Author name: Diana Lasky

Congratulations, Tiffany Thieneman!

Tiffany Thieneman, public services manager, is HCPL’s July Who’s Awesome! winner. Tiffany was one of twelve nominations for the honor this month.

Melissa Schellenberger a reference assistant at Corydon, actually nominated Tiffany twice this month. She wrote, “Tiffany is a great boss. She’s always positive and upbeat! She is a super kind person!” And Melissa added, “Tiffany is always thoughtful and kind. She has a very positive attitude!”

Another anonymous nomination stated, “Tiffany went above and beyond for the Fun Committee Shark Week celebration. She ordered fabulous cookies for a combo Shark Week/National Sugar Cookie Day from Country Confections and she put together a very fun shark survival kit that included buttons that staff could wear to promote Shark Week all week long plus some yummy snacks. Tiffany promotes Fun Committee activities with flyers she creates. She presents a friendly, happy, positive demeanor to patrons and staff alike even when handling unpleasant duties. As public services manager she does a great job supervising reference staff, dealing with outreach patrons and coordinating and presenting adult programming. Tiffany is awesome!”

Reference assistant Liz Dennis nominated Tiffany in June writing, “Tiffany brings the morale up! She is always happy, smiling and sees the positives. Her position, as Public Service Manager, is very befitting. Both her patrons and employees enjoy her. Thank you for all you do for our team!”

Tiffany joined the HCPL staff as public services manager, a newly created position, in January of 2022.

Each month a winner is selected by random drawing. Other staff members nominated in July were Connie Gresham, Kaitlyn Taylor, Julie Phipps, Kelli Witsman, Donna Seewer, Bob Ohlrich, Kathy Fisher, Amanda Applegate and Jessica Stroud.

Article by Alisa Burch, Director

Congratulations, Trevor Smith!

Trevor Smith, systems administrator, is HCPL’s June Who’s Awesome! winner. Trevor was one of thirteen nominations for the honor this month.

Carla Ward, a Lanesville branch employee who nominated Trevor, said, “As part of the IT team, Trevor is always willing to help me. He has helped answer questions or helped me fix problems. I can’t wait for him to come help us with the Makerspace.”

Trevor was also nominated by Public Services Manager Tiffany Thieneman this month. Tiffany stated, “Trevor helped cover the Reference Desk when one of the staff members was not feeling well and needed to leave early. Trevor always seems happy to help in whatever capacity is needed. Thanks for being awesome, Trevor!”

Last month, IT Head Jessica Stroud nominated Trevor writing, “Attempting to think of new services that could employ chat GPT/AI Trevor brainstormed use of an E-Librarian and configured it to suit HCPL patron’s needs. Pure awesome! Way to go, Trevor.” Steven Schifcar, head of maintenance and grounds, nominated Trevor in February stating “He helps me whenever I need help.” And Diana Lasky echoed those sentiments in her nomination, “Trevor always helps, quickly, efficiently and pleasantly to any IT issues, but goes above and beyond and will help with anything (moving items) even though it is not related to IT. Thank you!”

Trevor joined the HCPL staff as systems administrator in August of 2017.

Each month a winner is selected by random drawing. Other staff members nominated in June were Tiffany Thieneman, Diana Lasky, Liz Dennis, Jennifer Schroering, Jessica Stroud, Connie Gresham, Ann Allen, Teresa Douglass, Leo Stiner, Eden Ransdell and Heather Wyss.

Article by Alisa Burch, Director

Cake pans are available for checkout at Harrison County Public Library from the Library of Things. There are thirty different styles of cake pans available. Need a special character pan to surprise a child or grandchild? The collection includes a castle, Diego, flower, Care Bear, Spiderman, SpongeBob, 3D rubber ducky and more. There are specialty pans for Thanksgiving, Christmas and Halloween as well as more traditional Bundt, loaf, and mini muffin pans. Before you make a cake pan purchase, check the Library of Things notebook at any branch or the HCPL online catalog.

Adventure Packs include binoculars, a nature field guide and a magnifying glass in each backpack.  These packs are only checked out from the Corydon branch, Youth Services Department.

The Library of Toys began a year ago with LovEvery kits. LovEvery provides developmentally based play for newborns to 4 year olds. Many more  items have been added to the library since then. Coding Critters help teach coding concepts to the very young. STEM kits featuring Rapunzel and the Gingerbread Man help children problem solve.  Games for tweens, teens or a family game night are available with How I Survived, Disney Villainous and Horrified. The toddler set and older will enjoy a toddler game night kit, a musical instrument set and a kindergarten readiness kit.   Young Athletes bags include books, balls, scarves, rubber discs, bean bags and a play guide.  

All Library of Things/Library of Toys items are available for a one-week checkout period.  Items may be placed on hold to be sent to a branch location with the exception of the Adventure Packs.  Jigsaw puzzles will be coming soon to the Library of Things. Drop by the library to check out at all the things available or search the online catalog.

Congratulations, Sara Deatrick!

Sara Deatrick, the Elizabeth Branch lead circ associate, is HCPL’s May Who’s Awesome! winner.  Sara was one of twenty nominations for the honor this month.

 Liz Dennis, who works at both the Elizabeth and Corydon branches, nominated Sara saying, “Mrs. Sara knows her community and patrons. She is very astute and resourceful. She goes out of her way to explain information to patrons and is very thorough. She is an asset to the library.”

Pat Schwartz, who worked with Sara at the Elizabeth Branch, had this to say about Sara in a previous nomination, “Sara is a great asset to the Elizabeth branch. She is a very compassionate person. People love her in the Elizabeth community. While I worked at the Elizabeth branch I experienced a community that takes care of its people. Sara does a lot for the community and it reflects well on HCPL.“

Sara started her career at HCPL as a youth assistant in May of 2003. She was promoted to lead circ associate when the Elizabeth Branch opened in October of 2012.

Each month a winner is selected by random drawing. Other staff members nominated in May were Corinne Burton, Trevor Smith, Amanda Applegate, Kelly Powell, Leo Stiner, Teresa Douglass, Eleisa Mason, Diana Lasky, Ann Allen, Julia Phipps, Melissa, Schellenberger, Bethany Banet, Savannah Wallace, Connie Gresham, Lynn Hardesty, and Sarah Dorton.

Article by Alisa Burch, Director