Cape public library wants to double size of its children's area

A visitor walking into the Cape Girardeau Public Library after 3 p.m. on a weekday is likely to notice the pulsing energy coming from the children's section.

About 20 children, most from nearby St. Vincent de Paul, spend their after-school hours in this area of the library.

The older students, ages 13 or 14, gather around a table in the back playing with cell phones or flipping through magazines. The younger students crowd around the four computer consoles and play video games or work on assignments using Microsoft Word.

"They're at the age when they've got to socialize. It's an important part of who they are. They just got out of school and they're full of energy, so we let them do that," said Youth Services coordinator Sharon Anderson. "They also need to eat. They're burning calories and they're running on empty by the time they get here,"

Anderson said some years ago the needs of children caused the library to ease its "no food or drink" policy, and the library has had few problems since. Anderson said the only rules she typically enforces with youngsters are: no sodas near the computer, clean up after yourself and be respectful of other library users.

Luke Hinkebein, 13, said the rules generally work. "It's not really that strict. If we get too loud then they'll come back and tell us to quiet down."

Hinkebein comes to the library every day that he doesn't have basketball practice. He says he generally stays for two hours.

"I do my homework, talk to friends, read magazines," he said.

Hinkebein said his parents like knowing that he's at the library. It means he's safe and out of trouble.

Madeline Dufek, 13, agreed. "My parents think it's safe to stay here. I'm taken care of, and I'm not going around walking anywhere by myself."

'Just a fun place to be'

Dufek comes one or two times per week and finishes a good chunk of her homework on most days. When her class was assigned a project on Greek civilization last year, she said, the library staff put out books and helped students with research.

"It's just a fun place to be," she said of the library.

Another St. Vincent student, Austin Harter, 12, spends two to three hours at the library three times per week. In recent months he's read the first book of the Harry Potter series and C.S. Lewis' "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe." He's also become an expert at RuneScape during his after-school library time. It's a medieval role-playing game in which he plays a warrior-character he created.

Parents are thankful for the library, which they say provides a controlled, supervised environment for children who have outgrown St. Vincent's day-care program.

"I think it's really safe. I feel good about having them come here," said Carlene Cieslewicz, whose daughter Emily, 9, comes to the library after school. "It gives them a chance to be individuals. The librarians know their names, and they don't have to walk too far to get here from school."

But the library staff thinks the children's section needs to expand. Children typically must wait to use one of the four computer consoles and must rotate out after 15 minutes if they're not doing homework.

"I usually use the computer for 15 minutes, and then if I have to get up then I go and sign back up again and wait," said 13-year-old Jacob Beasley, a Central Junior High School student who spends about two hours per day in the library after school.

Additionally, say proponents of a $9 million expansion, the children's area does not have a proper staging area for educational shows or reading time.

In 2005, 243 children's programs were attended by 10,566 children, but most took place in the library's nondescript meeting room.

The location of the children's area, next to the entrance, is equally unsatisfactory, say librarians. It means loud voices tend to carry into other sections of the building.

"It only takes one happy or unhappy child and everybody is aware of it," said library director Betty Martin.

The new plan, to be voted on Feb. 6, calls for doubling the size of the children's area. One of possibly three new library staff members hired with the money would be assigned to monitor the area.

Additionally, the section for younger children will be separated from the main area with transparent dividers so parents can keep an eye on children while reading in another room.

Other adult library users come only to surf the Internet. For many, the 16 computers are essential. "It's the only access to Internet I have," said Bob Gowen of Cape Girardeau, who comes to the library three or four times weekly.

"I use it to communicate with friends, I use eBay and I do research on here," Gowen said.

Others say they come to the library for a comfortable space to relax and read periodicals.

"I like to read, but you know, sometimes I just come to get out of the weather," said Jim Joeckel, a grain elevator operator in McClure, Ill., who was looking over an issue of The New Yorker.

"I can't check out books here. My status is temporary. ... But I guess I still come here about three times per week," he said, noting he saves money on newspaper and magazine subscriptions in the process.

A study commissioned by the library indicates that Cape Girardeau residents receive $3 in benefits for every dollar of operating costs. The benefits include savings on book purchases, magazine and newspaper subscriptions, Internet use and DVD rentals.

The $34 average cost of the property tax per person "is equivalent to only 10 cents a day or about the cost of two new hardback books per year," Martin said.

tgreaney@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 245