Connect with Your Library
by Darcy Acord, Youth Services Librarian
From April 3 through 9, your Campbell County Libraries will celebrate National Library Week; this year’s theme is “Connect with Your Library.” There are so many ways your libraries foster connections every day.
•A Teen Room staff member helps a graduating senior print and assemble scholarship packets, connecting that teen to possible aid for post-secondary education.
•A reference librarian shows a small-business owner how to use CCPL’s video recording equipment and green screen, connecting that entrepreneur to new marketing opportunities.
•A circulation staff member shows a parent how to use the WYLD library card app to link a parent’s card to a child’s card, connecting the parent to their child through books and conversations about what they are reading.
•A children’s librarian uses a flannel board story to explain colors to a group of toddlers, connecting the words for various colors to the colored pieces of the story.
•Teens who are interested in reading manga and watching anime films congregate in the Teen Room on a Thursday afternoon, connecting to one another through a shared interest.
•Volunteers teach new crafts to community members and connect them to a new pastime, and to others who enjoy the same hobby.
•Nonprofit groups use the Library’s meeting rooms as convenient spaces to discuss business, complete projects, and connect to one another.
Our CCPLS mission is to provide diverse cultural opportunities for reading, learning and entertainment to all citizens of our community. We do that by making connections.
We connect people to information. Patrons come to us with information needs that can be as specific as a single book title, or as broad as guidance in researching a paper. Because library ethics demand “equitable, high-level service to all patrons,” staff members make no distinction in terms of importance of information needs: a parent’s information need for preschool story books, a hobbyist’s need for a car repair manual, a professional’s need for government documents, or a scholar’s need for rare books about Wyoming history are met with the same level of professionalism and effort.
We connect people to resources. Through the statewide WYLD consortium, residents have access to databases that provide authoritative, up-to-date information about health, business, history, culture, and so much more. We offer technology resources that range from computer terminals and wireless internet access, to sound- and video-recording equipment, to preschool learning stations. And we offer spaces–to read, to hold meetings, to gather with friends, to hang out in a
warm, safe place.
And finally, we connect people to other people. One of my favorite parts of my job is hiring performers and authors who visit our community to connect with youth; for some kids and teens in our community, these visits provide cultural opportunities they would not have otherwise. Our craft programs, teen clubs, and preschool storytimes provide ways for patrons to meet and interact with people who share similar interests or life experiences. And, of course, our staff connects to its community, our patrons, through myriad interactions every day.
Your libraries are devoted to meeting your informational, educational, and recreational needs. Connect with us! We want to know what your needs are, and to use our resources to develop the best ways to meet them.