(Editor's Note: Check It Out will be posted on the CityView website each Saturday.)
When I started in my role as the director of Cumberland County Public Library almost a year and a half ago, our library locations — like many libraries and organizations across the country — were just beginning the process of reopening following the COVID-19 closure. In the past two-plus years, our library staff has masterfully pivoted to serve our community and residents in innovative ways.
Many things about our public libraries have stayed the same over the past two years and will continue to do so: our commitment to being safe, welcoming locations for the community; our dedication to providing information resources to the community; and our promise to continue hosting excellent programming and providing exceptional customer service.
There are many changes happening in our libraries as we work to innovate forward and expand our capacity to provide services. The accomplishment I’m most proud of is that our libraries are now late-fee and fine free for lost and damaged books and audiovisual materials. That’s right: If someone had longstanding fines, those are now gone and will no longer be charged. Our focus is having materials returned. So, if you have that library book you were hanging on to but didn’t want to bring back because of the late fee, now is the time.
We’ve launched a department emphasizing community engagement and ensuring that our libraries reach beyond the boundaries of our physical walls. Our digital navigators are here to assist with technology and navigating the internet. We’ve also resumed the mobile outreach service, delivering library materials to community members who are shut in or cannot make it to one of our eight locations.
What’s more, we are working to implement technologies and to reimagine some of our spaces. The library now has mobile hotspots that check out, to support students of all ages. We’ll be turning the second floor of the Headquarters Library into an interactive, innovative space dedicated to serving youths, families and creators. It will feature a makerspace with 3D printers, various robots and other technologies and programs.
If you’ve ever wanted to see an 8-by-6-foot Lite-Brite wall, visit Headquarters Library in spring 2023.
Stop in, call us at 910-483-7727, or visit cumberlancountync.gov/library to learn more. Our libraries are here to provide exceptional customer service to our community, as we all explore, connect and renew — together.
Faith Burns Phillips is director of the Cumberland County Public Library
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