Seymour Community Library

320 East Clinton

417.935.4193

Hours: Tuesday - Friday 9:00am to 6:00pm

Saturday 9:00am to 1:00pm

The Seymour Library was established in 1929 in a small building just off the North West corner of the square that is presently the home of the Arts Council, Greater Seymour Area Foundation, and the Greater Seymour Area Chamber of Commerce. The new facility is centrally located and is within walking distance of the YMCA, Seymour grade school, middle, and high school.

The original facility was home to about 200 books and library materials. Our library now offers in excess of 9000 items for patrons to use. The new library was built entirely through donations raised primarily in the Seymour community. In 1993 Blaine Childress, a Seymour native, provided $300,000 for the library to earn income for operational expense. Fundraising efforts then began and the community raised the matching $300,000 to construct the library. Ground was broken in the October 1997 and the library was complete and open for business on August, 1998.

Featured at the library is a state of the art computer system with high speed T1 lines to deliver internet service to eight computers available for use in the library. The card catalogue is fully accessible from the computer with a searchable database. Inter-library loans are offered through the Webster County library with requested materials being delivered to Seymour for patrons to use.

You will find offered not only books, but audio books, video, large print material, magazines, reference and a children’s section with a wide variety of materials. Many events are sponsored by the library; including children’s story time featuring a local community member reading to the children, poetry readings, holiday themed functions such as the Easter egg hunt, computer tutorials, workshops and various special events. Check the number listed above for current information and this website for future updates.

Delores Turner is our full time Library Director and does an excellent job of assisting visitors in finding information and also keeping an up to date variety of materials available.

Learning Express Library has unlimited access to interactive skill-building courses and a broad range of practice tests on such official exams as the ACT, SAT, GED, ASVAB, Firefighter, Police Officer, Paramedic, EMT Basic, U.S. Citizenship, Postal Worker, Cosmetology, Real Estate Agent & Broker Exams. This valuable service is available 24/7 from any internet-enabled computer.

SHARE Network

The following story was written by Dan Wehmer at the Webster County Citizen.

Local library is only the second access point to open in Missouri.

Never let it be said that the Seymour Community Library is on the outside looking in when it comes to new state programs.

In fact, the local library is on the cutting edge when it comes to assisting its patrons who are looking for employment.

On Feb. 1, Seymour’s library became just the second access point in Missouri, statewide, for the “Missouri SHARE Network,” an employment-assistance website program affiliated with the Missouri Career Center.

An official grand opening for the access point was held last Thursday, an event that featured visits from regional Missouri Career Center officials and even Donna Prenger, assistance director of administration for the Missouri Division of Workforce Development in Jefferson City.

“It really does say a lot for the library and its director, Delores Turner, that an access point has opened here in Seymour,” Prenger said. “This program is a new one that just began last August, and it’s had a lot of success in the short time its been in place.”

Initially set up only at Missouri Career Center locations throughout the state, the concept of access points was unveiled earlier this year, with the first one opening in the Hickory County community of Hermitage.

Seymour became access point No. 2.

“Delores made sure that Seymour was in on the ground floor of this program, and the benefit will be to the people of Seymour,” explained Donna Cole from the Missouri Career Center in Springfield. “After Delores made the inquiry, we came to Seymour and trained her, and now the access point is up and running here.”

The benefit of an access point?

Simply stated, it saves local residents time when they want to search for employment.

“Instead of making a trip to the career center, (the job hunt) can be made right here in Seymour,” noted Bill Dowling, director of workforce development for the Missouri Career Center. “Essentially, a search that previously might have taken up a day for a local resident has been reduced considerably.”

The SHARE Network is a U.S. Department of Labor initiative, with the acronym standing for “Sharing How Awareness of Resources Empowers.”

In Seymour, Webster County Southern District Commissioner Denzil Young, R-Seymour, helped get the local library on the ground floor of the program.

“Denzil heard about this program on the state level, and he began inquiring about it as an option in Seymour,” Dowling explained. “He was very good abut volunteering Seymour into the program, and Delores (Turner) then took the lead here.

“We had tried to set up access points in other communities, but in many cases, it just didn’t work out. But here in Seymour, it was smooth sailing, so to speak.”

How do local residents take advantage of the SHARE Network’s access point?

“It’s very simple, really,” Dowling said. “Just come in to the library, set at one of the computers dedicated to the project, log on and begin searching.

“That’s all there is to it.”

For more information on the network, visit the program’s website, www.sharenetworkmo.org, or call Turner at the local library at 417.935.4193.