On Tuesday, January 4, 2022 Karina and Lorraine headed out to the first bookmobile stops of the year, visiting two of our regular stops, The Orchards and Ridgeview Manor.
The Orchards is a small, senior apartment complex, one of the few affordable and independent living options in the area. Forsyth County Senior Services accompanies us on the visits providing free food and resources for residents. We have a small but loyal group of patrons and this month we happily welcomed a new patron. Having recently gone on disability after foot surgery, she needed assistance finding the Georgia Food Stamps application. We were able to locate the information online, print out the application, and share one of our job resource packets with her – all just steps from her front door.
The next visit was to Ridgeview where we had three new families stop by – woohoo! Karina and Lorraine signed one family up for a library card and then they told their family members who came by to check out the Bookmobile too. (It was a beautiful ripple effect!) The second family was interested in English language learning resources, so we helped them open up a library card and showed them how to access Mango through our website on their smartphone. We also talked up the Conversational English program series starting next week at the Cumming Library, and it sounds like they are going to make it fit into their schedule. Karina made sure to give them one of her business cards just in case they had more questions later on. Lorraine and Karina both shared that this was a great experience for everyone, and it was heartwarming how appreciative all of the families were.
These two visits did not have crowds of people or lead to extravagant check-outs. They will make very little impact on our annual statistics or standing in the state. That being said, these small but significant visits made a difference to people who were unsure of how to get the help they needed or simply didn’t know what the library had to offer.
Here’s to a new year of continued significant outreach and fulfilling the library’s mission one small visit at a time.
This gave me chills, Sarah. I love hearing stories like this! Makes me feel so proud to be a part of FCPL, knowing the value we add to our community, one patron at a time.
ReplyDeleteI shared this article with our Library Board and received the following replies:
ReplyDeleteFrom Mary Helen McGruder: What a wonderful way to start the new year! With all of the problems with resurgence of Covid, etc. this is such a positive reminder of why we are such a special place.
From Kristin Morrissey: Love this stuff. Sometimes making a difference in someone’s life is a whole lot more important that a higher circ stat for the day!