community
may18
2017
With a little help from regular carrier Peter O’Leary,
new U.S.P.S. mail carrier Joel Hatcher (pictured above)
worked hard collecting 500 pounds of food donations on
Saturday, May 13 as part of the annual National Letter
Carriers food drive. All donations stay in the community
through Vernonia Cares Food Bank.
I’m not sure right now what form that will take to bring
in that older age group.”
Romtvedt continues to promote the Library as
a community resource for everyone. “I think the Library
is something that is very important for the community,”
says Romtvedt. “I’m really amazed sometimes when
people I’ve never seen in the Library will come to a
program, so that is a really great success because that is
a new way that people find value in the Library. That is
one of the most fulfilling parts of my job. I also really
like just being here and having all the different conver-
sations with community members.”
Ha
nd
-cr
aft
May - September
ed
go
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od
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& Weed St.
of Bridge
The corner
Adams
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City
from
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(at Bridge Street) Hall)
Interested in Vending? PleaseContact
Penny (503) 804-0424
or Bill (971) 998-3705
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As a way to make the Library more inclusive
to the community, Romtvedt lobbied for, and was suc-
cessful in getting the Vernonia City Council to reduce
the annual fee from $40 to $25 for a family member-
ship to those living outside the Vernonia City limits and
also created a scholarship program for membership,
funded by the Friends group. She also points out that
the Library Board has approved allowing children who
live outside the City limits to get a Library card at no
cost. “We wanted to encourage use and not have a bar-
rier for children to use the Library.” says Romtvedt.
Other programs of interest that Romtvedt has
either initiated or expanded include Membership Pass-
es to OMSI, the Oregon Historical Society, the Rice
Museum of Rocks and Minerals, and the Shute Park
Aquatic and Recreation Center, which can be checked
out by Vernonia Library members free of charge. She
had Wi-Fi installed at the Library and helped organize
the Books on Wheels program for homebound senior
citizens. She joined the library Passport Program
which allows Vernonia Library members access to both
the Multnomah and Washington County Library sys-
tems including e-materials through the Library To Go
program, and also made available access to Learning
Express data bases where patrons can study for GED,
SAT, and other placement testing or learn computer
programs.
“Learning Express is a great tool that
I haven’t quite figured out how to tell people
about, but it really helps expand our collection
because we can’t keep ‘how to’ and computer
technical books current,” says Romtvedt.
Romtvedt says one thing she really
enjoys doing, which doesn’t show up on the
Library calendar, is community outreach. She
has been a regular contributor to Vernonia’s Voice,
with a column and advertising in every issue which
highlights upcoming programs and events. She
has done storytime visits to Head Start, as well
as hosted field trip visits from the preschool
program. She has visited the Vernonia Senior
Center and the Vernonia Lions Club to update
those groups on Library activities, and has made
connections with the Vernonia Schools to help
promote the Summer Reading Program and plans
visits to each elementary classroom this spring.
Romtvedt often gets regular support from
the Friends group, an active group that raises
funds through their annual book sales to support
library programing. Last year she had a handful
of teens who volunteered at the Library, some
who were completing their required community
service through the Vernonia Schools, and says
she hopes to recruit more teen volunteers in the
future; she has also had many regular volunteers
who have helped with clean-up projects around
the facility. She actively pursues grants and additional
funding sources from outside the Vernonia City
budget as a way to expand her resource base, and
was recently a recipient of a Community 101 grant
through the Vernonia High School Project Based
Learning Class.
She currently has a full Library Board of com-
munity representatives, which helps with policy rec-
ommendations and other decisions, although she says
two long time members will be stepping down this fall
and she will be actively recruiting their replacements
this summer.
In the future Romt-
vedt says she would like to
work more with other or-
ganizations and businesses
in the community, and has
already had contact with
Vernonia Hands On Art.
She also hopes to create
more programing for teens,
Loc
al o
including a reading enrich-
rga
ment program, which was
nic
sta
terminated after the schools
rts
& p
were moved and the Li-
ro
brary was no longer in such
New lo duce
c
ation! !
easy walking distance for
kids. “While we do have
some one-time or bigger
events for kids, I would re-
ally like to see something
that takes place regularly
once or twice a month, but
o
held on an organized day and time.
“Even with a smaller library that has a smaller
funding base, there is still a lot you can do with a little,”
says Romtvedt. “But it does require a bit more com-
munity and volunteer involvement. It’s been good for
me to work with some great individuals and organiza-
tions in the community to make different things hap-
pen. When you look at larger library systems and their
schedules of events, there is always something going
on. In a smaller community it has to be more hands
on.”
continued from page 9
v e rn
Pages Keep Turning
19
Garden
June t
V ernonia C hristian C hurch
Everyone is welcome in our vibrant & active community!
Sunday
Worship Service
11:00 am
Pastor Sam Hough
410 North St.
Vernonia
MIKE PIHL
LOGGING CO., INC
Free Estimates
Specializing in Private Timber
• Youth and Adult Sunday School
• Evening Youth Groups
4th-6th Grade
Junior & Senior High
• Home Study Groups
• Outdoor Ministry
503-429-1470
cell 503.789.1268
fax 503.429.0252
Christian Bow Hunters of America
Annual Sportsman’s Banquet
office@VernoniaChristianChurch.org
503-429-6522
mplogging@frontier.com
1984 mist drive, po box 321 vernonia, or 97064
