By Jane Schuchardt
Special to The Elgin Review
Editor’s Note: This continues a series of monthly articles celebrating pride in our town and its surroundings shown through the experience of residents and organizations.
One plus one equals three. If you question the validity of that simple arithmetic problem, meet Elgin Public Library’s duo Barb Bode and Dianne Gunderson. Our town’s librarians, both former Elgin Public School teachers for a whopping total of 72 years, are a team extraordinaire.
During their tenure, Elgin library participation (in an era where online everything gets so much attention) is on the rise. For example, consider registered accounts, now at 254, up 29 from last year.
And the children, oh the precious children, allow these retired teachers to continue their lifelong passion in another way.
With broad smiles and a spring in their steps, both proudly sport a shirt emblazoned with the sage advice – In a World Where You Can Be Anything, Be Kind.
That was the theme of the library’s June 2023 summer reading program called Camp Kindness. Bode and Gunderson organized story time, crafts, and snacks attracting 40-50 preschoolers twice a week. Thirty more elementary school-aged children also participated once a week for activities. “Word is getting out that this is a great program,” Bode said.
Outside of the library, children are front and center as well. Gunderson, a 1976 education graduate of the University of Nebraska-Kearney, originally from Ravenna, NE, has three children and four grandchildren. Bode, a 1977 University of Nebraska-Lincoln graduate in the College of Education and Human Sciences and a 1988 Wayne State graduate with a master’s degree in counselor education, has three children and six grandchildren.
For the rest of this story, see this week’s Elgin Review.
