The login screen for Tutor.com is seen on a computer at the Bartholomew County Library in Columbus on Aug. 5. Mike Wolanin | The Republic
Libraries continue to expand their offerings of services for individuals and the community. News last week that the Bartholomew County Public Library has made tutoring programs widely available is the latest addition to check out.
The Republic’s Jana Wiersema did so, reporting that the library has partnered with Tutor.com to allow library card holders get free educational and job-seeking services. The library’s investment of $7,950 is a bargain for the amount of tailored online personal instruction, homework help, tutoring and professional enhancement it will provide people in the community.
Along with personal tutoring, the service also offers multiple practice and test prep services covering the SAT, ACT, grad tests, AP tests, citizenship tests and more, Wiersema reported.
Our local library serves in countless ways, continually reinventing its services to make it an even more indispensable community resource. Learn more about the new tutoring service at mybcpl.org/tutor.
Mom, son and sweet harmony
It’s not every day that The Republic newsroom reverberates with live music and a child’s laughter, but we were treated to that recently when folk and bluegrass artist Allie Jean visited with her 2-year-old son Daniel. Like them, we couldn’t help but smile.
Mom, who many know as Allie Burbrink, is a former teacher who as a musician has toured near and far with acts including Whipstitch Sallies, Frank and Allie Lee and The Freight Hoppers, as our Brian Blair reported. At home in Columbus, she’s planning to release her first children’s album, “Sing and Play All Day.”
“The basic reason for this album is because I had to start a whole new life,” after Daniel was born with Apert syndrome, Allie said. The rare genetic disorder caused young Daniel’s life to begin in the neonatal intensive care unit, where his mother sang soothing songs to him. He has progressed through surgeries, including more to come next month.
“She wants Daniel’s life, her nurturing and even the record to encourage open discussions about disabilities ‘and questions asked in kindness,’” Blair wrote. We’re rooting for Daniel and Allie, and you can too. Follow them at her website, alliejeanmusic.com or Allie Jean Music on Facebook.
Trust us, the smiles are contagious.
Can we be Frank? Let’s try
Frank Anderson came to Columbus and opened a tire store bearing his name 51 years ago, and that name soon came to mean something. Anderson was a businessman who prioritized people, good will, service and community, as folks remembered to The Republic’s Mark Webber.
Anderson, 77, died earlier this month, a little more than three years after he retired from the business, now Best-One Tire & Service, that he and his wife, Carol Ann, had built on Hawcreek Avenue.
“Frank was the kind of businessman we should all try to be,” Force Construction Co. Chairman and CEO Harold Force said. That includes a generous servant spirit. Multiple testimonials reported Anderson was known to fix up customers with tires and service who maybe could only afford a few dollars a week.
“Anything that could possibly be done to help us, Frank was willing to do it – and he did it without being asked,” former Columbus East High School football coach John Stafford said. Even after his own kids had graduated, Anderson kept boosting the program.
The Rev. Clem Davis of St. Bartholomew Catholic Church recalled Anderson was often among the first to arrive, serving as an usher.
The name Frank Anderson continues to mean something in this community — an exemplary devotion to serving, in ways large and small.
