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Navajo County outlines library services, digital resources across 14-member network
Summary
Navajo County Library District director Jennifer Volker described how the county-supported district helps 14 member libraries, including five tribal libraries, with building upkeep, shared catalog and courier service, discounted subscriptions and programs such as STEM, story times and digital services including Comics Plus, Libby and Hoopla.
On County Connection, Supervisor Daryl Seymour interviewed Jennifer Volker, director of the Navajo County Library District, about services and programs the district provides to 14 member libraries across Navajo County. Volker described county support for volunteer-run branches, the district’s shared catalog and courier, and digital and in‑person programming for children and teens.
The district “helps by keeping the lights on and keeping the building up to date, insurance, that kind of thing, so that the library can stay open,” Jennifer Volker, Navajo County Library District director, said. She said the district pools purchasing power so smaller libraries can access the library system and subscriptions that would otherwise be cost prohibitive for rural communities.
Volker described a county-paid courier position that moves materials among branches and said interlibrary requests “usually, it takes about 2 days to get it here to this library.” The district operates the shared catalog and patron database and runs a courier so items stored at one branch can be requested and delivered to another.
The district provides digital resources and databases. Volker said the system recently added “Comics Plus” through a grant and provides access to Libby and Hoopla; she said Hoopla offers ebooks, audiobooks, movies and TV series for streaming with a library card. Volker also mentioned Chilton’s auto repair database and about 15 other subject-specific databases that the district offers for research, legal help and online tutoring.
Volker highlighted local, hands-on offerings at some branches: Pinedale’s “Realia Room” lends tools and instruments such as sewing machines and a piano; Winslow holds chef events for different age groups; most libraries run STEM activities, book clubs and story times. She said the district includes five tribal libraries and that programming varies by community.
Seymour and Volker directed listeners to the district event calendar on navajocountylibraries.org for a countywide listing of upcoming programs.
No formal board actions or votes were discussed in the interview; the segment focused on programs, resource-sharing and outreach to small and volunteer-run libraries. The interview noted a recently obtained grant for Comics Plus but did not specify the grant amount.
