“Beyond the Books: A Library of Hobbies” Weverka Program Offers New Opportunities at BHS
December 05, 2025
A new program at the Burwell High School library, made possible by the Weverka Learning Academy grants through the Weverka endowment of the Nebraska Community Fund, is bringing a wealth of knowledge, skills and screen-free fun to students at BHS. The program, “Beyond the Books: A Library of Hobbies,” was organized by BHS Librarian, Renee Sikes, who applied for the grant to fund the new project.
“Beyond the Books” promotes a now popular trend toward “Granny hobbies,” a new term coined for activities that have historically been popular among older generations during a time when focus was on a simpler and more sentimental life that emphasized handmade/homemade craftsmanship. Some of these now popular old-fashioned hobbies include, but are not limited to the following types of pastimes:
-
Crafty = sewing, quilting, crocheting, knitting, scrapbooking, cross stitching, basket weaving, building models, tying fishing lures, leather crafting
-
Culinary = cooking from scratch, baking, canning/food preservation, cake decorating
-
Outdoor = gardening, bird watching
-
Group = book clubs, board/card games
-
Individual = crosswords, word search, jigsaw puzzles.
The program strives to provide opportunities for students to be exposed to and participate in a variety of hobbies that help them step away from digital devices in favor of interacting with others in meaningful and health-improving screen-free time, bring people of all ages and walks of life from around the community to help share their passion, time and possibly resources in teaching skills specific to their pastimes or livelihood, provide many opportunities during the course of the 2025-2026 school year for students to choose hobbies they would like to explore/participate in and make suggestions for ones they would like to see a part of the program in the future.
Activities included in the BHS program include things such as crocheting, cake decorating, paper crafting: card making/stamping/scrapbooking, friendship bracelets, tying fly fishing flies, leather crafting: key chains, bracelets, coasters and paracord crafting to make key chains, bracelets, lanyards. These activities bring instructors young and old from the surrounding area to work with BHS students as they learn a new hobby. So far in the 2025-26 school year, BHS students have had the opportunity to learn friendship bracelet making, crocheting, and cake decorating during their “Horn Time” period in school.
BHS is very grateful for the time and effort that Mrs. Sikes has put in to organize these events, to the instructors who volunteered to help students gain new skills and to the Weverka Learning Academy committee who has made this wonderful new program available.
