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In the town of 600 residents, Avon can boast that it has one of the nicest libraries around. It seems to always be full of children, laughter, excitement about reading and best of all librarian, Twila Lukkes. Twila and several of the library board members have put in countless hours through researching and visiting other libraries (Parkston and Tyndall); reading over book synopsis’; coming up with new and fun events; and organizing the Avon Public Library to make it the amazing, comfortable and inviting place that it currently is. For the past 12 years, Twila Lukkes has brought her background working with and her love of children to her position as librarian for the Avon Public Library. Twila first started working at the library after working at Springfield Academy for almost 13 years until they closed their doors in 2011. She had always worked with children and wanted to continue on that career path. Twila could not have asked for a better job getting to combine two of her passions, working with children and reading. When asked what she enjoys most about working at the library, Twila said everything. She enjoys the children, the adults that come through, being surrounded by books, etc. Being a part of a library is nothing new for Twila. While she was in junior and senior high in Sioux City, she would often help at the city library, and also volunteered at the Avon Public Library before being employed there. Not only does the library get Twila as its librarian, but the librarian has a direct line to an Avon legend, Lennis Lukkes. As a librarian her roles/duties include getting new books, filtering through older books to make room for new ones, and rehoming those filtered books. The library also takes book donations from the public. With all of the recent flooding any filtered books that Twila takes off of the Avon Public Library shelves they will be donated to Rock Valley as they lost all of their books and library to flooding. When asked what reading means to her, Twila said that reading has always provided her an escape that takes her places that she knows she would never be able to visit otherwise. Twila does not have a favorite book, as she has always loved reading. As a child, she lived about a mile away from the library and went to the library all the time, more than happy to walk the two miles to and from. Twila is currently reading the Christian fiction novel, Whisper on the Wind which is a part of the Great War Series by Maureen Lang. As a librarian, Twila tries to inspire others to read through the joy she takes in organizing and making the books look more visually appealing. She organizes them with an eye towards getting people to pick up the books and want to see what the book is about. Twila’s favorite part of the library depends on the day. Following the library’s puzzles and pie event, her favorite area was the puzzles. It really just depends on what is going on with the library and what the library’s patrons are interested in each day. The Avon Public Library is constantly getting new books and is very accommodating to the book requests of its patrons. Children, teens, adults, etc. come in and ask Twila about a book they are interested in reading that the library does not already have in circulation and Twila will then let Library Board President, Mary Hurd, know. Mary then will research the book and see if it is a good fit for the library, purchasing the book if it is. Usually within a week the new book will be on the shelves of the Avon Public Library. New books to the library are usually announced via the Avon Public Library’s Facebook page. Twila has some book/series recommendations for different ages. For first through third graders, she would recommend the series Campground Kids, Dogman and Notebook of Doom. For ages eight to eleven years old, Twila would recommend the Girls Survive series, I Escaped series and Hometown Hunters series. Authors that she would recommend for teens are Colleen Hoover, E. Lockhart and Taherah Mafi. Some fun and interesting things going on at the library recently are that Twila has been in the process of getting the children’s books grouped together in “topic tubs” so that it is easier to find books on the same topics. Another upcoming event is a free inflatable Star Lab brought to Avon on July 29th. The library also does “Book Talks” monthly that are almost like a mini book report done by a local Avon student or adult on a specific book when summer reading is not taking place. The Library Board has taken over the duties of coming up with the ideas for the summer reading program. The 2024 summer reading program, “Adventure Begins at Your Library” is going strong with time to still join and enjoy the program. At each of the events that the library has held this summer there have been over 50 children and adults that have attended. To complete the program there are different reading requirements for different age groups. For readers seven and under there is a reading scavenger hunt which includes reading 16 different topics of books such as pirates, space, friendship, the weather, food, etc. The reading scavenger hunt for ages 8-12 include topics about science, favorite animal, autobiography, graphic novel, teaching the reader a new skill, etc. The reading required scavenger hunt for ages 13 through adult include such topics as book that became a movie, set in a location that you would like to visit, with more than 500 pages, written by a celebrity, with a one world title, etc. The purpose of the summer reading program is to get readers to broaden their horizons by reading books out of their norms in order to explore all that the library has to offer. The summer reading program culminates with the “Camp Out” With a Good Book event. The event is taking place on Tuesday, August 6th at 4 p.m. at the Avon City Park. There will be an outdoor presentation on the mammals of South Dakota with food (supper provided), awards, activities and storytelling. Twila feels very thankful for the wonderful Library Board that the Avon Public Library has. Board members include Mary Hurd, President; Julie Minow, secretary/treasurer; Loretta Knodel, Avon School liaison; Eileen Mueller, city liaison; librarian, Twila Lukkes; Mary Beth Driesen; and newest member, Rachel Odens. Twila feels that the library would not be what it is today without the support of this amazing board. The ladies are always willing to help, plan and volunteer their time. The library is currently working on becoming accredited. It requires two board members to take 30 hours each of classes and or training. The library has officially fulfilled the requirements, so the next step will be filling out the paperwork to become accredited. Living in the digital age, the library has kept up with technology and uses the Libby app. After downloading the app and being assigned a number (which is very easy just speak to Twila about being assigned one), the Libby app allows a reader to borrow free ebooks, digital audiobooks, and magazines from the library. The City of Avon graciously pays the annual $600 fee for Avon Public Library’s subscription. In the last 365 days, there have been 49 users that have checked out 2,330 books through the Libby app making each book rental only 26 cents. The library also has a Cricut machine, Legos, puzzles, a dual side scanner, computers with printing capabilities and much more. The library does not require anyone to have a library card with them. It makes Twila and the board so excited to see people want to utilize the library and all that it has to offer the community. The library is open Monday through Friday every day from 1 p.m. until 6 p.m. Hope to see you there soon.