Est. 1817 City of Pawnee

Department 05

Library

A separate, independently governed agency that happens to share a budget hearing room with Parks & Recreation. Relations are, and have always been, tense.

NOTICE: This department does not answer questions directed at the Parks Department. Please read that again.

What We Do

Books, quiet, and open hostility

The Pawnee Library system operates independently of city government proper, with its own board, its own budget, and its own long-standing rivalry with the Parks & Recreation department. It's currently led by Deputy Director Tammy Swanson, who has never once considered a lot dispute closed.

Circulation

Lending & Collections

Books, periodicals, and an unusually well-defended local history archive. Late fees are enforced with more rigor than most municipal ordinances.

Programs

Reading Programs

Story time, summer reading challenges, and teen programming, all scheduled to deliberately conflict with Parks & Recreation events whenever possible.

Facilities

Parking Lot Disputes

The shared parking lot between the library and Founders' Park remains a matter of ongoing, unresolved dispute.

Department Notices

Posted where Parks Department staff absolutely cannot see them

Circulation Desk

Overdue Notices Now Laminated

For durability, and so they are harder to accidentally shred. This was not a joke suggestion.

Board Notice

Parking Lot Fence Proposal Tabled

Again. The board thanks residents for their strongly worded comments and will not be changing course.

Youth Services

Summer Reading Program Begins

Prizes awarded per book completed. Please do not ask the Parks Department to co-sponsor anything, ever, again.