Traverse des Sioux Library Cooperative Legacy Grant SFY 2014 - SFY 2015

Project Details by Fiscal Year
2014 Fiscal Year Funding Amount
$190,996
2015 Fiscal Year Funding Amount
$190,996
Fund Source
Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund
Recipient
Traverse des Sioux Library Cooperative
Recipient Type
Libraries
Status
In Progress
Start Date
July 2013
End Date
June 2017
Activity Type
Grants/Contracts
Fund Administration
Education/Outreach/Engagement
Digitization/Online Information Access
Research
Preservation
Counties Affected
Blue Earth
Brown
Faribault
Le Sueur
Martin
Nicollet
Sibley
Waseca
Watonwan
Blue Earth
Brown
Faribault
Le Sueur
Martin
Nicollet
Sibley
Waseca
Watonwan
Project Overview

Minnesota’s 12 regional public library systems, which encompass 350 public libraries in all areas of the state, benefit from a portion of the Legacy Amendment’s Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund. Through State Library Services, a division of the Minnesota Department of Education, each regional public library system receives a formula-driven allocation from the annual $3 million Minnesota Regional Library Legacy Grant.

Traverse des Sioux Library System (TdS) is a federated regional public library system providing central services located in southcentral Minnesota. TdS serves forty member public libraries in nine counties: Blue Earth, Brown, Faribault, LeSueur, Martin, Nicollet, Sibley, Waseca, and Watonwan. With Arts and Cultural Heritage funds, TdS and its member libraries present an array of arts, cultural, literary, and Minnesota history programs in collaboration with arts and cultural organizations, independent artists, historical societies, and community organizations. Programs contribute to the cultural vitality of the region and build a lasting legacy.

Legal Citation / Subdivision
Laws of Minnesota for 2013 Chapter 137, Article 4, Section 2, Subdivision 4
Appropriation Language

These amounts are appropriated to the commissioner of education for grants to the 12 Minnesota regional library systems to provide educational opportunities in the arts, history, literary arts, and cultural heritage of Minnesota. These funds shall be allocated using the formula in Minnesota Statutes, section 134.355, subdivisions 3, 4, and 5, with the remaining 25 percent to be distributed to all qualifying systems in an amount proportionate to the number of qualifying system entities in each system. For purposes of this subdivision, "qualifying system entity" means a public library, a regional library system, a regional library system headquarters, a county, or an outreach service program. These funds may be used to sponsor programs provided by regional libraries or to provide grants to local arts and cultural heritage programs for programs in partnership with regional libraries. These funds shall be distributed in ten equal payments per year. Notwithstanding Minnesota Statutes, section 16A.28, the appropriations encumbered on or before June 30, 2015, as grants or contracts in this subdivision are available until June 30, 2017.

2014 Fiscal Year Funding Amount
$190,996
Other Funds Leveraged
$63,801
Direct expenses
$254,797
Number of full time equivalents funded
.75
Measurable Outcome(s)

Total number of activities, programs and/or events: 157
Total attendance/participation: 23,067
Total number of partnerships: 112

Description of Funds
One region-wide program that took place over the summer was concerts by the GRAMMY Award­ Winning OKEE DOKEE Brothers. The first of these two performances took place at Le Sueur­Henderson High School Performing Arts Center. Partnerships with the Le Sueur-Henderson School District, as well as Drummer's Garden Center, Southern MN The Scene, area chamber of commerce offices and local media partnered with us for the success of the event in Le Sueur.

The second performance for the OKEE DOKEE Brothers took place in August at Trowbridge Park in Waseca. This outdoor concert took place on an ideal Minnesota summer evening. Partners for this location included the City of Waseca, Waseca Public Library, Waseca Floral, Southern MN The Scene, area chamber of commerce offices and local media. This event pulled in approximately 250-300 people, enjoying a beautiful night of music in the park.

At both performances, participants were singing and dancing along with the songs. Band members interacted with and encouraged participants, and led them in movements and dances. Anecdotal responses that came from the audience included, 'Thank you so much for this!', 'I love seeing the children dancing,' and 'this is fun for all ages!'.

A second program I want to highlight is the Rapidan Chautauqua Revival. This was an outdoor town festival that the Blue Earth County Library participated in collaboration with several other partners to promote local history through art and cultural exploration. Blue Earth County Library contracted several performers and presenters for the community event for attendees to enjoy including historians and storytellers.

Partners for the Rapidan Chautauqua Revival included St. John's Church, Rapidan Township, Blue Earth Co Ag Society, Rapidan Elevator, The Peddler (retailer), Buster's Bar and Grill, community volunteers.
Legal Citation / Subdivision
Laws of Minnesota for 2013 Chapter 137, Article 4, Section 2, Subdivision 4
Appropriation Language

These amounts are appropriated to the commissioner of education for grants to the 12 Minnesota regional library systems to provide educational opportunities in the arts, history, literary arts, and cultural heritage of Minnesota. These funds shall be allocated using the formula in Minnesota Statutes, section 134.355, subdivisions 3, 4, and 5, with the remaining 25 percent to be distributed to all qualifying systems in an amount proportionate to the number of qualifying system entities in each system. For purposes of this subdivision, "qualifying system entity" means a public library, a regional library system, a regional library system headquarters, a county, or an outreach service program. These funds may be used to sponsor programs provided by regional libraries or to provide grants to local arts and cultural heritage programs for programs in partnership with regional libraries. These funds shall be distributed in ten equal payments per year. Notwithstanding Minnesota Statutes, section 16A.28, the appropriations encumbered on or before June 30, 2015, as grants or contracts in this subdivision are available until June 30, 2017.

