Mt. Pleasant library expands its services

Anyone can find just about anything at a local library these days: books, DVDs, in-depth descriptions of histories local and familial - and these services keep on growing.

Mt. Pleasant's public library has expanded its services to include notary services, updated microfilm records of the Mt. Pleasant News, and free access to ancestry.com.

Four of the library's current staff members have become certified notaries: Sami Davis, Amber Keagle, Kayleigh Septer, and Bekah Hosford. The title empowers them to witness signatures, copy certified documents, and verify individuals' identities in a legal capacity.

The process of becoming a notary was relatively straightforward, according to Keagle. 'There's an application. You print it out, fill it out, and send it in.” Once the applications were accepted, they received certificates that can be seen hanging in the library.

With proof of identity from a patron and a rubber stamp from the notary, the newly certified staff will be available to provide the service during the library's operating hours.

In addition to the notary services, the library's collection of microfilm has grown, adding to the catalog of Mt. Pleasant News issues from years gone by.

'We want to make sure there's a historic copy of the Mt. Pleasant News,” said Jeffrey Meyer, the library's director.

The microfilm records contain documents as far back as 1892. This recent update made the library current from 2013-2017 and was made possible via a $1,500 grant from the State Historical Society - specifically, the Historical Resource Development Program - in Des Moines. The grant can be awarded to public institutions seeking to make history accessible.

The final new feature - ancestry.com - is supplied by the Mt. Pleasant Library Foundation. So long as users are on the library server, they have free access to the website. Meyer describes the site as 'easy to use,” but Septer - the resource librarian - is able to help individuals who might have trouble navigating the site.

There have already been some patrons in to use it, and in them Meyer has picked up on a common occurrence. 'People always say they're Norwegian, Italian, German, or Irish, but people don't realize how much they're from the British Isles,” he said. 'I've had people discover that they're 20 percent or 30 percent British without realizing it.” He attributes this to the original 13 colonies being comprised mainly of British citizens. 'You get the story of the boat ride from Norway passed down, but not the mixing that occurred here.”

Meyer went on to describe family lineage not as a trunk, but as branching doors - much like a ruthless trail of paperwork, or a deep dive back to 1892 - it could lead anywhere.