Getting others excited about the Swan Valley Library

SWAN VALLEY – Swan Valley resident Jenny Kauffman was visiting the Swan Valley Community Library weekly before becoming a substitute librarian for Librarian Colleen Kesterson. When Kesterson decided to retire this fall, Kauffman was hired as the new librarian Nov. 14. She looks forward to sharing her love of reading with patrons, sharing her knowledge of technology and encouraging valley residents to utilize all the services the library can offer.

Kauffman has always loved to read. She reads a "big mix" of genres and said she will finish every book she starts regardless if she likes it or not.

"There has to be something good eventually," Kauffman said and laughed. "It may take me weeks because I don't like the book but I will finish it."

Kauffman has an associate degree in business. She worked in the billing department and reception desk at a large ophthalmologist office in New Jersey before moving with her family to the Swan Valley in 2010.

In addition to raising two children, Kauffman joined the Upper Swan Valley Historical Society board in 2015 and served for a few years. The past three years she has been helping digitally catalog all the donations and photos the USVHS has received over the years.

Since her daughter graduated in 2020 and her son is now in high school, Kauffman now has more free time. After filling in for Kesterson most of the summer, Kauffman was hired for the librarian position when Kesterson officially retired.

"I'm looking forward to meeting new people and welcoming them to the library and our community," Kauffman said adding that the Library attracts many visitors in the summer.

Kauffman said the biggest draw at the library is the WIFI. It is available 24 hours a day.

"Even if we are not open, people can access it from in their cars," Kauffman said.

Kauffman looks forward to sharing her computer skills with the community. She is happy to help anyone that comes in to access the computer or help people troubleshoot on their devices.

Just before Christmas, the library got all new monitors for the public computers as well as new headphones that have a microphone attached. This will allow audio capabilities for patrons who have a Zoom meeting or a conference call that requires them to talk. Missoula County also purchased a couple of Chrome Book computers that can be used in the library.

The Library will continue to host a Book Chat once a month at 1 p.m. on the second Wednesday of the month. In the past, participants have chosen the next month's book but there is also a list from Missoula Public Library they can choose from. She hopes to have the next month's book available at the book chat each month.

"We try to have different genres of books so that we appeal to a larger [number] of readers and broaden our comfort zones," Kauffman said.

She also hopes to continue a children's story hour when there is interest. This summer, she opened it up to children of all ages. However, once school started they all went back to school or started preschool.

Kauffman said they had a successful Summer Reading Program last summer that she hopes to continue.

"We talked at our last board meeting about upping the prizes to make it more appealing for next summer," Kauffman said.

In addition to the programs, books and Internet access, the Library also offers a lot of movies on DVD and audio books on CD. While Kauffman hopes to get a color printer in the future, they currently offer copying/printing/scanning with black ink.

Kauffman is hoping to rotate the book selection more often to keep things fresh. She can exchange books at the Missoula Public Library or make specific requests for books from other libraries and have it delivered for pick-up by the patron. She advised the process can take awhile since the books go through Missoula to the Flathead where they are picked up and delivered to the Swan Valley Library.

"We have the ability to get almost any book a person could want," Kauffman said.

Kauffman started building the library's social media presence last summer to help reach people in the valley and build interest in the library. She thinks that is going to help but realizes there are people in the community that do not use a computers or social media. She will continue to hang posters around town and write Swan Valley Library Highlights monthly in the Pathfinder to keep the community informed of the happenings.

"I would love to see the community use the library more," Kauffman said. "It's a cozy little place to just hang out."

The Swan Valley Library is a branch library of the Missoula Public Library. It is located on Highway 83 in Condon and is just north and adjacent to the Swan Valley Community Hall. The library is open Mondays and Fridays from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. and Wednesdays from 10 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. For more information call 406-754-2521.