2015 Fiscal Year Funding Amount
$190,996
Other Funds Leveraged
$66,153
Direct expenses
$257,149
Administration costs
$9,550
Number of full time equivalents funded
.75
Measurable Outcome(s)

Total number of activities, programs, and/or events: 184
Total participation/attendance: 43,685
Total number of partnerships: 986

Description of Funds
The first program to highlight is a program that was done in Gaylord, MN called the "Winter Speakers Series." This program brought in amazing speakers that were very relevant to the cultural heritage and history of the State of Minnesota.

The library hosted a series of authors in the month of February. Every Tuesday, they had a speaker come and talk on a topic or the book they had published. The library started the series out with Wine Making & Tasting with Morgan Creek Winery. Georg Marti came and talked about wine making and their vineyard, and at the end we were able to try seven different wines from Morgan Creek Winery.

The second speaker was Garrett Ebling, author of "Collapsed: A Survivors Climb from the Wreckage of the I-35 Bridge." He talked about his experience and showed pieces of the bridge, afterwards he signed books for patrons.

The third speaker was Eldrene Ebert, from Gaylord, who is a part of the Sibley County Historical Society. She spoke about the process the Society did with collecting data for the book, and putting it together for publishing. She showed the end result: "Remembering Country Schools of Sibley County, Minnesota."

The final speaker in the series was Henry Boucha, author of "Henry Boucha, Ojibwa Native American Olympian." He talked about being a part of the NHL and being a part of the 1972 Olympic silver medal USA hockey team. He displayed many of his different jerseys and NHL and Olympic memorabilia. At the end he signed books and pictures for patrons. For Henry Boucha we expanded our advertising to communities close by that have hockey programs.

All participants enjoyed the program they attended and were looking forward to the next one. The library surpassed the proposed measurable outcomes that were set forth. Henry Boucha drew the most participants from out of our area. They came from Mankato, Janesville, and Belle Plaine. The Gaylord Hub, Arlington Enterprise, and Mankato Free Press all ran articles about Henry and the program to help with public relations and outreach. For the Wine Making & Tasting, 5 new participants attended. For Garret Ebling and Eldrene Ebert, there were 3 new people, and at Henry Boucha, there were 8 new people that had never attended a program.

This program enabled the library to host several different speakers of completely different backgrounds. At least one speaker in the series appealed to everyone, and many patrons returned to hear the next speaker in the series due to the wonderful experience they had. The library was able to pull in some really impressive people!

The second program to highlight is the regional tour we did with WCCO's Mike Lynch. Mike Lynch toured our area over the course of a month to present his Star Watch Party. Patrons made the stars their old friends as they watched the great celestial show in the skies. A night with the stars, constellations, planets, star clusters, nebulae, and more starts off with an indoor orientation followed by quality time outside under the heavens. They had the opportunity to use large reflecting telescopes, including two giant 20 inch reflectors that are among the biggest mobile telescopes in Minnesota for close-up views. For some telescope targets it was even possible to take photos with cell phone cameras!

We partnered with 17 of the libraries in our region to deliver this program to 640 patrons! The class was in two parts. In the first part patrons learned the history of the names of constellations, and also learned how to read a star map. Then, Mike took everyone outside where the real hands-on fun began! The sights seen in the sky were incredible. Mike stayed around as late as the patrons wanted him to; even as late as 1Opm in some locations.

What was really neat about this program was that we had a local Minnesota celebrity present. Our patrons thought it was so cool that Mike Lynch from WCCO was in their town! Newspapers and media jumped all over it, causing lots of buzz for our libraries and highlighting the general statement that we do some really fun things in our libraries in southern Minnesota. It was very good public relations for us.

Another thing that really made this program stand out was the ability for Mike to include people of all ages in his presentation. We had so many families attend together, and each member of the family was able to participate and learn something. It was so fun to see the interactions between family members, neighbors and friends in our libraries. This program really brought the community together in a way that we haven't seen at other programs. Many families talked to their children about getting a telescope at home so they could continue to learn and watch the stars together as a family. We opened the door to a new family-time hobby for some, right at our libraries!
Project Manager
First Name
Dayle
Last Name
Zelenka
Organization Name
Traverse des Sioux Library Cooperative
Street Address
1400 Madison Avenue Suite 622
City
Mankato
State
MN
Zip Code
56002-5488
Phone
(507) 625-6169
Email
dzelen@tds.lib.mn.us
Administered By
Administered by
Location

1500 Highway 36 West
Roseville, MN 55113-4266

Phone
651-582-8200