Libraries do touch lives!
There are so many wonderful stories about the ways lives are touched by libraries. I'd like to share one I read recently. And if you have one that you'd like to share also, please let me know.
From Summer Mauldin, RAYA, Main Library, used with permission.
I wanted to tell you about an experience I had today. Two months ago on an outreach visit to Crisis Ministries homeless shelter, I met a woman named Ms. G**** who had just moved to Charleston from Virginia. She told me how her life had 'gotten away from her' and she moved to Charleston to start fresh, though she was finding it difficult to cope with homelessness. I told her about the Working Opportunities for Women (WOW) program I help with weekly at the YWCA (I take them library card applications, job-related books, TLC schedules, etc). The program targets low-income women and teaches them job skills. I got Ms. G**** a library card and encouraged her to use the library's resources to get herself stable. On my next visit to the shelter, she was already gone--which is sometimes a good sign and sometimes a bad sign. I hoped for the former.
On my visit to the YWCA today, I was excited to meet my new class of WOW recruits--each group of women takes the classes for eight weeks, so this was my first day with the new group. When I walked in the room, Ms. G**** was there! She came up and hugged me and said since leaving the shelter, she had found housing and enrolled in the YWCA's program, and most recently, gotten a job. She was thrilled. After I left, I started to think about how this is a defining example of successful outreach--when one person feels supported by the library. Ms. G****'s first point-of-contact with CCPL was when we came to her at the homeless shelter; then she came in and used our facility to locate housing and a job; then we return to continue supporting her at the YWCA while she completes an intensive job training class. It's the ideal outreach relationship! Now she and her class are taking a 'field trip' to CCPL's March 13 Small Business Fair where she will attend workshops, get SCORE counseling, etc. What a wonderful opportunity, and what a wonderful example of how library departments can work together, in conjunction with community organizations, to enrich our county--one member at a time.
As you can imagine, this was a wonderful feeling, and I know that the effect CCPL has had on this woman wouldn't show up in any statistics, but it's there. From the moment she arrived in Charleston, the library encouraged and supported her in her quest to better herself and her community. What a wonderful example of how the library services extend far beyond books and reference desks.
From Summer Mauldin, RAYA, Main Library, used with permission.
I wanted to tell you about an experience I had today. Two months ago on an outreach visit to Crisis Ministries homeless shelter, I met a woman named Ms. G**** who had just moved to Charleston from Virginia. She told me how her life had 'gotten away from her' and she moved to Charleston to start fresh, though she was finding it difficult to cope with homelessness. I told her about the Working Opportunities for Women (WOW) program I help with weekly at the YWCA (I take them library card applications, job-related books, TLC schedules, etc). The program targets low-income women and teaches them job skills. I got Ms. G**** a library card and encouraged her to use the library's resources to get herself stable. On my next visit to the shelter, she was already gone--which is sometimes a good sign and sometimes a bad sign. I hoped for the former.
On my visit to the YWCA today, I was excited to meet my new class of WOW recruits--each group of women takes the classes for eight weeks, so this was my first day with the new group. When I walked in the room, Ms. G**** was there! She came up and hugged me and said since leaving the shelter, she had found housing and enrolled in the YWCA's program, and most recently, gotten a job. She was thrilled. After I left, I started to think about how this is a defining example of successful outreach--when one person feels supported by the library. Ms. G****'s first point-of-contact with CCPL was when we came to her at the homeless shelter; then she came in and used our facility to locate housing and a job; then we return to continue supporting her at the YWCA while she completes an intensive job training class. It's the ideal outreach relationship! Now she and her class are taking a 'field trip' to CCPL's March 13 Small Business Fair where she will attend workshops, get SCORE counseling, etc. What a wonderful opportunity, and what a wonderful example of how library departments can work together, in conjunction with community organizations, to enrich our county--one member at a time.
As you can imagine, this was a wonderful feeling, and I know that the effect CCPL has had on this woman wouldn't show up in any statistics, but it's there. From the moment she arrived in Charleston, the library encouraged and supported her in her quest to better herself and her community. What a wonderful example of how the library services extend far beyond books and reference desks.
posted by cynthialb at 4:31 PM
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