INDIAN HILL
JOURNAL
Your Community Press newspaper serving Indian Hill 75¢
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2016
BECAUSE COMMUNITY MATTERS
Have you checked out the library lately? Branches open doors to display host of programs, services
LOCAL LIBRARY BRANCHES Blue Ash 4911 Cooper Road, 45242 513-369-6051 Deer Park 3970 E. Galbraith Road, 45236 513-369-4450 Greenhills 7 Endicott St., 45218 513-369-4441 Loveland 649 Loveland-Madeira Road, 45140 513-369-4476 Madeira 7200 Miami Ave., 45243 513-369-6028 Mariemont 3810 Pocahontas Ave., 45227 513-369-4467 Symmes Township 11850 E. Enyart Road, Loveland, 45140 513-369-6001
By Jennie Key, Marika Lee & Sheila Vilvens jkey@communitypress.com mlee1@communitypress.com svilvens@communitypress.com
Even temperatures in the teens can’t deter local library patrons. A few minutes before the doors fly open, patrons begin lining up outside the Deer Park branch of the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County. Arms loaded with books, they are eager to return what they borrowed and pick up a few new reads. Across town in Anderson Township the scene is the same. An empty parking lot quickly swells to 20 parked cars as the doors are unlocked in the morning and patrons welcomed inside. The public library continues to be an integral part of communities in Greater Cincinnati. The word library immediately brings to mind a building full of shelves of books and smart, bookish people to help you find the one you want. Even the name contains the Latin work for book. But the library has expanded like a Narnian wardrobe in recent years. While there is still a building filled with books, the universe of services and information for which it serves as a gateway is expanding exponentially and at a dizzying speed. Greg Edwards, deputy director of the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County says that’s not likely to change. His library system, the fifth busiest in the country, according to the 2015 Public Library Data Service statistical report, handed out its
MARIKA LEE/THE COMMUNITY PRESS
Children listen to a story during a Healthy Roots Foundation event at the Madeira Public Library.
600,000th library card in August and circulated more than 18 million items through its 41 branches. Lots of those items were books, and he says books will always be at the heart of library services, but his libraries are offering a lot more these days to meet the needs of those 600,000-plus card holders. Libraries can help patrons learn to download e-books and other electronic items and use e-readers. In addition to books, magazines and newspapers can be checked out in electronic form. Looking for a job? Your local library can help. Research for a school paper? Your local library can help. Need a computer to use for a couple hours? Try your local library. Homework too tough? Many branches have homework help. Delight your inner
crafter? Entertain your toddler? Feed hungry kids over the summer? Check out your local library. Want to learn how to sew? Make a button? Print and bind a book? Main Library’s MakerSpace. A makerspace is a place where creative people can gather, create, invent and learn. Customers of the Library have access to 3D printers, audio and visual equipment, laser cutters and engravers, sewing machines, cameras and other hardware and software tools that they can use for free to create pretty much anything they can imagine. Some machines require additional materials which may be bought for a fee. Upcoming programs are listed on the library’s website and patrons can reserve stations for up to an hour at a time to work on projects. Available equipment at the
MakerSpace at the Main Library includes: 3Doodler, Crayola Melt ‘N Mold Factory, button makers, Ellison die cutting machine, MaKey MaKey, Silhouette Cameo electronic cutting tool, 3-D printers, an audio recording booth, Canon DSLR cameras, a laser cutter/engraver, a large format vinyl printer/cutter, sewing stations, VHS to digital conversion, VHS to DVD conversion, cassette tape to digital conversion, slide and image scanner, high performance computers, and software packages to complete projects. Patrons may come to libraries for WIFI, to use printers or to escape the cold, or charge their phone. If near a school, children may spend time in the library because it’s close and it’s safe. They know the library workers at their branch. They can get help with homework.
There are three main themes to keep in mind when considering how local library branches are being used by their communities, according to Deer Park Branch Manager Natalie Fields. Libraries are used as a community space for learning, as a gathering space for common interests, and a place to borrow a book, movie, magazine music and so forth. The community learning space theme is both old and new, she said. “Libraries have always been a space people can go for information. Now we have homework centers in a number of our branches,” Fields said. Homework help is available Monday through Friday in Deer Park with peak hours being after school. There are students who drop by daily. Some even come on days off from school. Technology instruction is available at the public library See LIBRARY, Page 2A
Indian Hill approves raises for non-union employees Jeanne Houck jhouck@communitypress.com
Indian Hill Village Council has approved an average 3 percent wage hike for employees not covered by union contracts. The raises are effective Jan. 1 and will cost the village a total of $92,500 annually. There were no changes to benefits. The raises affect 12 police,18 water works and 28 administrative employees. Examples of the new salary ranges include $82,400 a year to 96,700 a year for police lieutenants, $21.65 per hour to $30.35 per hour for water works system maintenance workers, $80,000 a year to $119,225 a year for the finance director/tax commissioner and $16 an hour to $18 an hour for a part-time re-
CHOCOLATE IS LANGUAGE OF LOVE 7A Truffle recipes for kids and adults.
ceptionist/secretary. The numbers do not include things such as shift-differential and longevity payments. “Indian Hill has a continual goal each year: to run the village efficiently while providing exemplary, high-quality services to the residents,” City Manager Dina Minneci said. “A tremendous amount of knowledge, skills and public service is expected from our employees. “Village council and I feel village staff provides all of those things and more on a daily basis,” Minneci said. Minneci said she and Indian Hill Village Council are highly aware of the budget and the village’s future operational and capital needs. “However, the village feels
YOUR ONLINE HOME Find local news from your neighborhood at Cincinnati.com/ communities
Indian Hill City Manager Dina Minneci says village employees deserve raises because they work hard to allow Indian Hill to deliver high-quality services to its residents. Here's an asset kept up by Indian Hill employees: Radio Range Park on Indian Hill Road.
for other areas,” Minneci said. “Without these dedicated employees, no village goals or could ever be mission achieved.” Negotiations will kick off in the next couple months with the Ohio Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association, which represents 13 Indian Hill Police Department Rangers in a contract that ends May 31. A contract for the 24 village Public Works Department employees represented by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, Ohio Council 8 AFL–CIO, expires Aug. 31.
justified to appropriately acknowledge the continual ‘beyond the call of duty’ efforts and expertise that staff provides to
Want to know more about what is happening in Indian Hill? Follow me on Twitter @jeannehouck.
JEANNE HOUCK/THE COMMUNITY PRESS
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Vol. 17 No. 44 © 2016 The Community Recorder ALL RIGHTS RESERVED