National Library Week April 9-15, 2017
NA-FC Public Library Offers “Food for Fines” Canned Goods Drive
Sunday, April 9 through Saturday, April 22, 2017
During the week of April 9-15, 2017, the New Albany-Floyd County Public Library will join libraries in schools, campuses, and communities nationwide in celebrating the many ways libraries are transforming their communities every day through the services and invaluable expertise they offer. April 9-15 is National Library Week, a time to highlight the changing role of libraries, librarians, and library workers. Libraries aren’t only a place of quiet study, but also creative and engaging community centers where people can collaborate using new technologies.
The New Albany-Floyd County Public Library is celebrating National Library Week by offering “Food for Fines”, fine forgiveness in exchange for canned goods, during the weeks of April 9-15 and 16-22, 2017. Library patrons with outstanding fines for overdue materials are encouraged to “give back” to the Library, as well as the community, by bringing in canned goods or boxed food items (no glass allowed). Participating patrons will receive $2 of fine forgiveness for each canned good or boxed food item donated. Please note that anyone is welcome to contribute to the food drive – not just those with outstanding fines! Imagine helping to wipe out the fines of a child or teen with your donation and enabling them to use the Library again, while also helping those in need by providing food items.
Food items collected will be donated to Mid-Town Commons, an organization that operates a food pantry for neighborhoods surrounding the New Albany-Floyd County Public Library. If outstanding fines are keeping you out of the Library, now is your chance to reduce your fines and return long overdue items, while also giving back to the community.
As part of National Library Week, the New Albany-Floyd County Public Library has also designated Tuesday, April 11, 2017 as Patron Appreciation Day. We are offering a special “thank you” to our patrons with refreshments in the Library, beginning at 9:00 AM while supplies last. Tuesday, April 11 is also National Library Workers Day, and we are glad we can celebrate with our patrons!
First sponsored in 1958, National Library Week is a national observance sponsored by the American Library Association (ALA) and libraries across the country each April. The theme for National Library Week this year is “Libraries Transform”. Libraries of all types are evolving to meet the needs of the communities they serve. Elected officials, small business owners, students, and the public at large depend upon libraries and the resources they offer to address the needs of their communities. By providing such resources as e-books and technology classes, materials for English-language learners, programs for job seekers, or a safe haven in times of crisis, libraries and librarians transform their communities. At the New Albany-Floyd County Public Library, we are excited to transform readers of ALL ages through our upcoming Summer Reading Club program (May 30-July 29, 2017), and hope to help patrons “Build a Better World” (this year’s theme).
Libraries also offer something unique to their communities, the expertise of individual librarians. Librarians assist patrons in using increasingly complex technology and sorting through the potentially overwhelming mass of information bombarding today’s digital society. This is especially crucial when access to reliable and trustworthy data is more important than ever. Speaking of technology, you can follow along during National Library Week with the hashtags #NationalLibraryWeek and #LibrariesTransform.
