Geek the Library

When you think of the Liberal Memorial Library the first thing that comes to mind is books. These days it may even be DVDs or computers. But the library is much more than all those things. It's a place of workshops and activities for all ages. The library has computer training workshops every Tuesday and Wednesday in English and Spanish. The library has its monthly "Lunch and Library" and "Movie and Library" series. There is also storytime for children as well as gaming activities for teens and young adults.

The library has also had its share of guest speakers to enlighten the Liberal community. Western authors Phyllis Miranda and Linda Broday came to town to promote their new book as well as give some background on their writing process.


Children's literature expert and Kansas State professor Joe Sutliff Sanders visited the library and gave his perspective on the escape of Margret and H.A Rey, the creators of Curious George, from Nazi-occupied France during World War II.

The library is always working on activities and workshops that the community finds interesting and valuable.
Over the next few months, the library will be participating in numerous events such as the Duck Race Festival, the Mexican Independence Day Festival and the Halloween at the Southgate Mall.
At these events, the library will be out trying to unleash the community's inner geek.

But just what is geek? Geek simply means passion. Do you geek books? Video games? Football? What is your passion?

The library is participating in Geek the Library, a community-based public awareness campaign. The campaign highlights what people are passionate about and how libraries can support them, in an effort to heighten awareness about the critical funding issues public libraries face.

The public awareness campaign illustrates the fact that everyone is passionate about something--everyone 'geeks' something--and that the library supports them all.

So get ready to get your geek on!

Return on investment. You may hear those three words when you're talking about the stock market or real estate investments, but how often do you hear them when you're talking about the library? Probably not as often, if ever, as you should.

In these tough economic times, everyone is always wondering if they are getting the best bang for their buck. Am I getting the most with my money? I can tell you that the library is one place where you are getting your money's worth.

Recent studies have shown that for every one dollar that goes to the library, you get five dollars back on your return. Where else do you think you can get that kind of return on your investment?

Just think, instead of borrowing a book or checking out a DVD, you would have to buy it. Instead of borrowing a computer and surfing the internet, you have to buy a computer and get an internet connection.
For more information on how much you're getting back on your library dollar, check out http://www.tscpl.org/about/library-value-calculator/ It's easy to forget the library is here until you need it. (When a certain bookstore left town.) The library is a community resource and an investment. The more you put into it, the more you can get out of it.

Liberal has been great in supporting the library and understands it's a valuable commodity. Still, it never hurts to give a reminder of its value.