The Lanier Library has hired a summer intern to help out among the shelves with the help of a grant from the Polk County Community Foundation.

Kelsey Staffelbach, a rising junior at Polk County High School, has been helping with inventory several hours a week since June and will continue to work throughout the summer. This is, she said, her first job, preferred over working at a Hendersonville fast food restaurant. She has plans to attend medical school after graduation.

Staffelbach had worked previously in the library at Polk County Middle School. She is, she said, a lover of reading herself, and enjoys working among the shelves in the historic library. Doing inventory, she said, “makes me want to check out all the books.” As a gift to her family, she bought a family membership to the library with some of her earnings. “My little brother is happy about it,” she said.

Vonda Krahn, the library’s administrator, said, “We are very happy to have her. She’s very reliable and works hard while she is here, and we appreciate the fact that the Polk County Community Foundation grant gave us the opportunity to have her.”

The Lanier Library is the oldest civic institution in Tryon, founded in 1890 by a determined group of women, and is one of only a handful of membership libraries still operating in the United States. The library was named for poet Sidney Lanier, who died in Tryon and whose widow donated two of his books to start the library’s collection, which today numbers over 23,000 books, periodicals CDs, DVDs, VHS and cassette tapes.

In a nod to the past and to those who still value traditional ways, the library has kept its card catalog file in addition to an online system for accessing the collection.

For more information about becoming a member, call 828-859-9535, or visit the library’s website at lanierlib.org.

– article submitted by Gina Malone