Senior asks district to support connecting library to South Dakota Digital Consortium

Kayla, a senior who introduced herself to the board, asked the district to support her senior project to connect the community library to the South Dakota Digital Consortium using the Libby app. She said the service would give residents access to more than 50,000 digital books, audiobooks and magazines and estimated the district’s share of the annual cost at $600. "My name is Kayla. For those of you who don't know me, I'm a senior," she told the board.

Board members discussed logistics and funding sources. The presiding speaker encouraged Kayla to seek city and community-library contributions and said the district could consider covering part of the cost but preferred a shared community arrangement. The board also clarified that the consortium enforces a roughly 15-mile residency radius for patron eligibility and that joining would not require per-user fees; the student reported 180 survey responses with roughly 75% indicating they would use access. The board asked Kayla to continue outreach and return with updates if she encounters any barriers.