PF library, museum offer digital journeys
Nathan Hansen, Post Falls Library information specialist, records Bethany Sandberg, youth services specialist for the Athol and Hayden libraries, during a children’s story time session. The Community Library Network YouTube channel and Facebook page display the live recordings in an effort to provide library services during the pandemic.
Photo courtesy of Denna Grangaard/Community Library Network
POST FALLS — One goal of libraries and museums is to provide public access to their archived materials.
In a pandemic, that effort becomes incredibly difficult.
Nathan Hansen, information specialist for the Community Library Network in Post Falls, has found a way to keep the doors of both the Post Falls Library and Post Falls Historical Museum open, at least online.
Hansen uploads video tours of the museum Monday-Friday at 3 p.m. With one week of the project completed, he expects to upload the remaining videos this week. He’s thrilled by the viewer turnout on the Community Library Network’s YouTube and Facebook pages.
“The goal is to help whet the appetite of some of our locals so they will visit their museum when it opens back up,” Hansen said.
Longtime Post Falls Historical Society member and museum volunteer Ted Fredekind led Hansen, at a safe social distance, through the museum, discussing the many items on display. Hansen then edited the content into a dozen videos.
Searching for continued means to interact with library patrons, Hansen also produced video tutorials for teen writing, poetry readings to celebrate National Poetry Month, and animated story book reading videos for children. He has focused on creating video content for users who would usually attend programs in brick and mortar locations.
John Hartung, director of the Community Library Network, said the libraries average 1,600 visits per day. In January of this year, the network received over 47,000 visits.
“Even though people can’t come into our building right now, we’re hoping they will allow a little piece of the library into their homes,” Hansen said.
Stepping back through time with Fredekind, Hansen was amazed to learn that Post Falls was once home to one of the largest horse racing tracks in the region. The mile-long Alan Race Track, built in 1910, held 5,000 spectators in its grandstand. Many in that crowd rode the electric railcar from Spokane to watch races that occurred every day. At the time, Post Falls had a population of 700.
The story is detailed in the second Post Falls Historical Museum episode produced by Hansen, “A Hitch in our Giddy-Up,” available at: https://bit.ly/3aqAZpO