Our mission is to add quality to our community by promoting literacy and creativity, engaging patrons, supporting lifelong learning, and building connections in our community.
In 1978, Suzanne Shock sent a letter to all the organizations in the community, asking if they were interested in having and supporting a township library. The response was overwhelming. Petitions were circulated and 1500 signatures were obtained. These were presented to the town attorney, Robert Reed. Because the population of the township was not 10,000 permanent residents as state law demands for the establishment of a “public library,” an alternate type was required. In September 1978, a joint resolution was passed to establish the North Webster Tippecanoe Township Library Services Authority. An “LSA” is formed by two or more governing authorities in order to provide library service. In North Webster’s case the joint agreement to establish a library was between the town of North Webster and Tippecanoe Township. Until 2005 the North Webster Library functioned as an LSA – the only one in the state that functioned as a “public library.” Matching funds came from the town and township. The beginning budget in 1980 was $12,000. The library operated on this budget for 10 years, ending with an operating budget of $35,600 in 2005.
The first building was donated by the Lions Club and was located on the Lion’s Festival grounds. Money was raised by paperback sales, car washes, fish fries, and donations from various civic groups. For two years, work was done on the library, mostly by volunteers. 3000 books were donated by the community. Until 1981, the library was operated by volunteers. In 1988 the library moved across the street to the west end of the township building at 501 W. Washington.
In March 2004, the library moved into larger quarters in the north end of the North Webster Community Center and in July of that year became a tax supported public library. As the library continued to grow, more space was needed to meet the changing needs of our community. A building project began, and the library moved into its own freestanding 20,000 square foot modern facility in July 2020. Our new facility, located at 110 E. North Street directly south of the North Webster Community Center, is designed to serve our community for decades to come.
The North Webster Community Public Library (NWCPL) serves the town of North Webster and all of Tippecanoe Township. Our building is only four years old, making it relatively new. It is located in the center of our town and has sufficient parking. It is 20,000 square feet and is all on one level, making it handicapped accessible.
Our vision is to provide an attractive, functional facility and welcoming environment to meet the community’s library service needs.
Our mission is to add quality to our community by promoting literacy and creativity, engaging patrons, supporting lifelong learning, and building connections in our community.
We meet or exceed patron expectations by providing friendly, consistent, courteous,
knowledgeable, and prompt service.
We maintain a comfortable, welcoming, secure place for study, recreation, and interaction. We evolve to meet the changing needs of the Library and its users.
Everyone will be respected and valued for their differing ideas, experiences, and backgrounds. We are professional in all our interactions.
We recognize that each of us has unique talents and responsibilities that allow us to work together to help our community to excel.
We engage in open and honest communication at all levels.
We exhibit a positive attitude in conversations with everyone and communicate a “can-do” mindset. We reach out to all segments of our community.
We share information and encourage dialogue about decisions that affect the success of the Library.
We strive for excellence in all we do.
Creativity and risk-taking are essential to progress, growth, and surpassing community expectations.
We support individual growth and organizational development.
We relate to each other with honesty and candor.
We adhere to the principles of fairness, justice, and equality.
We promote the highest standards of community service, including open and equitable access to information.
We reaffirm a strong work ethic by taking responsibility for our actions, keeping our word, and following through on our commitments.
Process: A survey was made available on paper and online for approximately four weeks. A total of 79 people responded. We asked participants how they used the library and asked open-ended questions about their needs.
Survey Results: Library Needs and Suggestions
What Our Patrons Value most about the Library:
We have meeting rooms, study rooms, youth and teen areas, and a genealogy room. The public services area has space for books, magazines, newspapers, public computers, and puzzles. We recently began a collection of Library of Things, which our community has received well.
The drop box for returning materials is located on the east side of the building on the circle drive. A courier service provides delivery and pick-up of materials loaned to and from other libraries in Indiana.
