Newport library outlines services, Chinook migration and community outreach plans

Laura Kimberly, director of Library and Community Engagement for the City of Newport, told the City Council on Feb. 18 that the Newport Public Library will join the Chinook Library Network and migrate to the Koha integrated library system and Aspen public discovery layer on March 11. “We are joining the Chinook Library Network on March 11,” Kimberly said, noting the change is intended to increase public access and lower operational costs.

Kimberly said the library occupies a 17,000-square-foot building built in 1986, serves a city population of 16,851 and has 11,112 registered users. The department’s adopted operating budget includes total expenditures of $1,442,200; the library also receives disbursements from the Lincoln County Library District and grants such as the state Ready to Read grant.

The library staff described recent and planned services: a seed library launched April 2023 in partnership with Lincoln County Master Gardeners; a library-of-things collection started in November 2024; circulating laptops and tablets to be launched after a recent $7,000 grant to purchase loanable computers; and expanded e-resources acquired with CARES Act funding. The presentation said RFID tags were added to the collection in 2018 and new security gates that read those tags were installed recently.

Gia Jensen, the library’s bilingual community engagement specialist, and Lillian Karamzy, the assistant library director, described community engagement initiatives that include partnering with Arco Iris Cultural to support the Juntos and El Jardin community garden on library property, coordinating cultural events and bringing the Conexion Phoenix “Tacitus de Cafe” community discussions to Newport on Tuesdays in April and May. Jensen said the outreach efforts aim to reduce barriers for migrant residents and to “build a more engaged and inclusive” community.

Council members asked about internet access and loanable devices. Kimberly said the library had turned off the outdoor Wi‑Fi at night after repeated safety problems on the property: “We were having too many people hanging out in the parking lot and getting into mischief doing naughty things. And so to get people to not do naughty things, we turned off the Wi Fi,” she said. The library circulates more than 50 mobile hotspot devices and purchases hotspots twice a year in batches; staff reported heavy demand and hold lists (one staff check found 13 holds on hotspots).

Library staff provided usage statistics showing program counts and attendance rebounding after the pandemic, growth in interlibrary loan activity and steady volunteer engagement, including an active teen volunteer program. Staff said they are postponing policy changes for circulation and collection development until after the migration to the new system is complete.

Council members and staff praised the presentation and asked for materials to share with the public as the library completes the migration and rolls out loanable devices and upgraded meeting-room technology.

The presentation closed with staff inviting council members to public events such as the library’s Dia de los Niños event on April 30 and the first Hispanic-community event planned for March 21 at the recreation center.