A Little Library Appreciation
(FYI, pendant lights aren't up. Electrician was a no show. *sigh* Hopefully, today...)
Anyhew, as some of you know, I am now a member of our Library Board of Trustees in town.
Why is that so particularly cool?
Because our library is so cool!!
And here are a few reasons why:
**our library is in the middle of town. The community gym, Senior Center, and Historical Museum are are closely attached to it too. Yet, everyone sees the entire unit as the "library". :)
**we have a coffee/juice bar area, where you can also get a light lunch.
**in addition to several meeting rooms, we have a lecture hall room, complete with drop-down screen, that is available for people to use.
**we have cooking classes for kids
**we have Kindle instruction classes for new Kindle owners. (Apparently people have come to that with their Kindles still in the box!) LOL
**we have a newly hired, separate "Young Adult" librarian.
**we have a fantastic DVD (including lots of great TV shows) and CD collection.
**we have free WiFi throughout the entire library.
**there are free computers for adults and there are great child computers too.
**our Story Time program for toddlers is fantastic.There's singing, story, puppet show and sometimes a craft. All free. And now they added a "Baby" program where 70 people showed up!
I could go on but I don't want to brag. (OK, maybe a little)
That's what the old library board achieved. Nice, huh? But to be honest, I loved our library before all that. The staff is friendly and they always have had a great book selection.
But now we have to look to the future and see where we want to take all this. Just recently we conducted some focus groups in town to get some feedback as to what people like or dislike about the library. Needless to say, there wasn't much to not like.
But, hey, there's always room for improvement. :)
So now I ask you...what do you appreciate about YOUR library?
Is there anything you would improve or change if you could?
Do you see anything MY library could add?
34 comments:
I am impressed. Your library sounds divine!
Color me jealous. Soooo jealous. My library sucks. Period. I think when I move, I'm going to base it on whether the library is good or not. You don't know what you've got til it's gone, and I miss my old library at home.
Sounds terrific! I miss my hometown library. Lots of stone but with cozy corners. Perfect for dreaming away the afternoon.
I love my local library and wouldn't change it (less self-issue machines maybe and more staff!! LOL!).
Yay for your wonderful library - well done you and the board for making it all inclusive and fun and yet still make it a quiet place to read and borrow books! take care
x
Wow, that sounds like the coolest library ever! You lucky duck.
I like my library's express checkout. Our library cards have a bar code, and so do all the books, so you just scan your card, and then the books. It'll even print out a list of the books, with their due dates. Very handy.
I want your library! It's incredible.
Wow! That's awesome! Our library was having some issues with bed bugs, so I haven't been there in awhile. Other than the bugs, we love our library. :)
I love our library...it was designed inside an old school, so it has huge windows and lovely pillars. It works for our little town...
I like that they know me by first name and before they knew I was a writer--back when they thought I simply studied odd things. It's like walking into Cheers and everyone hollering "Norm!" only no beer. Or juice bar.
We need that. The juice bar that is! ;)
What a wonderful resource for your area! A library, big or small, is a wonderful thing.
When living in Cape May County, I visited the main branch in Court House often. It's not a habit I resumed when we moved to KY. I need to change that. :)
Sounds like an amazing library! Congratulations on becoming a board member.
Living in the northeast, I love the fact that my local library has an enormous flagstone fireplace. In the fall and winter there is always a fire blazing. It's the spot I curl up next to with my laptop when I need to hit my word count goals.
Wow, that library has it all. Your job sounds a lot more intimidating to me now. Good luck!
I love our library! We don't have a place to get snacks though. But its in the center of the community and tied to lots of events throughout the year.
I love the staff at my library, but sadly everything else needs a revamp :-(
I'm impressed! And I laughed when I saw this b/c I've been giddy all morning about sneaking away to my library for a few hours while young one is in preschool.
Libraries rock my world!
~ Wendy
A coffee bar in my library would be AMAZING! The downtown library here is fantastic. They recently expanded onto the original library, which was built sometime around the turn of the last century. (I believe) It has lots of history combined with a huge, modern new addition, a second story kids room that's fun for grown-ups too... It's wonderful.
That is so awesome! Go libraries! Back in my old hometown, each little town along the eastern shore was working on having its own library. And one of my besties was the YA librarian at one. She talked about how libraries are having to evolve b/c of the e-revolution. But I hope they do! Libraries are such great, important places. Good for you being on the board~ :o) <3
We have county libraries. There are a dozen or more in my county. It's kind of nice because if one of the branches doesn't have what you're looking for, they'll have it sent over from one of the other branches. But no coffee/juice bar. That would be awesome.
I wish we too such great care of our libraries in this country but sadly they are indicative of our reading culture. For the most part they are old fashioned and have very little if anything at all by way of technolog.
Wow! You have an awesome library!
Our library is great - and the new building is less than two years old and full of light.
But yours is FANTASTIC!
I'm sure with your input it will become even better.
P.S. - Hope your electrician at least called.
Oh wow, that coffee/juice bar idea is brilliant!
Wow, your library sounds like the best library EVER. Here, politicians keep squeezing the budget, so our libraries have had to cut both hours and staff, and have less money to purchase new books. It's good to know there are still places with a healthy library like yours.
Your library sounds super cool. I'd like my library to be within walking distance AND to stock more books ;)
Cooking classes for kids at the library - that's impressive! Your library sounds wonderful!
I use my library all the time. With the economy still in the dumps and my business down there with it, I can't afford to buy books, so I use my public library. And thank God, too, or else I'd be a raving lunatic!
I love my library's drive thru window!!!:)
Okay....I'm officially jealous! LOL
I do love my library though. They have a great kids' section and the librarians are very helpful and friendly. :-)
Your library is AWESOME! I think ours needs a juice bar. Definitely a juice bar. ;)
Your library sounds WONDERFUL! I remember my elementary school library from a VERY long time ago. No Kindle or computers, but books, books, books. Children love books, and will have great memories of them from this library when they're adults.
Ann Best, Author of In the Mirror & Other Memoirs
Cool digs! I wish for the days when libraries didn't have computers and Internet when they weren't used for free babysitting service.
Gee, your library sounds so much like our beloved library! It was only a couple of years ago that we passed a millage so they could expand and it's SO AWESOME now! But just like yours, our staff made it awesome even before all the high-tech changes. Oooh, that just made me think of one thing--do you have free WiFi? (That was one of the cool new things they added.)
Your library sounds very cool. I'm a litte envious because I love hanging out at libraries.
You're right, your library is cool!
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