“This is the coolest library I have ever seen!” Nothing warms a librarian’s heart more than having a library stereotype shattered by your own awesome library, right in front of your eyes. Paul was a contractor in the building for the first time to give us a quote on some work. And although we say, “Thank you” when we get this kind of comment, we often can’t help but share in their amazement with an, “I know, right?!” Over the past few years GPL has experienced change, growth, and progress that amazes even us – and nothing makes it sweeter than watching our community and those who visit us enjoy it.
This week is National Library Week, and libraries all over the country are talking about how libraries transform. We love this message because it emphasizes libraries as active participants in the lives of their communities, not passive storehouses of knowledge. It stands to reason that the libraries that are the most transformative for their communities are those that are constantly transforming themselves. Public libraries’ facilities, services, and resources need to be garden fresh in order to reflect and serve their ever changing communities. It is said that you never step into the same stream twice, and I hope the same can be said of our library – that every time you walk in the door there is something new to discover and a fresh experience to be had.
Every year we celebrate our accomplishments and report on our stewardship of your tax dollars by publishing the GPL Annual Report. Our 2015 report is now available to you on our website or in print at our front desk. We encourage you, as a library investor, to take a look through this report. And remember as you read it that this isn’t a dry spreadsheet of dollars and cents – it is an adventure tale filled with drama, excitement, a touch of chaos, and a happy ending.