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®f)t Ih-raltr (gazette Tuesday, April 6,2021 7B National Library Week Celebrate Your Library “The staff is excellent...they go above and beyond in service.” -Tim Turner SUBMITTED BY JANET MCCORD “Welcome to Your Library” is the theme for National Library Week, April 4-10, 2021. The American Library Association establishes this time to celebrate our nations’ libraries, library workers’ contributions and promote library use and support. In October 2019 the Friends of the Barnes- ville-Lamar County Library conducted a series of interviews with our local library users to confirm our belief that our library was a candi date for the “Best Geor gia Public Library.” What follows is an iteration of that study with a little more history added. There has always been a lot of commu nity involvement with the library in Barnes- ville. According to “The History of Lamar County, 1825-1932”, Mrs. Augusta Lambdin, editor, Third Printing (which was made pos sible at the time by the Friends) “From the days of the earliest settlers Barnesville people have been book lovers...with shelves filled with copies of standard literature” in their homes. In 1876 the first school library for Gordon Institute was established and the entire town had access to the volumes. In 1880 the collection of books numbered two thou sand. In the late 1890’s the ten members of the Barnesville Literary Society contributed $50 each for the purchase of new books and fitted up the rear of J. H. Bates and Co. Jewelry store for a library and read ing room The Woman’s Shakespearean Club helped and assisted in the management. In 1908 civic leaders applied for a grant from the Carnegie Foundation and Barnes- ville’s Carnegie Library was opened on February 1, 1910. All books belong ing to the Gordon Library were donated and deliv ered to the new building. It was located on the same block of land as the Gordon Grammar School which was built in 1912 and developed over the years into Gordon State College. The present library, which was renovated in 2017, was built on the location of the old grammar school in 1986 with a grant from Geor gia’s State Department of Education’s Public Library Services Division, matching funds from Barnesville and Lamar County. $130,235 of the matching funds came primarily from citizen donations. Commu nity volunteers formed a human chain to move the books from the old Carnegie Library to the new facility. The Friends of the Barnesville-Lamar County Library organized in April 1987 and have been active promoting the library and raising funds for special pro grams and needs ever since. Two Used Book Sales are provided for the community each year. They established the au dio book collection and have purchased large print books. Current annual paid individual memberships average 90, with about 12 very active officers and volunteers who meet eight months of the year. Contributions are received from six or more corporate member ships annually. The library was “bursting at the seams” in 2013. The library staff and community came together to plan and execute a much needed “state of the art” renova tion. The library is open six days a week with two evenings until 8 p.m. The library staff is composed of five persons, three full time, two part-time and two volunteers. Some of the recent statistics re flect the quality of library services. Books circulat ed for the period ending June 2019 was 36,690. The 2019 Summer Read ing Program served 402 children and 20 teens. Total attendance at nine special program events were 1,424 children and 71 teens. Children’s Reading Club hours were 10,125 and 1,125 hours by the teens. The library provides many services to the community and to all ages. A veterans monu ment is located in front of the library which is the venue on special days for speeches and tributes memorializing those who served our country. A community meeting room can seat 145. It has accommodated the large 4-H dinner and awards night, frequent lunch and learn sessions given by the county exten sion agent, and is designated as a polling place. Two smaller meet ing rooms are used for student group study, tutoring, Book Club, DAR, and other civic group meetings. Areas of the library are designated for children, teens, and adults. The teen section includes book shelves, two computers with internet connectiv ity, earphones, and USB outlets. The adult section features comfortable furniture located next to newspaper, magazines and bookshelves. One elderly patron who lives close by comes to read the weekly local news paper. Others say they use the library to check consumer publications prior to big purchases. The library promotes literacy and supports education in the county. The staff works closely with the schools to have resources on hand for student as signments and projects. The library gets the summer reading lists from elemen tary through high schools in order to have those books avail able. It helps promote the FERST Founda tion of Lamar County that supplies books monthly to children from birth to five years of age. In addition to the sum mer reading programs, the library has weekly programs for children such as Children’s Sto rytime for ages 0-4 years and Book Buddies for ages 5 and up. The library promotes good citizenship. Upon getting a library card, with proper identifica tion, a new library user can register to vote. The library staff geared up to help citizens complete the 2020 census online. The library provides services to the public such as copy/print fax service, notary service, The Carnegie Library opened in 1910. All books were donated by the Gordon Library. The Barnesville-Lamar County Library was renovated in 2017 and sits at the location of the old grammar school. “On several occa sions they have delivered books to these elderly people in assisted living or when they are confined at home.” -Marian Dunn free Wi-Fi and internet access to job seekers, as so many