Visit the Lois Nelson Public Library Online Catalog to browse media selections and make reservations. Contact the library to received an access bar code.
Mission Statement: Princeton Lois Nelson Public Library Provides a place where people can meet and interact with others in the community and participate in public discourse. The Library provides current topics and titles that help supply the information of popular cultural and social trends. The Library offers formal learning support for students enrolled in the public, private, or home schools. It also provides lifelong learning services for personal growth, entertainment, and development opportunities for all ages.
Vision Statement: Princeton Lois Nelson Public Library is a gathering place for all citizens of the community to come for information, education, entertainment and socialization.
Library Card
To obtain a Lois Nelson Public Library Card, please fill out a Library Card_Application:
- A valid Texas driver’s license
- If your driver’s license does not show your current address, please bring a bill showing your name and address
- Children under 17 will need to be accompanied by a parent or guardian in order to get a card.
- Replacement of Library Card – $1.00
Policies
CHECK-OUT
- Patrons may check-out 6 items at a time (an item is one DVD, or one book).
- Only 4 DVD’s may be checked-out to one family or household at a time. So, even though you can check-out 6 items, you may only check-out 4 DVD’s. You can take out 4 DVD’s and 2 books, or 6 books. But if you have a family member who lives with you) has 3 DVD’s already checked out, then you can only get 1 DVD.
- Books are on loan for 2 weeks at a time. The due date will be stamped inside the book. You can call in (with the author’s last name, and the title), give your name to the librarian, and the books can be renewed, so you can keep them out for another 2 weeks. Books can only be renewed over the phone one time. After that, you can bring them in, and if no one else has requested the book, you may take it out again.
- Movies are on loan for 1 week. This covers DVD’s. There are a few exceptions: those DVD’s that are an entire series or season, are on loan for 2 weeks. The librarian will let you know when you check these exceptions out and they will be stamped with a 2 week due date. Movies can also be renewed over the phone one time.
- Over-due fines are 15 cents a day. Saturday and Sunday do not count, since we are not open. Since we are new at having fines at all, there is a one week grace period for now. In other words, if you bring your movie in a few days late, the fines will be excused. But if the movie is over a week late, you will have to pay a fine for the entire time.
- Lost or damaged items need to be paid for. Standard fines are $15 for books, $25 for movies and $3.00 for damaged material.
- Library privileges (which include borrowing items, and use of the computer) will be suspended if items are not returned or fines are not paid.
COMPUTER
- Patrons may use the internet for one hour at a time. If we are not busy, and there are plenty of computers for everyone, then there are no time limitations. If it is busy and there are people waiting to get on the computer, patrons who have been on the computer for an hour or more will be asked to log-off. If you are working on something like a job application or a resume or a test and you need more time, please ask the librarian.
- One patron per computer is the rule and other people’s privacy must be respected.
- There is no inappropriate language allowed in the library and no inappropriate images are to be viewed on the computer. Voices must be kept down so that other patrons are not disturbed.
- There is no food allowed in the library. This includes candy and snacks. Drinks are not allowed.
- Children who cannot sit still, spin in their chairs, kick the computers, or are otherwise disruptive, are too young to use the computers.
- Patrons need to bring their own headphones.
- Please delete any photographs or files that you are using (from the library computers) when you are done.
- Patron’s who cannot abide by these rules AND WHO HAVE BEEN ASKED 3 TIMES TO FOLLOW THEM will be asked to leave and library privileges (which includes borrowing items, and use of the computer) will be suspended and/or revoked, depending on the circumstances.
UNATTENDED CHILDREN IN THE LIBRARY
- Children under thirteen (13) may not be left unattended. Parents or guardians are responsible for the behavior of their children in the library. A sibling and/or a babysitter (age 16 or older) may accompany a young child; however, if the sibling or babysitter cannot control the younger child, the younger child shall be considered unattended.
RETURNING BOOKS AFTER HOURS
The Library has an outdoor drop-box located next to our front door. Items can be put inside the drop-box if you need to return them when we are closed.
Donations
Book Donations: At this time, the library cannot accept book donations due to space limitation. Books should not be deposited in the book-drop or left outside the building.
Lois Nelson Public Library appreciates and accepts donations from individuals and groups at the discretion of the Library Director. However, there may be times when new material cannot be accommodated due to space restrictions. Once received the donations become unconditional property of the Library and can be subject to disposition at the discretion of the Library Director and/or staff. We ask that all donations be made inside the library during business hours and not in the book-drop or outside the door.
Material Donations:
The following items will not be accepted:
- Nonfiction books that were published more than five years ago. This includes many reference, technical, tax, legal, medical, educational, and investment items.
- Encyclopedia sets unless they are published within three years of the current year.
- Items that are unusable: dusty, dirty, moldy, or smelly.
- Items that have been kept in storage.
- Items that have been ripped, torn, marked, or water-damaged.
- Condensed books.
- Newspapers.
- Phonographs or vinyl records.
Monetary Donations:
Monetary donations are quickly and easily used to supplement and provide additional library materials and services. Though the Library accepts cash designated for specific purposes, money can be more effectively used when funds are allocated to the areas of greatest need. Money designated for specific purposes must be approved by the Library Director before the Library can accept.
