Fleming Library Association awards scholarships, gives preschoolers library cards

The Fleming Library Association marked a rare kind of community investment, one that reached both graduating seniors and children just starting school. The association presented its 2026 scholarships to Fleming High School students Colton Cochran and Emoree Lousberg, then gave the school’s preschool class their library card number.

The scholarship awards kept a long local tradition in view. In 2025, Savannah Taylor received the association’s annual scholarship after staying active in the library through Summer Reading, helping with Dr. Seuss Night, and serving as a teacher assistant for the Fleming School/Community Library. In 2017, Lauryn Muller and Kalyn Serrato were also named scholarship recipients. Taken together, those awards show the library association has used its fundraising and volunteer energy to encourage students who are already part of the school and library’s daily life.

The preschool gesture carried its own message. By giving the class its library card number before kindergarten, the association introduced children to the library as a familiar place, not one they will discover years later. For parents, it tied early literacy to a public institution they already know. For the library, it created a first step toward family visits, story time, and the reading habits that often begin with a card in hand and a trip through the front door.

The announcement also fit a broader pattern in Fleming, where the school and library operate closely together. In 2024, the Fleming School/Community Library held an event honoring outgoing Town Librarian Grace Rossignol and welcoming Kamie Lambrecht as the new town librarian. The report also identified Sandy Kinzie and Alice Cheramy, underscoring how many names and roles are woven into the same small network of school and library service.

That public role has shown up in other community events as well. The Fleming Library Association has hosted annual Collector’s Day, including a Sept. 27, 2019 event from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., and later coverage said more than 280 visitors attended the 2025 gathering. The scholarship presentation and preschool card distribution added another visible example of how the association builds ties in Fleming, one student and one young reader at a time.