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CU Honors Roots with Little Free Library
The staff of Peach State Federal Credit Union have joined more than 40,000 other book lovers around the world in making books available to passersby with their own Little Free Library, which stands outside its Lawrenceville, Ga., branch.
The tiny library on a perch was built by Peach State FCU’s training manager Crow Hunter, whose does woodworking as a hobby.
The library was initially stocked with books donated by credit union employees and now is supplemented with contributions from its own patrons.
“At first, we didn’t see many donations, so we posted on our social media profiles and our digital message boards in the branches that we were seeking donations, and we received more books,” says Heather Griffin, marketing manager of the $316 million credit union serving 44,000 members.
“Now that the library has been ‘open’ for [more than] six months, we’ve begun to see books being brought back and new books appearing,” she adds.
The Little Free Library organization promotes the installation of these tiny exchanges, where books and magazines can be freely borrowed and added, with the aim of championing literacy and a love of books.
As of June 2016, the nonprofit organization reports more than 40,000 registered sites in all 50 states and more than 70 countries.
“Having a Little Free Library aligns with our roots in education and our commitment to the communities where we serve members,” Griffin says. “We chose to install it at our downtown Lawrenceville branch because it’s convenient not only for our members, but for residents and visitors to the town.”
Peach State FCU’s little library is built in the style of an old-fashioned schoolhouse, another nod to its origins, founded as Gwinnett Teachers Credit Union in 1961. The credit union now serves eight Georgia counties.
Spotlight on E-Voting Security
Google “electronic voting security” and you’ll get a lot of hits. During the contentious U.S. presidential election, people were concerned about outdated electronic voting machines and the physical security of polling places.
Fortunately for CUs, leading technology available for running online votes about board members, bylaws changes and mergers is completely different from—and considerably more secure than—the general election voting systems that captured headlines last month.
In fact, the national voting systems and the CUES eVote: Elect and Educate system are “two completely different systems and they can’t be compared,” says Deepak Prakash, vice president of eBallot (formerly Votenet Solutions), which powers eVote. “We do not share any systems or processes that general elections currently use.”
CUES eVote’s security is both electronic and physical, he explains. “First, every voter has his or her own credential,” Prakash says. “Only voters with credentials can access the ballot. If they’re not part of the voter list, they can’t access it.
“Once you cast a vote,” he adds, “all communication between voter and eBallot happens on a secure network.
“In case of natural disaster or emergencies, you always have more than one copy of your database,” Prakash emphasizes.
CUES is giving away a free vote using eVote: Elect & Educate valued up to $13,000.
Clarification
In “Lending in the Fast Lane” in the September issue of Credit Union Management, CUES Supplier member CU Direct, Ontario, Calif., should have been identified as a national dealer network in addition to a provider of credit decisioning software. We regret the omission.