employers now require online job applications. Individuals and families can use their library card to check out free passes to Georgia destinations such as Go Fish Education Center, Perry, Georgia; Zoo Atlanta; Georgia State Parks & Historic Sites (free entrance and park ing); Center for Puppetry Arts, Atlanta’s Michael C. Carlos Museum at Emory University; Chat tahoochee Nature Center, Roswell; Macon Mu seum Pass: The Tubman Museum, the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame, and the Museum of Arts and Sciences; and the William Breman Jewish Heritage Museum, Atlanta. Many other libraries may provide these same services. But to docu ment that the Barnesville- Lamar Coun ty Library is the one of the best, we decided to interview a variety of users to get their com ments which follow: The first person we interviewed was Lacy Bush, the Teen Coordina tor for the library. She told us that the teens meet two times each month at the library. The first meeting is a busi ness meeting at which they plan their second meeting which can be anything from a pizza party to a community service activity. For ex ample, one month their second meeting was at the Dolly Goodpuppy fa cility where they helped with the animals and learned about their ef forts to find good homes for strays and promote spay/neuter. The Teen program provides a safe place for the teens, who include home school stu dents, to make friends. They support each other in completing homework. The teens say they “are nerds that can change the world!” The coordina tor says the li brary manager is a role model and helps with ideas for activ ities. She rates the library as “the Chic-fil-A of libraries.” Next we spoke to the editor/publish er of The Her ald-Gazette, Walter Geiger, who is a heavy user of the History/Gene alogy room where he can look up on microfilm 150 years of newspaper edi tions. He researches four to five things each month and the library “makes my life so much easier.” He reads two books of fiction per week for relax ation. Both of his suc cessful daughters credit the library, along with their school for “teaching them how to read and study.” “Next to mine,” the editor added, “the library has the best staff in town.” In one word he described the staff as “caring.” We inter viewed one of the county’s historians and interim city manager, Tim Turner, who said he has been going to our library since he was two. He said he loves the genealogy room. He has researched about 900 families that settled this county and has donated about 100 genealogies he has completed. “The staff is excellent...they go above and beyond in service.” Linda Akins, a retired business woman agreed to be interviewed. She has four grandchildren who attend the sum mer reading program “The ladies here do an excellent job of taking care of us, meeting our needs and making us feel welcome. On a scale of 1 to 10, they are an 11! -Dixie Benson It’s ‘the Chic-fil-A of libraries.” - Lacy Bush which is “fabulous.” Her garden club uses the audio visual equipment at the library for some meetings. Our library manager, Kelly Hughes, also is “fabu lous, and a community leader. She was chosen Outstanding Citizen of the Year for 2019 in recogni tion of all her community service. She draws more people into the library. All the people there are nice and helpful.” She describes the staff as “hospitable, accommo dating, knowledgeable, and nurturing.” Next we spoke to one of our local authors, Doyle Reynolds, a play wright and poet who par ticipated in one of sev eral local writers’ book signings sponsored by the library. He views the library as a place where he can network and com municate with the public. He says the Barnesville- Lamar County library is “absolutely great.” When we requested an interview with Marian Dunn, the Book Club president, she asked us to sit in on their meeting in one of the small meeting rooms. Seven members expressed their apprecia tion for the room avail ability. They use an “app” to put books on hold. “There are days when 1 can’t get the internet and must use the library” one member said. Various comments about the staff were “patient,” “wonder ful,” “a ‘10’.” One member told about how the staff knows the reading prefer ences of their elderly patrons who love to read. “On several occa sions they have delivered books to these elderly people in assisted living or when they are con fined at home.” The last interview was with Dixie Benson, a “home school mom” who brought along her four children. Her oldest daughter, Mikayla, age 17, participated in the interview. She has been coming to the library since she was 18 months old. The mom said her children participated in Storytime and Book Buddies. “My children have learned to love to read.” They use the study room to do school work. The kids reserve books on line from home and pick them up here using inter-library loan. As we concluded the interview and joined the younger children in the children’s area, we asked their opinion of the library. The replies were “love it.” One young son had selected a stack of seven books to check out. Dixie said that they have used other libraries in the sur rounding area and this is the best. Then this mom made comments which make my assertion that the Barnesville-Lamar County Library is one of the best. She said: “The ladies here do an excellent job of taking care of us, meeting our needs and making us feel welcome. On a scale of 1 to 10, they are an 11! That’s what makes the library great. They are the foundation and everything else is built on that.” We say, “Amen.” The Barnesville-Lamar County Library is the best. While you are using this week to appreciate our library, The Friends of the Barnesville-Lamar County Library take this opportunity to thank the residents of Barnesville and Lamar County for continuing the tradition established by the earli est settlers. We appreci ate your support of the library and our activities. NATIONAL LIBRARY WEEK APRIL 4-10, 2021