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:
Policies
CHECK-OUT
COMPUTER
UNATTENDED CHILDREN IN THE LIBRARY
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:
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:
If interested, fill out an application and turn it in at Princeton City Hall.
Library Advisory Board
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 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.