
FORT KNOX, Ky. — Since Nancy Chiara took over as director of Barr Memorial Library in January, she has begun to strategically shape her unique vision for the facility.
Many programs developed previously will remain in place, including the celebrated Star Wars Reads and other Star Wars-themed events. Others will be tweaked or developed with an eye on children’s education.
“Because I was a school teacher and school librarian for so long, I really want to invigorate some of the youth programs,” said Chiara, who has an EdD of Education in Technology. “We have already spoken to the leadership at both the School Age Center and Devers [Middle School and Teen Center] to start incorporating and sharing, and having the kids come over here once a week for programs specific to them.”
She said her staff will team up directly with the youth to find out how best to shape those programs, which she plans to start in the fall.
“We’ll mesh with them,” she said. “We’ll have a technology focus one day – maybe some programming or robotics in our Maker Space. Then another week, it will be something more academic; teaching them some of the skills that they’ll need in school and the workforce.
“We’ll do it in a fun and entertaining way.”
Chiara said the library is primed to implement some of these programs since they just completed a massive software change. All U.S. Army libraries operated under their own cataloging system until June when they merged with the other Defense Department branches.
The new system, called the DoD MWR Digital Library, can be accessed at https://www.dodmwrlibraries.org.
“We all have the same system now, so our patrons may see some changes in how they can access the DOD system: making holds on items, for instance," said Chiara. "The look and feel is a little different. It’s a work in progress.”
She said the staff is happy to help anyone walk through the new system who has concerns with it.
One program yet to be finalized in the new DOD system involves interlibrary loans, where patrons seeking a book that their library doesn’t have can request it from another library. Chiara said while DOD irons out its system, she is working on solutions to be able to track loaned works.
She and her staff are working on developing programs from outside the Fort Knox community that will run in the fall. One of those is a visit by Kentucky Shakespeare.
“We’ll have them come down and do a show for the littles all about fairytales,” said Chiara. “For the older kids, Hip-Hop Shakespeare and how to stage combat fighting. There are a couple of different programs and workshops they have.”
Another organization the library plans to bring in is the Kentucky Science Center.
“We’ll have them come down and lead a hands-on activity in our Maker’s Space,” said Chiara. “They’ll give the kids a scenario and then the kids have to come up and do some problem solving with the tools they’ve been given.”
Chiara said her biggest focus with each program is arming children with information they can use to succeed in school and beyond.
“I always want to have an academic, fun way to integrate science and technology into some of our programs,” said Chiara.
Even the tried-and-true Storytime program will have a new twist to it.
“We plan to add some literacy skills to it; add some takeaways for the parents so they’ll have some tools that they can work on with their kids – especially the littles who are preparing for kindergarten,” said Chiara. “All the studies show the number one indicator of success in school is the ability to read.”
Other programs she and her staff continue to work on involve the youth. Two recent success stories include a fantasy quest map-making exercise and decorating ducks that included cosplay.
“That actually got national recognition,” said Chiara. “We put it on our Facebook page and there were libraries all around the country that said, ‘This is a great idea. We love seeing these kids.’”
Chiara said her staff is also planning to set up a haunted library for the children and youth around the Halloween season.

Families and retirees are the most common patrons to the library, said Chiara. She hopes to encourage other populations that might not consider the library a place of interest.
“We have a lot of video games that people can check out,” said Chiara. “We have Roku to plug into your television and watch streaming TV. There are plenty of things beyond the print collection, and we also take a lot of requests for things we may not have in the library but can purchase.
“Our headquarters has been extremely supportive for all of this, and we take all the input from our patrons into consideration – that’s who we’re here for.”
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