Library embraces role as 'community anchor'

SANDPOINT — If an absolutely overflowing events kiosk is any sign of a thriving organization, the East Bonner County Library District more than meets the criteria.

Why, then, does such a busy place need to crow about what it has to offer? The answer is one part perception, one part reality and a dash or two of irony.

Today’s libraries are some of the most-connected places on Earth, filled with technology, free Internet access and classes on how to get the most out of it all. At the same time, technology has managed to conceal how vibrantly important a good library system is to a community and the people who call it home.

We have Google, right? Who needs a library?

“Libraries are doing a lot of innovative things, because we’re feeling the competition,” said Marcy Timblin, public relations specialist for the district, which includes the libraries in Sandpoint and Clark Fork. “This is all very recent — it’s just kind of emerging.”

The new PR push is national in origin, but some library districts — and ours happens to be one of them — are well ahead of the curve. The reason, according to Timblin, is that the host of services available have already been bought and paid for with public money. Now it’s time for people to come in and claim that prize.

“We feel it’s critical, because this resource has been made available by the taxpayers,” she said. “It’s free to use and a lot of people aren’t using it.”

That said, more and more new faces are pouring through the front doors, passing under the stern gaze of the Abraham Lincoln statue in the outer lobby on their into the world of new ideas waiting inside. For those of us who love the feel, the heft and, yes, even the smell of an actual book, that can mean scanning the shelves for a title to read.

Look around, though, and you find that this traditional book repository has plugged into information and ideas in all kinds of ways.

“We’re still all about books, but we’re in the

information age now,”

Timblin said. “Libraries are that place that offers free, open access to information.”

So much so that this public relations specialist considers the library to be the locus for “life-enrichment services,” as opposed to just a bunch of cool stuff to check out for a few days or weeks at a time.

But then, these places have been exploring boundaries from the time Benjamin Franklin originated the idea of a public library back in the early 1700s.

“I remember a librarian visiting our school and telling the students, ‘We also have records you can check out,’” said Timblin, admitting that she felt sheepish checking out that first album, because it seemed to have no connection with learning. “But that made me realize that libraries are about having fun, too.”

The libraries in Sandpoint and Clark Fork have seized on that notion, offering a place for like minds of all ages to congregate and share, as well as a place to develop new skills. Both directions arose from public input, gleaned partly from vehicles such as the comprehensive plan and a separate community review focus group that listed areas of need.

“We found things we could extract from those as a way to become a ‘community anchor,’ ” explained Timblin.

Two items that loomed large in both studies were a need for teen spaces and a resource for economic development in the form of personal development.

For the former, both library locations regularly host themed events for teens and pre-teens, whether that be a Star Wars movie release costume party, tech workshops on 3-D printing and robotics, or the “Sandemonium” held last summer that attracted more than 300 young people who gathered for cosplay contests, video game tournaments, pen-and-paper role-playing, art galleries, vendor booths, workshops, panel discussions, music and more.

“As far as economic development, the library has the ability to be a component of education and skills development that can bump up a person’s skills and make them more marketable,” said Timblin. “Not everyone can afford to go to college, so we partner with the Department of Employment to teach things like résumé writing, putting together a cover letter and conducting job research.”

Many of the classes and workshops have a family orientation, providing one more good reason for multiple generations to visit the library. And while parents and kids have ample opportunity to get all “techie” together, they can also learn skills such as needlepoint and other folk arts.

“Families don’t get a lot of chances to makes things together anymore,” Timblin said. “This is a way for kids to learn tangible skills.”

The cumulative effect, the PR specialist noted, is that more people inside the library means added influence outside its walls. In other words, the library heads out to meet new users, instead of waiting for them to arrive. The Bookmobile might be the most obvious and visible example of that, but lifelong learning classes — including computer classes for seniors — also carry the message into the community.

Farther afield, the library partners with Kootenai Land Trust to host StoryWalk every month or so. In this case, pages from children’s books are staked consecutively along public trails. Each page suggests an activity that sparks conversation between kids and adults.

“You get outside, you have family time and it encourages literacy,” said Timblin. “And you have the added benefit of community members interacting on the trails.”

Other events — the endlessly fascinating Friends of the Library monthly presentations and that group’s book sales come to mind — have done wonders to get the word out about the library.

“The hardest challenge is that there’s still so much that people don’t know about us,” Timblin said, citing her background in marketing, where she learned to pick one message point and hammer it home. “But, at the library, I feel like I have 6,052 messages to deliver and they’re all equally important.”

A couple of examples: Did you know the library can help with free travel planning, from fun facts and things to do to cultural tips and information on what documentation and immunizations are needed?

Or that there is a Seed Library stocked with packets of seeds donated by area residents with a passion for preserving heirloom seed varieties that thrive in local soil and climate conditions?

Or that almost everything that’s found in the library — books, music, movies and games — can be found on the district’s website and downloaded digitally?

The library also has the cure for after-dark bouts of cabin fever. When all the stores have closed, this place is still open for business.

“We’re open until 8 p.m. most nights,” said Timblin. “So, after you go out to dinner and you’re just not ready to go home yet, come check out a movie or walk around exploring the books and music — there’s a lot to do here in the evenings.”

For more information on services and events offered through the East Bonner County Library, stop by the branches in Sandpoint and Clark Fork, where a library staffer will be happy to show you around and answer questions, or visit online at: www.ebonnerlibrary.org