March 2025 | Issue 14

From the Librarian's Chair...

You asked, we delivered

During our community input sessions, our community asked for more space for meetings and individual work.

We are pleased to present our response to this request: an additional study room, available to check out (for free) with a library card.

We have 2 study rooms available, a large community room, and the discovery room available for public use.

You can reserve the room online at wpl.org - Services or contact the front desk at (620) 221-4470.

Thank you for using your library!

Winfield Public Library Board Meetings are Open to the Public

The Winfield Public Library Board will meet on the 2nd Tuesday of each month at 4:00 pm in the Winfield Public Library's Community Room.

These meetings are open to the public.

The next meeting is Tuesday, March 11, 4:00 pm at WPL.

Adult Services

TED Talk Lunch Series: "Why some anger can be good for you"

Join us Thursday, March 13 at noon for this month's TED Talk as we view and discuss "Why some anger can be good for you" by anger researcher Ryan Martin. Drawing from his career studying what makes people mad (and what they do with that anger), Martin's thoughtful talk explains some of the cognitive processes behind anger and why it can actually be useful.

Anxious People

Bookn’ with Friends, WPL's adult book club, will meet on Monday, March 31 at 6:30pm to discuss Anxious People by Fredrik Backman. Selected to meet the 2025 Reading Challenge topic “set in another country,” this 2019 book by the author of A Man Called Ove takes place at an apartment open house in Sweden. It's the charming and somewhat quirky tale of a crime that never took place, a would-be bank robber who disappears into thin air, and eight extremely anxious strangers who find they have more in common than they could have imagined.

Galaxy Paint Night

Join WHS art teacher Carlyn Apley for an evening of celestial creativity. Using the paint pouring method, participants will create a swirling, galaxy-inspired painting on an 8x10 canvas panel.

Children's Services

Sensory Saturday

Sensory Saturdays are fun, relaxed hands-on activities for children, geared for ages 8 and younger. Join us March 15, from 10am - noon to squish, build, create, and pretend!

More Fun Activities for Youth this Month

Fishing with Faith Brings Fishing Fun to Kids on Saturday, March 29

Southwestern College Senior, Faith Fondoble, has a fun, fishing-themed morning planned for children, grades K-5. Go "fishing" in the library, decorate snackle-boxes, and enjoy fishy stories.

ROLL into your Library and Check Out the New Adventure Kit! MAIN STREET SKATE!

We are thrilled to introduce a new family-friendly adventure kit to the library's offerings- Main Street Skate! This kit includes a family pass (good for 5 people) and fun roller-reads.

More about Main Street Skate

Community Connections

Community Health Needs Assessment

William Newton Hospital, in partnership with community stakeholders has presented the 2024 Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA) for Cowley County, Kansas.

This important report details the unmet Health Needs of our residents. These top priorities were identified as a result of the 2024 Cowley County CHNA.

Housing: Increase availability of safe & affordable housing
Food & Nutrition: Educate about food & nutrition to schools, families, & community (e.g. food is medicine)
Youth & Child Services: Enhance the impact of existing resources (e.g. Parents as First Teachers, adult literacy programs, teen pregnancy, Cowley ACTS Childcare Team)
Substance Use/Misuse: Develop a crisis-to-wellness process for multi-agency monitoring to address substance use/misuse
Healthcare Access: Educate about health & wellness services to address lack of knowledge
Transportation: Increased access to help residents get to/from healthcare appointments, obtain food, & utilize support & safety-net services