“A lot I have tried to do this past year is not only increase the programs, but the awareness of the programs we have,” she said.

Increasing the hours of operation by one every day and utilizing social media to let residents know what is going on has paid off, Karim said. The number of followers on social media has increased by 100, she said, which is a lot for a small town. There were also 2,850 people who walked through the door, which is six times the population of Albion.

“We’ve had such an increase in foot traffic,” she said. “Oddly, just leaving our doors open to let the breeze blow through, we had somebody in the library who had never been, and they have lived in Albion since 1985.”

The number of people is indicative of rural residents using the library, she said.

Activities

Karim has introduced new programs and events to the library in an effort to engage a wide variety of interests.

“We’re trying to figure out what the people need,” she said. “We’re not just books at the library.”

Some of the programs Karim brought to the library have been a community garden, sensory bed and food pantry. In 2024, Karim said they will have an adult gardening club and a kids gardening club.

“It gives the kids something to do besides sit on the computer and play Roblox all day,” she said. “Kids like to get out and garden and there’s nothing they enjoy more than finding that first cucumber or tomato.”

Scout, the Albion Library cat, sleeps during a hard day’s work. She is a draw for many patrons who come to the library on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Karim even created a chicken club because so many residents bought chickens during the COVID-19 pandemic. She wanted to give them an informational resource to help take care of their poultry. The chicken club joins the ranks of other library groups centered around knitting, and both vintage and new books.

Under Karim’s leadership, 90 programs were at the library in 2022, such as beekeeping, Tuesday evening Milk and Cookies Storytime, summer movie nights, a Paint and Sip Night, weekly STEM activities and yoga.

“It’s not only the programs and what we’re offering, but the community has started becoming more involved,” she said. “We have asked them for help, and the people of Albion love to help. I couldn’t ask for a better community.”

Karim hopes to introduce a trivia night entitled “Are You Smarter Than a Librarian?” There will also be a workshop for people who want to learn more about the process of creating wills for when they die. She is also trying to increase collaboration with the Albion churches and volunteer organizations.

“People just weren’t aware they had that nice of a library,” Karim said.

One of the art projects completed at the Albion Library. Librarian Hanna Karim has brought a variety of different programs and events, such as a Paint and Sip, and a community garden.

Sign and Scout

Some new library aspects that are not activity oriented is an electronic sign which will be installed before the end of the month. She said the Community Foundation of Marshall County provided funding for the base of the sign, and it will be used to communicate events at the library and important alerts throughout the town, such as water boil notices.

“We will have a constant scroll of our programs and events, but also fundraising events in town,” she said. “We have fundraising events once or twice a month. Instead of just a flier at Casey’s, you can see it driving by.”

It is a nice alternative to the standard sign with individual letters to swap out and change the message. Karim said she changed those letters last winter, and that was more than enough for her.

“I don’t know how the previous librarian did it all those years,” she said, laughing.

Karim also introduced “Scout,” the new Albion Library kitten, who can be found amongst the books and shelves on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The feline is five months old and is a gray tabby.

“She’s been a huge attraction,” she said. “People will show up and Scout won’t be there because it’s her day off, and they will get upset. They came in just to see the cat — not me, not the books, the cat. She’s a fantastic little therapy animal who purrs the moment you pet her.”

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Contact Lana Bradstream at 641-753-6611 ext. 210 or

lbradstream@timesrepublican.com.