What Have You Created with the Help of the Library?
April 9, 2015 —
What have you created with the help of the library?
These days, more people turn to the library for computers that create everything from marketing materials to 3-D robots. They create training videos and club PSAs, and use our tools to train for jobs, find jobs or finance a new business.
During National Library Week beginning Sunday, April 12, we’re celebrating the things you can create with the library’s help, so we asked customers to tell us their stories.
- Fredrick Burns created a new start: "I am 56 years old and a former sales trainer/associate at Haverty's,” he says. “I suffered a brain aneurysm and lost a lot of previously obtained skills.” He found a popular brain training site “boring.” Then he signed up for free computer skills classes at the Edge Community Technology Center. His apprehension about failing melted away. “I never once felt like I didn’t belong or that I wasn’t keeping up. I never felt put on the spot.”
Recently, Fredrick completed the fifth of a series of computer skills classes and is ready for the sixth.
“The Edge program has helped me to get back on track, regain confidence in my learning ability, Fredrick says. “You’re helping people in a lot more different ways than you can imagine.”
- John Woodman investigated financial investment products to start a new business. He’s using two resources: the Morningstar Investment Research database, available online free with a library card; and MOBIUS and interlibrary loan, enabling him to borrow hard-to-find, or insider materials from other libraries.
- Felicia, who is adopted, arrived with a name and created a family tree. Local History & Genealogy staff helped her locate her birth parents and relatives with the Ancestry database. She told us, “Without your help and kindness I would never have been able to find my family…”
We’d love to know what you have made with the library’s help. We invite you to tell us via email, or call 417-616-0564 during National Library Week Sunday through April 17.