Henck takes over for McCullough at Clyde library

CLYDE - Clyde Public Library is welcoming a new Adult Services Librarian from right inside its own doors. Rachel Henck, who has worked as a library clerk since November 2014, started her new duties as director on Monday. She replaces Jill McCullough, who has retired and will be moving to Indianapolis.

“I am delighted that Rachel was hired as my replacement,” McCullough said. “She is a hard worker, intelligent, and she is familiar with library procedures and programming. I have a really good idea of her capabilities, and I think she will do an excellent job.”

Henck does not plan to make any big changes in programming right away but is instead focusing on learning her new duties and continuing with programs initiated by McCullough.

“Jill’s been absolutely wonderful, and she’s done so many great things,” Henck said. “Hopefully, I’ll be able to pick out some of what she’s leaving behind and also incorporate some of my own programs.”

Even though her new duties did not start until this week, Henck has already brought in a new element — a board game library. She kicked off the service with an International Games Day on Saturday. At the event, various games were spread out across the library for patrons to play.

Thirteen-year-olds Bo Kardotzke and Christian Tennihill were some of the first to try them. They spent part of the morning playing Scattergories, a word game that was new to Tennihill.

“Bo asked me to come over and try the games, and we’re waiting for another friend,” Tennihill said.

When they finished, they planned to try another game called “Choose One.”

“It’s about how well do you know your friends,” Kardotzke said.

Scattergories and Choose One are 2 of 45 new games at the library, and Henck said she is expecting more to arrive soon. She obtained them all for free by writing publishers to request help starting the board game library.

“Board game libraries are a really big growing trend. I learned about it when I read in the paper that Tiffin Public Library has one,” Henck said. “We’ve had really good turnouts at other game days, and I wanted to expand on that to offer something other than video games.”

For now, the board games can only be played at the library by checking them out with a library card or driver’s license. Once Henck has time to organize the game library by counting and documenting all the pieces in each game, they will be available to check out for home use.

“I have kids games and adult games. There are quick games you can play in 10 minutes while you’re waiting for your turn at the computer, and there are some that take two hours or longer. I tried to pick different types, like party, strategy and tabletop role-playing games,” Henck said.

The International Games Day was a big success and likely foreshadowed Henck’s own future success as Adult Services Librarian. Henck earned a Bachelor of Science in Social Work degree from Bowling Green State University, and she has worked in libraries since high school.

“It was great fit, since I’ve been doing this work all along, and I really enjoy it,” she said. “It’s hard to find these kinds of jobs, so I’m very grateful.”