I asked my family for ideas for this week’s article. My son suggested I write about Fortnite (a multi-player video game). My daughter told me to write, “The Library is the best. I love the people who go there and the people who work there. I love the Library.” (All true statements.) And my spouse asked me, “What would you write about if this were a normal week?” I looked at past articles and realized it’s National Library Week!
National Library Week is the time every April when we pause to highlight how amazing libraries are. This week, we’ll celebrate a little differently than we have in the past, but this year’s celebration will also highlight one of the ways libraries remain vital to communities: Libraries adapt and change according to the needs of our communities.
We’ve had to change our service model because of the pandemic and move from mostly face-to-face services, classes, events, etc. to digital services. This change has been both exciting and difficult. We’re excited to see what technology can do to enhance what we’ve always done – like storytime on a dairy farm – but we are also very aware that we’re missing service to the parts of our community without internet access. We are anxious for the time when it’s safe to get back in the building and continue our in person services.
We’ve also had to change the ways in which we collaborate as a staff. With no more than 1 or 2 people in the building at a time, we’re all trying to serve the community and fulfill our mission as a library from our homes. Like our community, our staff has varying degrees of internet connectivity and technological knowledge, so we’re learning to adapt.
As always, we miss you and are ready to help you if you need us. Call us during our normal hours or send us messages via email or Facebook.