We have a certified director and assistant director, a certified adult services librarian, one certified youth services librarian, two certified support staff, and nine other staff who assist with circulation, public relations, and technical services. We offer adult, teen, and youth programming, which has grown in numbers and variety in recent years. Our summer reading program includes children, teens, and adults. We have a website, Facebook and Instagram pages, a newsletter, a weekly newspaper column in print and online, and other community connections.
We offer 16 public-access computers (2 are catalog), a color copier/scanner, WiFi printing, 14 hot spots, wireless internet service, fax service, a photograph scanner, 2 AWE computers for children, an interactive play table, seven iPads, and a gaming system. Our meeting rooms have wireless microphone systems, and the meeting rooms and conference room offer television projection from computers.
We are open 49 hours weekly, including five evenings and one weekend day.
NWCPL will regularly review and adapt this policy to provide patrons with the best service possible in the most efficient manner.
We will perform annual surveys of programs, collection development, community collaboration, and customer satisfaction.
We will perform annual evaluations of staff.
The Library Board will review the Long Range Plan annually to evaluate our progress.
The net assessed valuation of our township is $1,045,391,592, and our population is 6,576. Our tax rate of .0796% includes our operating and debt service funds to pay for our new building.
Our county also uses County Option Income Tax (COIT), and we realize an additional $17,000 or so a month from that. We have an operating budget that is greater than our property tax income, but this is something to which we give careful attention and planning. We maintain a
6-month cushion in our Operating Fund. We have built up our Rainy Day Fund every year to be used in case of emergencies or special projects.
Other Public Libraries—NWCPL belongs to Northeast Indiana Libraries Serving Communities (NILSC), a consortium of public libraries in Northeast Indiana. We mutually share information, knowledge, resources, and training to benefit all member libraries. The library staff regularly participates in Roundtable groups. We have recently begun partnering with the Syracuse Public Library for an annual Teen Art Competition and other teen programs. We partner with Ark Preschool families in North Webster. We coordinate the processing of new patron library cards between Milford, Syracuse, and Pierceton Public Libraries. We have established and maintain a reciprocal agreement with North Manchester Public Library.
We have been a member of Evergreen Indiana since 2009.
We collaborate closely with our Friends of the Library group for programming and funding.
Community Partners—We collaborate with the local schools, the North Webster Community Center, the local Purdue Extension, local artisans and community leaders, the Warner Schoolhouse historic site, and a local Tae Kwon Do school to share programs and resources and achieve the objectives of our service responses.
Allie Bussard
Youth Services
Amanda Demster
Public Services Director
Amy Dennis
Assistant Director
Anna Jackson
Public Relations
Cathy Ervin
Youth Services
Elizabeth Driscoll
Young Adult Librarian
Grace Cunningham
Housekeeping
Izzy Espinoza
Youth Services
Molly Barth
Public Services
Pam Long
Youth Services Director
Sally Johnson
Public Services
Sherrie Momeyer
Youth Services Cataloger
Rebecca Tallman
Clerk
Garet Becker
President
Term Dates: 1/1/23 – 12/31/26
Appointed by Wawasee School Board
Dave Seyler
Vice President
Term Dates: 01/01/25 – 12/31/28
Appointed by Wawasee School Board
Tisha Holsten
Secretary
Term Dates: 1/1/25 – 12/31/28
Appointed by Kosciusko County Council
Amanda Fretz
Treasurer
Term Dates: 1/1/22 – 12/31/25
Appointed by Kosciusko County Commissioners
Marilyn Cassell
Term Dates: 1/1/23 – 12/31/26
Appointed by the Town of North Webster
Deb Minear
Term Dates: 02/01/23 – 01/31/27
Appointed by Tippecanoe Township
Mary White
Term Dates: 1/1/24 – 12/31/27
Appointed by Wawasee School Board
The Friends of the North Webster Community Public Library (FOL) is a volunteer group that works to support the library by organizing and running book sales and other projects. FOL is looking for more members. Complete an application if you’d like to join — or contact the library for more information.
Mon – Thu 10a – 7p
Friday 10a – 6p
Saturday 10a – 3p
Closed Sunday
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