The Importance Of Libraries To Communities
WINSTON
COUNTY, Miss.(WCBI)—Once upon a time, if you needed to find information or the
answer to a question, you would head over to the library.
Now,
with the era of internet and technology it seems that a library’s purpose is
starting to fade.
“It’s
a great gathering place for all kinds of people whether they are young, old, in
between,” said local business owner Mary Snow.
For
hundreds of years now, a library’s purpose has been to offer written literature
on all topics. Winston County librarian Beth Edwards, says since then, libraries
have evolved to meet the needs of the communities.
“There
are so many people who can’t afford devices or afford a lot of the things that
are used for social media and we provide those here. Not only do we have books
and audio books we have e-books, audio e-books, that you can download. We are
the only place in the county that provides free public access to internet,”said
Edwards.
Snow
visits the library often. She is thankful for the library because it encourages
people to get to know other residents.
“They
offer a sense of community because, often ,we just sit at home on our kindle,
our computers, and our phones. It separates us,”said Snow.
Edwards
says the myth that libraries have no place in a community is just that, a myth.
“We
are not a large county. We only have 19,000 people here in Winston County.
Guess how many people on average come through our doors, 5500,on average. It’s
like I said, we are the only resource for these people. They do online job
applications, job searches, if they want any government assistance you have to
go online for that,”said Snow.
During
one of the toughest times in Winston County history, Edwards say the library
was a very present help.
”
After the tornado, April 28th, several years ago, MEMA and FEMA made this
library their head quarters . The day it happened a lot of phone lines were
down, We had people lined up at the front door to come in early that morning to
get on the computers since we did have power. Residents wanted to let their
loved ones know they were ok,”said Edwards.
Edward
says one of the most important factors a library has that a Kindle doesn’t are
the workers, ready to greet you with a friendly, smiling faces.
“They
were the most wonderful people. They are so supportive, they make everyone feel
like you just walked into someone’s home. We just do everything we can to
provide the services that they need,”said Edwards.
Regards
Pralhad
Jadhav
Senior Manager @
Knowledge Repository
Khaitan
& Co
Upcoming Lecture | ACTREC - BOSLA Annual lecture series (125th birth anniversary of father of library
science, Padmashree Dr. S. R. Ranganathan) on Saturday, 12th August 2017 at Advanced Centre for Treatment,
Research and Education in Cancer (ACTREC), Kharghar, Navi Mumbai. (Theme | 'MakerSpace')
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