Library celebrates top award

City dignitaries, library board members, and members of the public converged on Marion City Library Monday to celebrate the library achieving top honors in an annual contest.

Visitors were treated to cookies, cake, and punch after Mayor Todd Heitschmidt gave head librarian Janet Marler a plaque from Library Journal, a national library association that rates libraries in the nation.

The more a library does with its available budget, the higher its rating. Criteria include budget, per-capita circulation, number of visits, number of programs and attendance at the programs, public internet usage, and e-circulation.

Marion City Library was the only Kansas library in its budget category to get 5-star honors, and this is the first year the library has taken home a top rating.

Books, DVDs, magazines, newspapers, audiobooks, puzzles, games, and cake pans can be checked out at the Marion library. It also offers book clubs, Interlibrary loans, copier, fax and scanning services, public computers, internet and Wi-Fi access, genealogy archives, and microfilmed editions of Marion County Record starting with 1875.

The library sponsors annual book sales, plant sales, quilt shows, and Christmas home tours.