Traer Public Library’s new digital message board pictured this past August. PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER

Thanks to the generosity of several local families, the Traer Public Library now has a spiffy new digital sign to welcome visitors and share library happenings in a clear, modern manner.

As much as some local residents may miss the former, traditional sign that required changing the message by hand, the hiccups it created often left library employees literally out in the cold.

“The previous ‘message board’ had served us well since the library renovation and addition in 2004,” Traer Library Director Diane Panfil said in an email interview. “However, it would often get frozen shut in the winter, leaving us with the same message for several weeks or even months.”

Finding out in April that you could have taken a watercolor class in the cozy Carnegie Library back in the cold of February is not exactly timely information.

But through the work of the library’s foundation, a new digital message board was purchased using Memorial funds. It was installed this past August much to the delight of Panfil and her coworkers.

PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER

“The sign was fully funded by the Traer Public Library Foundation,” Panfil said, “using generous donations from [three different] families.”

Memorials used toward the sign include one made by the family of F.R. (Bob) and Doris McMillan Madera – both Traer natives.

“Bob, in particular, was very grateful for the library and the librarians during his childhood years for opening his eyes to the world,” Panfil said.

A Memorial from the family of Harry Paul Madera – also a Traer native – was utilized as well.

“Harry was a ‘bookie’ all through his life,” Panfil said. “In his declining years, his oldest child would take him to browse in used book stores as he had done for most of his life.”

Thirdly, a Memorial made by the family of Lester and Sarah “Sally” Sevcik also helped fund the purchase.

“Sally was an avid reader,” Panfil said.

Donations from the Madera families used toward the sign totaled $23,200, while donations from the Sevcik family totaled $5,000.

The idea for the digital sign came about due to a similar sign that was installed at the Waterloo Public Library recently, Panfil said.

Traer’s new sign – purchased through Nagle Signs, Inc. of Waterloo – was installed inside the existing brick pillars that once supported the old sign and is updated wirelessly using communication software accessed through a library computer.

In addition to text, the new sign can also display images and photos, as well as play animations and video files. The sign has been in use for several weeks now, communicating general library information as well as promoting ongoing and upcoming library programming.

“The library would never have been able to purchase this sign within the constraints of our regular annual budget,” Panfil said. “We are so thankful to the Madera and Sevcik families for their generous donations.”

“We also thank all those who continue to donate funds to the Foundation, and for their continued support of our library. Without their ongoing support, we would not be able to offer many of the programs and ‘extras’ that are available for our community. For a small town, we have a magnificent library, with so much to offer.”

And now there’s a sign able to broadcast all that and more come rain or shine or the icy depths of an Iowa winter.

The Traer Public Library Foundation is a charitable tax-exempt organization and accepts any donations to help support the library.