From the time Twila June Taubert first learned to read, she loved books. A nice librarian welcomed her to the magical place that was her Sioux City grade school library, and always helped young Twila find books she wanted to read. In high school, she would walk a mile and a half to her local branch library to find the latest books. Nearly a half century later, Twila June (Taubert) Lukkes would become a librarian herself, when Avon's City Council hired her to take over for the retiring Rose Mary Gramkow. "Back then," Twila remembers, "Avon's library was a lot different than it is today. It first opened in 1974, and not a lot changed in the first few decades. When I got there in 2012, if it rained at night, I would have to run up to the library with buckets to try and keep the books from getting wet, then dry them out when they eventually got wet. The city tried patching, but finally put a new roof on. I do not miss those days. We had a hodgepodge of metal and wooden shelves, and some old, bulky desktop computers. I used a card catalog to look up books, and each book had a pocket and a card that patrons would sign, and I would stamp with a return date—so you could always see who had checked out the book before you. We had a library Board of Directors, but no bylaws or formal guidelines." Twila says when Mary Hurd joined the library board, she and local attorney Scott Swier worked to create bylaws. After that, the Board of Directors developed a mission statement, and then worked with Twila to list activities and goals. "Nowadays my library board is more like a team," she says. "We have a lot of fun, thinking of events that will be both nice and educational for our community. Each director has special talents: Loretta is a teacher of young children and knows how to organize events, Rachel has older children and is an amazing baker, Ilene is excellent with bookkeeping and budgeting, Mary Beth is very creative and a hard worker, Mary likes technology, art and writing, and Julie is a paramedic and the mother of very young children." Twila says that looking at new books that come out and helping patrons are her favorite parts of her job. "As a rule," she explains, "I like the people that come in, and talking with them about what they like to read and helping them to find their next book. Meeting people who walk in on a genealogy tour, new people in the community, or classes visiting from school reunions are all fun," she adds. "They often tell me they cannot believe how much the library has changed, but in a good way, of course! I always tell visitors that I have a Board of Directors who cares and who helps...all I have to do is ask, and it is taken care of. I don't think I ask for anything outrageous, but I know they will help in any way they can!" One new development at the library is accreditation. Avon Public Library was notified by the South Dakota State Library last month that it had received essential level accreditation. That means the library has met or exceeded certain standards required of the best libraries. This is helpful when securing grants, because the distinction tells those offering grants that our library works hard to achieve these high standards and values being accountable. Out of about 130 libraries in South Dakota, 36 have earned accreditation. Avon is among the smallest towns in the state to achieve this goal, meaning that Avon Public Library has been externally reviewed and found to meet established quality standards for service, curriculum, and resources. The library has proven legal standing, the library director has met state qualifications and is now certified, two directors have earned 30 contact hours in library methods (on demand-textual literacy), and the library has adopted patron friendly hours (25 hours per week, including one evening in excess of 15 hours per week). Before awarding accreditation, the South Dakota State Library assessed the quality of Avon Public Library's services, identified areas for improvement, and helped them gain maximum community support. Twila says obtaining the accreditation was a lot of work, but it has been helpful to everyone involved. "Sometimes we get in a rut," she says, "doing things the way they've always been done. But the certification process has helped me personally and all the members of the Board of Directors to understand the resources available through the State Library, and to identify the needs of our patrons." Knowing that Avon Public Library is a place that the kids can go to after school, to work and play and read, is important to Twila and the Board of Directors. "We enjoy bringing the community together with our various events, like our Summer Reading Programs, our 'Puzzles & Pie' events, our 'Ancestry Adventures', and our homeschool mother/child get-togethers. The Summer Reading Program, especially, speaks for itself, in terms of community involvement. Last year, organizations, business owners, and civic groups joined the library to raise farm safety awareness. This year they helped us inspire children with their hometown heroes. Twila Avon and the Board of Directors want to continue to help the library grow and provide new programs for kids and adults. Twila has a message for everyone in the community about the value of their local library: "If you haven't come by in a long time, stop in! In our fully handicapped accessible building we now have 24,000 books in circulation, hundreds of DVDs, fast computers, a laser printer, early literacy computers for preschoolers, a Cricut craft machine, LOTS of puzzles, a fast photo/document scanner, a microfiche machine with years and years of old news articles, free audio and ebooks, a changing table in the bathroom, a quality Smart TV, and state of the art technology-embedded tables for groups."