Two area school libraries were recipients of a statewide funding initiative by the Kansas Book Festival (KBF). Wilson School Library and La Crosse Middle School/High School Library received $650 and $600 respectively and were among several other school and public libraries across Kansas to receive a portion of a $10,000 KBF grant.

Other libraries from around the state to receive KBF funding include: Wamego Public Library, Kiowa County Library, Greely County Library, La Cygne Public Library, Midland Trail Elementary Library in Kansas City, Oak Grove Elementary Library in Kansas City, Peabody Township Library, and S.E. of Saline Elementary and Secondary Libraries.

“This is the first time for us to apply for this funding,” said Wilson Library para Virginia Ptacek. “We’ll use this money to replace some old, worn out paperback books and other books that have needed to be replaced for sometime.” She added that the library applied for the funding last August and noted the application process was detail-oriented.

“Anytime you apply for funds, you have to really articulate why you need the money and how you will use that money to better improve the services of your library to students or the public,” she said. The Wilson School Library is a K-12 library and operates under the auspices of the Central Plains USD 112.

Anita Butler, who is in her first year as librarian at La Crosse Middle School/High School Library, said the $600 the library received from KBF will be used to replace books that have gone missing.

“We’re really wanting to fill the gap in our book series collection because we have some books that have either been checked out and not returned or they just ended up missing from our shelves over the years,” Butler said. “These funds will be used to help insure that students will have access to the complete works of a particular series in our system. We are very grateful for the extra funding.”

“We encourage all our libraries in our service area to apply for these funds,” said Gail Santy, director of the Central Kansas Library System (CKLS) in Great Bend. “We hope to see more libraries take advantage of these kind of grants and other funding initiatives provided by KBF and other organizations across the state.”

CKLS supports library services in 17 counties in central Kansas: Barton, Cloud, Ellis, Ellsworth, Jewell, Lincoln, Mitchell, Osborne, Ottawa, Pawnee, Phillips, Republic, Rooks, Rush, Russell, Saline and Smith counties.

The Kansas Book Festival began in 2011 by Mary Brownback. KBF operates under the Board of Directors of the Kansas Book Festival Foundation.

For more details on services provided by both the CKLS and KBF and other information, visit their websites at ckls.org and kansasbookfestival.com.