And, you know, and with, with our programs, when you sign up for a program, you get that, you get an email registration about the program. So you can just immediately throw that onto your calendar and you won't forget. And then text reminders, day of the program. So it's just, yeah, it's, it's, there's a lot. We, we try to, you know, get news about our programs out there. And, you know, just, there's, there's always a lot going on. It's there. We're here. Come and see us. Yes. And Rhonda, if they don't have a library card, they can get one pretty inexpensively. Yeah. I would say very inexpensively because it's free. It's free. All you need is a photo ID and with a current address. And if it does not, then just bring in a piece of mail or something showing your address and we will get you all signed up. Not hard to do. We like to get new people in there for library cards. So. Absolutely. I got to tell, I have to tell the story. I know, I know we're running out of time here. I got to tell a middle school girl yesterday about the library. She stopped in and she was looking at manga and I was like, did you find anything that looked fun? And she's like, I didn't bring any money. And I was like, let me tell you about the public library. Let me tell you. And just like a surprise, huh? Yes. Yes. Well, I know Comic-Con is going on in San Diego, but we have our own air con. So I'm waiting for to watch what's coming up next time around too. So hey, thanks so much, everybody for coming and joining us here. We appreciate it. Thanks for having us. Alrighty. Bye now. Bye. Bye.