It's September, and you know what that means ...

GO, RAMS, GO! And I hear the opening game provided an exciting contest with a surprise ending touchdown. I hope the rest of the season is equally satisfying.

So, if we're into football season, that means we're back to school. We're buying notebooks, and flash drives, protractors (does anybody still use protractors?) , and new jeans, backpacks, and ... about a million things more. And in the flurry of all that back-to-school shopping, some of you might have forgotten a very important accessory that no well-dressed student could be without. (Many of you who know me will be bewildered by this foray into fashion reporting. After all, no-one could ever confuse me with a fashionista. I only have two rules of fashion: (1) Is it clean? and (2) Is it black? But this is one area I know well.) And that accessory would be ... your library card!

It's stylish, it's colorful ... it's FREE, and it can be very, very helpful with those book reports, papers, and projects your teachers are dreaming up for you. It even comes with a key tag, so it's compact and convenient.

South River Library card modeled by Ramona

Available exclusively at your public library.

It's September, and you know what that means ... it's LIBRARY CARD SIGN-UP month!! Stop by and get yours.

Andrea

Libraries are where you make friends ...

What do you think of when I say the word, LIBRARY?

I bet for most of you what comes to mind is books, and that’s OK because the book is the most recognizable icon associated with libraries and probably the most common answer to that question. (In an OCLC study , nothing even came close … )

So, we're all about books. Well ... , yes and no.

As libraries reinvent themselves to try to stay apace with our rapidly evolving world, they have also broadened their missions to include other roles now, including that of the “community commons”. Simply, a place where members of the community cross paths, deliberately or accidentally and exchange pleasantries. In other words, libraries have accepted a social role. This takes many forms, this blog being one of them (allowing me a space to have a conversation with you). But perhaps one of the most powerful manifestations is just that people meet at the library … they talk to each other (and exchange ideas) …and often they make friends.