Greetings from the Great Bend Public Library! This coming Tuesday, Aug. 4, we will have a Mobile Census Questionnaire Assistance event set up at the Great Bend Public Library. They will be here from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., to assist anyone wishing for help completing the census.

The census is extremely important to our community. I would encourage anyone who has yet to take it to come to this event and do so. Taking the census is quick and easy. The census helps determine a variety of things like our fair representation in government, how federal funds are distributed, and what kind of community projects are taken on. The census also determines how public libraries receive regional and state funding. If you enjoy all the wonderful things public libraries offer to Barton County, such as summer library programs, youth and adult programming, special speakers, and digital services. Please do your part and be accounted for, as is your privilege and your right. 

There have been some misconceptions about the census, so I would like to take a moment to clear a few of those up. The census does not ask if you are a United States citizen and is prohibited by law from sharing any of your information with ICE or any other law enforcement agency. The census will not ask for your social security number, your bank account, or your political party affiliation. The census is purely to count how many people are living in the United States right now, to determine how money and representation in government are spread amongst communities. Now that you have the facts we hope you will respond to the census if you haven’t already. You can also find out more information on the census, as well as, links to take the census and helpful videos explain the census to little ones, on our website greatbendpl.info

We are coming to the end of our summer library program. With just a few days left be sure to get all your reading and library activities logged. The more you read and the more activities you do, the more you earn. This year’s program was quite different. We all had to adapt to a new way of doing things but we hope everyone enjoyed our virtual programs. We have received tons of great photos, thank you to everyone sending them in.

For library information or questions, please visit our Facebook page or website greatbendpl.info. You can also message us on Facebook or email us at gbcirc@gmail.com.

Hannah Grippin is the outreach and marketing manager at Great Bend Public Library.