Princeton ISD: The Library would like to thank PISD for the donation of computers, keyboards, mice and cables. These items gave the library an additional 6 computers to the Computer Center.
Texas-New Mexico Power Company: Lois Nelson Public Library would like to thank TNMP for their continued support. Thanks to their generous donation the library will be making improvements in the Children’s Center.
New Library Building: City of Princeton would like to thank Mrs. Frankum’s generous donation to build a new library.
Tocker Foundation: Thank you very much for the new furniture and shelving for the new library.
Gifts from the Tocker Foundation: It is my pleasure to inform you, through the generosity of the Collection Enhancement Program of the Tocker Foundation of Austin, Texas, the Lois Nelson Public Library has been selected to receive free books from publishers in the Texas Book Consortium and Texas A&M University Press.
Grant Awarded: We would like to thank Ladd & Katherine Hancher Library Foundation for the grant awarded to the Lois Nelson Public Library for two (2) AWE Early Literacy Station Computers for the Children’s Center.
Grant Awarded: Lois Nelson Public Library is pleased to announced it is a recipient of a grant from the Texas-New Mexico Power Company (TNMP) in the amount of $7,780.00 to purchase one AWE Early Literacy Station/Bilingual and one AWE Afterschool Computer for the Children’s Center. Our thanks to the TNMP for their generosity!
Volunteers
The library always has room for more volunteers. If you are interested in volunteering at the library, please contact Cathy Dunkel, Library Director, at (972) 736-3741 or email at [email protected].
Volunteer Opportunities at the Library: The Lois Nelson Public Library relies on its volunteers to help out in many areas of the Library. Volunteering allows you to satisfy the desire to serve the community. The Library’s Volunteer Program offers opportunities to Satisfy Community Service requirements.
We have several volunteer positions for a variety of ages and skills. For most volunteer positions, the Library requests that volunteers commit to volunteer a minimum of 1 to 2 hours a week for at least 6 months. To Volunteer you must be at least 16 year of age.
Library Advisory Board:
Applicant must:
- Be residents of Princeton, Texas
- Be willing to attend regularly schedule meeting
If interested, fill out an application and turn it in at Princeton City Hall.
Library Advisory Board
- Place 1: Vacant
- Place 2: Savannah Rubio
- Place 3: Samantha Peters
- Place 4: Sarah Strawinski
- Place 5: Nancy Morrison
Meeting Date: Monthly on the third Thursday
Meeting Time: 6:30
Meeting Place: Lois Nelson Public Library, 323 McKinney Ave.
If you are interested please fill out an application and turn it into City Hall.
Nepotism- Boards & Commissions
Library Board Ordinance
Mrs. Lois Nelson
Mrs. Lois Nelson (1915-2009)
In 1998, United States Representative Ralph Hall of Rockwall, honor Mrs. Lois Nelson who was selected for Honorable Mention in the state’s search for the Outstanding Older Worker of Texas. The honor came from Green Thumb, which was employed her in Princeton, Texas as Site Manager of the Senior Citizens Center since 1982. As a result of her organized varied and interesting activities for the group, the center maintained high attendance. Rep. Hall also honored Mrs. Nelson, a 16-year employee of the Princeton ISD, for accomplishing her lifetime dream of becoming a librarian. She was also instrumental in the opening of the Princeton Community Library and was the library director.
At the age of 12, Mrs. Nelson dropped out o school in Dallas in 1927. She was in seventh grade and had never liked school. “It kept me to confined,” she said, “I might have been a little hyper.” Then she added, “But we didn’t know that word then.” It was hard times that also keep her from school and little Lois had to take over the family household while her father and stepmother worked in a textile mill near Love Field. She cooked and cared for her five younger brothers and sisters. A few years later, she was married to a mill worker herself and was caring for her own five (5) children.
Mrs. Nelson never worked outside the home. But after her husband died, she entered the workforce for the first time at the age of 68. She was hired through Green Thumb, a federal jobs program to provide income for older citizens. At one point in the program, she was working as a library aide for the Princeton school district. Mrs. Nelson offers a good reminder that there is no deadline on learning. She earned her GED at age 79. She received her library certification at 80.
The Princeton Community Library was just a little one-room affair in the back of the Princeton ISD Community Education Building. But it was Mrs. Nelson’s pride and joy – a little haven of learning and literature. “Oh, I love it,” she said, “I have always wanted to be a librarian.”
The information provided by articles from the McKinney Courier-Gazette, March 8, 1998 and Dallas Morning News, April 8, 1998 edition.
Cathy Dunkel,
Library Director
Cathy Dunkel is the Library Director for the Lois Nelson Public Library. Ms. Dunkel has been with the City of Princeton since April of 2002 and has been the Library Director since July 2010. The Library Director is responsible for the operations of the library and the development and implementation of its service program, including: assisting the Library Board with long range planning and policy development, and managing all library resources, including human resources; organizing the acquisition, access storage and control of collections, including technology issues; designing and implementing services and programs for users of all ages; and overseeing the maintenance and safety of the building.
