The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: http://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/665812
A-4 Local Wednesday, April 13, 2016 The Press-Dispatch Voting Pro-Life means voting for candidates who not only say they are against abortion but are willing to vote to protect lives of the unborn. If you don't know how the candidates stand on the abortion issue, be sure to call us or visit www.daviesscountyrtl.com or watch the newspapers for our voter guide. If you vote for pro-abortion candidates, you are working against everything the Pro-Life Movement is trying to do. Pro-Life Please During This Election Year Paid for by Daviess County Right to Life, P.O. Box 41, Washington, IN 47501 As we begin this election year we want to encourage everyone to vote Pro-Life for all offices in this election year. Voting Pro-Life means voting for candidates who support the Right to Life for those born and unborn. So please vote Pro Life and encourage your family and friends to do so. The lives of the unborn are depending on you! Commissioners seeking Federal aid for proposed industrial park road project By Andy Heuring Pike County Commission- ers voted to recommend the county participating in a fed- eral aid road project dur- ing their Monday morning meeting. They also voted to accept an $ 89,000 check from Sun Energy to pay the county to pave a road in the far southeast part of Pike County. Commissioner Jeff Nelson and Ryan Coleman voted to approve the county submit- ting an application for feder- al aid on a project that could build an access road into a proposed industrial park near the I-69 interchange at Petersburg. Commissioner Brian Davis abstained from the vote. His family owns property affected by the project. The project is estimated to cost $ 3.1 million; howev- er, if it was approved for fed- eral aid, the county's portion of that bill would only be 20 percent or $ 620,000. Pike County Growth Council Director Ashley Willis said the project would provide access to 633 acres of the industrial park. She also said some mi- nor modifications have been made to the project. The main one is to combine phases one and two into one project. Troy Woodruff, of RQAW, an Indianapolis engineering firm, said it just made more sense to make the two phas- es one project. He also said the $ 3.1 million is a conser- vative estimate. "I would rather have it come in less than that, than have to come back and tell you we are go- ing to need more money," said Woodruff. COMMISSIONERS VOTE 3-0 TO ACCEPT CHECK FROM SUN ENERGY Highway Superintendent Roger Ham said Sun Ener- gy had a haul road that ran from Highway 64 to 900 E., a distance of about 1.5 miles. He said their agree- ment was to pay for paving about one mile of the road, and chip and seal the other half-mile. However, it was decided the county highway department could do the job for less money than a private paving company. Ham said this would allow them to pave more than one mile of the project. So, Sun Energy agreed to just pay the same dollar amount to the county. It was approved by a 3-0 vote. OTHER BUSINESS Commissioner Assistant Kristi Dischinger told the commissioners there were a couple of repairs that needed to be made to the courthouse. They included a chiller valve on the HVAC system. An estimate for the part was $2,200, not in- cluding the labor. A heating valve needed to be replaced at a cost of $ 690 and the au- tomatic door on the Ninth St., entrance need to be re- placed. She said the two es- timates were $2,090 and $1,680. She said the more expensive door was a heavy, better-made door. She also said they needed some signage on the doors to the courthouse warning people they could only en- ter in the Ninth St. door. She said shewanted to put a sign near the sidewalk on Eighth St. to keep people from climbing the steps to find they couldn't get in. Commissioner Davis sug- gested Dischinger prepare an additional appropriation for the bigger items and get the money for signs out of the commissioners' budget. The next meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Mon- day, April 18 in the court- house auditorium. This week I want to brag on our Otwell branch, run by mother-and-daughter team Ella and Emily Willis. Collection development is one of my responsibili- ties as director. Within cer- tain broad guidance, how- ever, book selection is de- centralized in our system. If there are differences be- tween the literary tastes of Winslow and Petersburg li- brary patrons, we want that difference reflected in the book selections for those branches. Branch clerks have their finger on the pulse, and know what's cir- culating and what's being re- quested at their desks. Other than our genealo- gy collection, I would say our biggest distinction is our large collection of In- spirational Fiction. Calling it "inspirational" is kind of like saying happy holidays instead of Merry Christ- mas. Our "inspirational fic- tion," truth be told, is Chris- tian fiction. Then there's the Amish Romance sub-genre. We have a substantial collec- tion of it. Our library's pa- trons are fascinated with our Amish neighbors to the north, and these books cir- culate well. At the other end of the fiction spectrum, we have what my grandma used to call "trashy novels." We have Jackie Collins, Dan- ielle Steel, Barbara Cart- land, Catherine Cookson— boy, do we have Catherine Cookson! But it's not the li- brarian's role to judge. If pa- trons want bodice-rippers, that's what we'll give them. Although the library is considered a dignified place, a repository of some of our civilization's highest art and analysis, we are eth- ically forbidden to suppress or exclude the works that we don't admire. We're not qual- ified to dictate what the ar- tistic or intellec- tual standards ought to be. That decision is up to each in- dividual patron. However, li- brarians are trained to bal- ance the col- lection. This is fairly simple for controversial or opinionated works. It's not hard to identi- fy the contrary opinion and seek out works that