All of the facilities in the Daniel Boone Regional Library system will be closed Monday, October 9, 2023 for a Staff Development Day. This includes:

• Callaway County Public Library
• Columbia Public Library
• Holts Summit Public Library
• Southern Boone County Public Library

In our April newsletter, I shared one of our Strategic Plan goals relating to sustainability. Another important element of our current plan is devoted to the areas of diversity, equity and inclusion. This focus is both timely and necessary. Public libraries have always strived to provide a welcoming space for everyone in the community, and to host a collection that reflects the needs and wants of residents.

You may have heard of the Virginia Young Room at the Columbia Public Library, or maybe you’re familiar with the bronze bust in that room bearing her name. This level of recognition is an indication of what an important role Virginia G. Young played in making the Daniel Boone Regional Library the place you enjoy today.

You finally get some down time and settle into a comfortable seat and read. You may be alone or with a companion also reading or engaged in a quiet activity. You’re in your own little world. Or are you?
Where is that book transporting you? Are you on a spy mission in France? Learning to navigate the world as an autistic teenager? Trekking across an unknown countryside to a better life?
Reading fiction or nonfiction connects us with people living in different places, time periods and cultures, and introduces us to new experiences and viewpoints.

Dementia Friends USA is spearheading a national movement to train people on how to better understand what it’s like to have dementia, and how to help and include those who do. After going through organization-wide staff Dementia Friend training sessions, the Daniel Boone Regional Library was designated as a Dementia Friendly organization.

Starting this August, the library’s big bookmobile will be visiting the east side of Columbia twice a month. Find us in the new Schnucks parking lot off the Lake of the Woods exit, and climb on board to find books, music, movies and more. You can also pick up items you’ve requested.

To a young child, every new experience is fascinating and surprising. Trying to see the world with the fresh eyes of childhood can help us turn mundane experiences into spur-of-the-moment learning opportunities.

Staff from the children’s teams at all of our libraries offer parents and caregivers the following ideas on how to cultivate novel learning moments while you’re running errands or doing things around your home.

Now you have access to 22 more popular online magazines that you can read via our new subscription to Flipster. These titles, including back issues, can be read using the Flipster app or by visiting the Flipster website in a web browser.

The library is now part of Columbia’s Adopt-A-Spot Litter Control program, so you’ll be seeing more of us outside the library doing what we can to improve our environment. DBRL’s Sustainability Committee and other library staff met Saturday, July 1 for the first quarterly trash pickup event. We collected 10 bags of trash along the blocks defined by Broadway, Garth, Walnut and Providence Road.

Jennifer Rodewald attended the University of Missouri, where she earned a double-major in English and political science in 2007, and graduated from the University of Iowa College of Law in 2011. She returned to Columbia in 2011, where she now lives with her husband, Brandon, and their two kids, Chloe (age 9) and Jackson (age 4). Jennifer is currently the government relations counsel at Shelter Insurance.