Herrick Library: Libraries: The Living Room of our Communities – HollandSentinel.com

Sara DeVries

Libraries are sometimes called the living rooms of their communities. People of all colors, creeds and economic backgrounds feel comfortable gathering in organic ways inside their libraries. This week I witnessed quite a few examples proving that our community library is indeed like my own living room.

In my living room at home, I read books and magazines, sometimes on the fly and sometimes while settled into a nice comfy chair. I might read a print book or an eBook. I catch up with friends and family on my cellphone using WIFI. I might even pull out my laptop and get a little farther in a work project or graphic design. These are all tasks that library users engage in on a regular basis inside the library.

In my living room, my family has intentional conversation about topics that matter. We ask tough questions and look up answers online and in books. Libraries provide individuals with answers to their questions, but they also help communities examine tough issues. For example, this February and March, library users will be reading and discussing a book that examines citizenship, crime, justice and more through a series of speakers and other events.

We have fun in my living room. We play with board games and the kids play educational games on computers and devices. The library has board games available for internal use, educational games installed on special computers dedicated for kids and kid-friendly devices called Launchpads available for checkout.

We spend time with old friends and get to know new ones in my living room. This week we met up with friends at the library intentionally once, and another time informally when we happened to be here at the same time as other friends. We also made new friends as my daughter played with a child from a different cultural group at a LEGO building program. Both families stayed long after the event ended to allow our girls to continue playing with each other.

We feel comfortable in our living rooms and feel like we can be ourselves. I almost feel like I have two living rooms, one at home and one in the library. If you havent been to the library in a while, I challenge you to come and just hang out sometime. Now that were open downtown on Sunday afternoons, there are even more opportunities to come. I think youll be surprised how much it might feel like home to you, too.

Sara DeVries is Community Relations Manager for Herrick District Library.

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Herrick Library: Libraries: The Living Room of our Communities - HollandSentinel.com