repre- sent it. But what about balanc- ing non-controversial liter- ature? What is the proper counterbalance to Stephen King, Robin Cook or Tom Clancy novels, or to Amish Romance? When I was a graduate student, Indiana University offered a rigorous graduate- level bibliometrics course in which future librarians learned to use statistical, quantitative methods to balance the character of a large library's collection. It was taught by the legendary Prof. Thomas Nisonger, a jol- ly Kris Kringle look-alike of unfailing good cheer and en- couragement. Such methods would be overkill for a small collec- tion like ours. But the con- cept of balance is neverthe- less valid for Pike County Public Library. Thus, from time to time, I issue Collec- tion Development Directives to the three branches. I still want the clerks to use their judgment, and to order what their branch pa- trons request, but I want them to balance the contro- versial as well as noncontro- versial books in our collec- tion. In our library system, I want to balance recreational reading (mostly fiction) with books that empower and equip our patrons. This is the gist of most of my Collection Development Di- rectives. I was especial- ly encouraged by the Otwell clerks' response to my most re- cent directive, in which I asked clerks at all three branches to select certain types of books of practical importance to our patrons. I felt we should begin to build a collection that helps strengthen marriage and families. Otwell ordered Seven Principles for Mak- ing Marriage Work by John Gottman; Building an Af- fair-Proof Marriage by Wil- lard Harley; and Rebuilding a Marriage Better than New by Cindy Beall. Are you having a hard time connecting with your child? Otwell has your book: The Five Love Languages of Children: The Secret to Lov- ing Children Effectively, by Gary Chapman. If you live closer to the Winslow or Pe- tersburg branches, you can request to have the book sent there for you. Is your youngster hoping for a breakthrough on the ball diamond this spring? Otwell has Baseball Strate- gies: The Top 100 Best Things That You Can Do to Great- ly Improve Your Baseball Game, by Ace McCloud. Are you coaching softball for the first time? Otwell has Soft- ball Skills and Drills, by Ju- di Garman. Yes, we still collect books on youth football (it's not my place to judge), but if you're concerned about any cumu- lative brain damage that might be in store for your lad, ask Otwell for What You Need to Know About Concus- sions by Kristine Asselin. If you're an experienced foot- ball player, this "isn't your first rodeo." Maybe you should call Otwell for Cop- ing with Concussion and Mild Traumatic Brain Inju- ry, by Diane Roberts Stoler. One of our long-range goals is to develop a collec- tion strength and reference expertise in postsecondary student financial aid. Much of this will be centered on databases and websites to which our library site will link. Our services will over- lap only slightly with those of high school guidance coun- selors, who are laboring val- iantly to inform upperclass- men about the opportunities, but are—by all accounts— swamped. In the long run, I hope we can help. Online links will be avail- able 24/7 and our clerks will be on duty all day Saturday, and until 8 p.m. on some weeknights. We're open all summer. We're available to parents, not just to stu- dents, and you can drop in at your convenience. No ap- pointment is needed. We be- lieve this will fill a commu- nity need that overworked school guidance counselors just can't fill. Program Coordinator Joe Dillon also will be facil- itating some informational events open to parents and students. We believe Pike County's richest resource isn't its coal or soybeans, but its brainpower. We are com- mitted to the fullest possible development of Pike Coun- ty's smartest young people. We haven't got our clerks trained for this yet, but we have a plan. In the meantime, the bet- ter student-athletes at Pike Central should ask for Ot- well's 12-Step Sports Schol- arship by Scott Marsh, or The Student Athlete's Guide to Getting Recruited: How to Win Scholarships, Attract Colleges and Excel as an Ath- lete, by Stewart Brown. I realize a lot of people don't want to go to college, or don't want to go to any more college. Otwell is building a collection for people who want to live self-reliantly in the country, and that's not as simple as it sounds. There's The Encyclopedia of Country Living, by Carla Em- ery. And Living Off the Grid: A Step-by-Step Guide to a More Self-Sufficient, Self-Re- liant, Sustainable Life, by Emerson Woods. Come and get it at Otwell, or we'll send it to Winslow or Petersburg for you. I hope this is the begin- ning of a library system of, by and for the community. Don't be bashful about tell- ing the staff what you'd like to have in your library. The Resurgent Library by Bart Stinson Balancing book selections in our local library collections Looking for an Auctioneer? Are you moving, downsizing or cleaning out the garage? Do you need some help selling your old items? We've got your back! Johny Ray Auction & Realty Call Johny Ray at, 812-598-3936 or visit website at johnyrayauction.com Johny Ray Dimmett Auctioneer/ owner Lic. #AU10800006 IPL donates for street light Mark Flint, of IPL, presented Petersburg Mayor R.C. Klipsch with a dona- tion of $7,500 for Petersburg's project to get new street lights along Main St. The new lights, with an old-fashioned style, were first put in place in front of the Downtown Terrace and Home Savings Bank's new building. Klipsch said he is hoping to get that style of lights throughout the downtown area. Plaque honoring Marvin Snyder Winslow Town Council President Greg Simmons and Community Center Director Henry Nelson display a plaque that will be placed in the Commu- nity Center and naming the it the Winslow Marvin Snyder Community Cen- ter. Snyder created a trust that generates several thousand dollars a year to be used to help fund the Community Center. The plaque was presented at Monday night's council meeting.