The Versatility of Libraries

 Usually, people think of a library as a place to read books and check them out. The library is much more than that. It provides people a place to sit down and relax and enjoy the quietness. It also provides magazines, computers, printers, and DVDs for the people that can not afford it. Its high book shelves are filled with knowledge for young and old to learn. It provides free entertainment and activities for the community. The Library benefits several people world wide if used the right way.

By Jennifer Swanick

April 10,2009

If you need resources to help in a job search, or simply need a getaway from the stresses of everyday life, the Hennepin and Carver County public libraries offer a wealth of resources that more residents are taking advantage of during the hard economic times.

Michael McConnell, a coordinating librarian for Hennepin County Libraries, said there are generally just more people in the library including people using the library as a place to think, dream and get away from daily pressure.

The activity McConnell said he notices in the library reminds him of the library traffic during the mid-’70s and early ’80s, when the economy was also struggling.

The type of people seen in the library during the day has also changed in recent times, with a lot more men using the public libraries, McConnell said.

McConnell also sees more families using the public libraries as a safe place to bring children for free activities, such as story times, and for a place for kids to use puzzles, books and computer games.

Janet Kinney, the branch manager of the Chanhassen Library in the Carver County Library System, said families are making good use of the resources in her library and borrowing what they used to buy.
The story time programs at the Chanhassen Library are very popular, Kinney said, and include a lap-sit story time for infants and story times for toddlers, preschoolers and families.

The Tuesday morning preschool story time at Chanhassen Library will typically have around 23 to 24 kids show up, Kinney said.

Residents using the Chanhassen Library have also been making use of the meeting rooms, which are available for free to nonprofit groups, Kinney said. “We are booked all the time.”

A variety of groups use the meeting rooms including Boy Scouts, co-op groups, a radio club, Chanhassen Little League and book clubs, according to Kinney.

One particularly successful group seen at the Chanhassen Library is the master gardeners from the University of Minnesota who are offering six meetings on gardening topics. The master gardener meetings have sparked plans to grow cucumbers in the flower box at the Chanhassen Library, and leftovers will be donated to a food bank, according to Kinney.

“During more challenging times we need to get together and share information,” Kinney said of the master gardener meetings.

The rental of DVDs from the public library provides free entertainment for residents, who can reserve DVDs online and pick them up. “The DVDs just fly out of here,” Kinney said. The Chanhassen DVD collection is in the thousands, she said, but it looks like they don’t have many because they are always being checked out.

Adult classes available as a resource in Hennepin County include a computer basics workshop, offered several times throughout April and May, and introductions to Microsoft Word and Excel. These classes are also offered throughout Hennepin County in other languages, including Spanish and Somali.

Residents have also been using the library resources for searching for new jobs, building resumes and learning to file them online through the Job and Small Business Centers located at Minneapolis, Brookdale, Southdale, North Regional and East Lake Libraries. The centers are targeted to residents looking for a job, changing careers or wanting to start a new business.

The Job and Small Business Centers offer guidance through consultations with community experts and experienced library staff, research databases, recommended Web sites, and books, according to the Hennepin County Library Web site.

SCORE, a nonprofit association dedicated to the success of small
business, works in collaboration with the libraries and offers small business counseling by retired members of the business community, McConnell said. The counselors offer free, confidential help with business start-up and management, according to the Hennepin County Web site.

Aside from utilizing the job searching resources Hennepin County has to offer, some residents choose to go to the library for free wireless Internet access during their job hunt, including Eden Prairie Library user Jim Terpstra who said he has been using the library for the wireless Internet access to search for a job online after recently being laid off.

McConnell said aside from the staff and partners that can offer personalized help at the libraries, there are many job and career planning resources available for free through the Hennepin County Library Web site. The Web site also includes unemployment resources.
The library is a great place for people to regroup and figure out how to get started during the hard economic times, Mcconnell said.
“The library connects them with all those resources and helps them set forth a plan,” he said.

Kinney said the job search resources at the Chanhassen Library are mostly self-help, but they try to keep residents informed of where informational classes on jobs and careers are held and are expecting over the next few months to see what they need to provide to residents that is not already being provided.