Around branch library, diverse Oak View neighborhood takes shape

If you check out Oak View, be sure to check out Oak View.

Likewise, if you check out Oak View, be sure to check out Oak View.

That’s because, perhaps more than any other neighborhood in Sioux Falls, the northeast Oak View neighborhood and Oak View Branch Library intertwine in a way that benefits both.

The 19-year-old library at 3700 E. Third St. and the neighborhood, once home to spacious farms now converted to single-family homes, apartments, schools and businesses, have come together to make sure needs are met and that families and individuals have a place to call their own.

On a recent weekday afternoon, Alesandria Neely brought her five children to the library so they could return books, pick out new ones and play educational games on library computers. With four boys all old enough to enjoy computer time, using library resources eliminates a lot of impatience waiting for their turn to come up.

Neely estimates that her family visits the library two or three times a week.

“It’s part of our routine,” she said. “We do a lot of learning things here, and it’s a treat when I let them play regular games.”

When the Neelys leave, their arms will clutch movies the family can watch together and a book that Alesandria has picked out for herself. They often participate in the activities that the library offers for children such as story time.

Amy Larsen worked at the Siouxland Libraries’ downtown, Prairie West and Caille branches, moving to Oak View as branch librarian almost a year ago. In the past year, the number of walk-in visitors has increased almost 20 percent to about 10,000 per month.

“Part of that is the birth-to-5 programming has increased this year, family story time and baby story time,” Larsen said. “In September, we’re starting a preschool story time, so we’ll offer three a week. The programmers for story times have started incorporating more early literacy, kindergarten-readiness activities, and that seems to be a big draw.”

Another notable statistic: Oak View records the highest public computer usage outside the downtown branch library, averaging close to 2,000 computer logins a month. That, too, is a 20 percent increase from last year. Oak View offers 10 computers for adult usage and eight for children.

In addition, public usage of printing, scanning and faxing services takes place almost every hour at Oak View, Larsen said.

“It does serve a really good need in the community,” she said. “We’re also a gathering place for students and families. We have groups that use the meeting rooms on a pretty regular basis too.”

That increase in usage led to Mayor Paul TenHaken placing a request for one new staff member for Siouxland Libraries in his budget proposal for the upcoming year. It was approved by the Sioux Falls City Council, and that staff member will be assigned to Oak View.

With another staff person, outreach services such as homebound delivery and community room visits to senior centers will grow. “We can take some off waiting list and increase those services,” Larsen said.

The name Oak View itself was chosen after neighbors made suggestions for the library’s name. It honors the oak trees in the neighboring park. When the Oak View Neighborhood, the name given to the association of residents joined together to work for future needs, recently hosted a gathering for the National Night Out, library staff were there.

“We’re hoping we can reach even more people in the Oak View neighborhood,” Larsen said.

John Nordlie, who speculates that at 72 he might be the oldest resident in the Oak View area, serves as the Oak View Neighborhood president. He said the neighborhood originally was platted well over 100 years ago. When the young city of Sioux Falls was pursuing the possibility of serving as South Dakota’s capital, the Capitol would have been placed just east of Sycamore Drive, now called Sycamore Avenue. “Capitol Hill” was platted for homes, streets and “all sorts of state agencies,” Nordlie said.

Nordlie’s family moved to the area when he was 7. He would walk a mile to reach the rural Linwood School, then located where a fire station now stands on Sycamore Avenue. He and his cousins would play in the unused ground at Hills of Rest Cemetery, frequently being evicted by a caretaker named Powers. As a student at what was then Augustana College, a film class needed fresh snow for a movie it was making. Perhaps feeling kinder toward young adults than rowdy boys, the caretaker agreed.

Nordlie lived in Boston before returning to Sioux Falls. In 1999, his mother gave Nordlie and his wife, Valoy, a piece of land behind the family home. The Nordlies now have lived in the Oak View neighborhood for 25 years.

