VIENNA — The new picnic tables on the patio of the Vienna Library Branch of Heartland Regional Library System add a new look to the patio and increases the possibilities for this new outdoor space.

At the Heartland Library Board meeting in November, Director Lisa Garro said there are five new picnic tables, one of which is ADA compliant. The cost was about $860 per table and all of them were donated. Those who donated a picnic table were The Maries County Bank, the Vienna Lions Club, the Imogene Gray Trust, and the Hollis family, in memory of Willard and Fay Hollis. Brinktown Insurance gave a $100 donation.

At the library board’s November meeting in Vienna a new Miller County board member was introduced. Lysha Thompson is the new Miller County board member from Tuscumbia. Thompson is a good fit as she works as the librarian at the Tuscumbia school.

Also introduced to the board was Dawn Payne, the new Heartland Children’s Librarian. She has met all the teams at the library branches and has been reaching out to childcare providers and schools in the library system. She had plans for programs and projects and will do some social media.

In the director’s report, Garro said the new copiers have arrived and they are very nice. They can do everything including printing from devices such as iPhones, tablets, etc. They’ve had some issues with random printing but they are working to solve that. It’s possible they need to upgrade the anti-virus software on all the PC’s to rectify the problem. Garro said it’s a good idea to update the software anyway as its not been done in a while.

The book chosen for the Big Library Read is “I’m Not Dying With You Tonight” by Kimberly Jones and Gilly Segal. Visit Overdrive to find links for discussion.

All the workforce grant materials are now in the system and can be found at https://www.heartland.lib.mo.us and click the Online Catalog and type workforce in the search bar, and in the type field select “digital bookplate” form the drop-down list. Click on Search.

Garro said public libraries will be playing a major role in collecting data for the 2020 Census. They will begin in March by mailing out invitations to households to respond online. Many public libraries will see patrons visiting the library for help submitting their data. After some time, if people haven’t responded to the online invitation by April, they will be mailed a paper questionnaire. After no responses from the paper questionnaires, Census takers will go door-to-door beginning in May.

The financial reports were approved by the board members. They were pleased as the library system is 83.33% into the fiscal year and 59.04% of the funds have been spent. There is a financially healthy fund balance. The budget for 2020 was approved. It includes revenues and expenses of $1,094,158.09.

At the December meeting, Maries County Board member Rita Henderson will have her last board meeting. Eleanor Terry has agreed to replace her. The library system appreciates Henderson’s fine service to the community and the library.