Nordlie describes Oak View as a diverse neighborhood that mingles multiple ethnicities. The neighborhood association covers a vast territory, from 10th to Rice streets and from Cleveland to Sycamore avenues. That wide an area can make it difficult to draw people in to participate in neighborhood events, Nordlie said, but smaller groups also have formed Neighborhood Watch areas.

“That’s a good thing. That gets people more active than block parties,” Nordlie said.

Oak View Neighborhood also benefits from the various businesses within its boundaries, everything from a Hy-Vee grocery and George Boom Funeral Home to food industries on Bahnson Avenue, car washes and Oh My Cupcakes.

Then there’s the schools. Washington High School and Anne Sullivan Elementary both stand within the boundaries, with the elementary just across the street from the Oak View branch library.

“Teens will use the quiet room to do homework and work on projects after school. From 3 to 5 (p.m.), there’s a lot of bustle going on here,” Larsen said. “People are picking up holds, teens from the high school come in to work on projects and study. Kids from Anne Sullivan come over as it’s a neighborhood place.”

By the end of the school year, the after-school programs will draw 60 to 100 participants, she said. The goal of the library’s teen programmer is to establish relationships with middle school and high school students, allowing more engagement when they come in to study.

“We want to think outside the box for new and exciting ways to engage with the students who come over after school,” Larsen said.

In the past year, Oak View has begun different partnerships to reach families and students. Staff visited Washington High School to promote the summer reading program and attended a job fair to show what resources it can offer when teens are looking for work. At Anne Sullivan, there was a push for library card sign-up before the summer began, and staff went to classes to talk about the summer reading program.

“That got them excited,” Larsen said. “We heard from parents that ‘We had to come back and see what we’re doing this summer.’ Making connections in the community has brought a lot of people in.”

The library’s adult programs, which are open citywide, also bring in people who may not be familiar with this branch, Larsen said.

Unlike the Prairie View and Caille branches, Oak View is not located on a main street, but its proximity to schools and Kenny Anderson Park with its soccer fields are pluses, Nordlie said. The library is in the middle of Oak View Park; that also draws people to the building, Larsen said.

“We do have a lot of people coming over before and after soccer practice; they get water, sit down and relax in the air conditioning and use the Wi-Fi on their phones,” she said. “A path goes around the library, and all kinds of people are walking their dogs in the morning. It’s great to see people using the space even when we’re not open.”

Oak View sometimes partners with the city’s Parks & Recreation Department to set up its mobile recreation unit, offering games on the library lawn.

While Oak View’s circulation may not be as high as the Caille or Ronning branches, it has increased almost 7 percent over the previous year, Larsen said.

“Sometimes, people say, hey, we didn’t even know a library was over here,” she said. “I’d say we have to try a little harder. That’s why we have our calendar online. We also have a library social media team. We try to say, look at all the great things we’re doing, and draw in people that might not necessarily otherwise come in.”

Its location also gives the branch library a special reputation.

“We are affectionately known as the library zoo,” Larsen said. “We had a bat in building; we had snakes in the building. There’s a cat that hangs around the parking lot, and a dog that we adopted for a day because we found it in the parking lot. We have deer that stare in our windows in the morning.”

Nordlie would like to see signage improved in the Oak View neighborhood to let residents and visitors know where they are. He also would like to see public art placed in the area, perhaps a sculpture on the library grounds.

“I was kind of in the artistic industry as a designer and builder of pipe organs, and I’ve got some ideas for it,” Nordlie said. “Hopefully, we can come up with something. I want something that’s monumental. I’m dreaming of that.”

Larsen’s staff — the branch librarian describes them as “phenomenal” — are eager to serve the neighborhood around them, she said. They look at themselves as connectors, helping their customers find who they need to connect with to get what they need.

Maybe it’s a proctored exam — Oak View staff can do that.

Maybe it’s mobile printing — the staff can show how a customer can use their phone to print out a document.

Maybe it’s just a place to sit on a patio in the shade.

Maybe they want to design their wedding invitations or Christmas cards.

“Some people stop in every week to make connections by getting onto their emails or Facebook to connect with families or friends,” Larsen said. “There are all different kinds of things we see them come in to use the library for.”