MIAMI, Okla. — “People go oh it’s a library it’s just books. We kind of have to offer more than that to keep ourselves relevant,” said Callie Cortner, Director of Library Arts and Culture Miami Public Library,
This week is National Library Week — a week to honor the impact libraries can have on communities. The Miami Public Library is one of the Four State locations taking part. This year’s theme is There’s More to The Story.
“What we are doing is going to be bringing awareness to that the libraries are still here and we are still relevant. So like today is National Right to Read Day so we’re letting people know that I mean we have books, we have magazines we have online resources.”
And there’s more.
“We have games we have online tutoring platforms, we have Excel Adult High School which is for people 25 and older that live in Ottawa County that didn’t get their high school diploma we offer 10 scholarships where they could get that high school diploma for free,” said Cortner.
According to Cortner although we are living in a digital-age, print is still very much relevant.
“I think one of the things that’s most important about having print still with everything being so techy is that you do have to kind of take it back to your roots. I think that people get use to staring at a screen all day long and I think keeping actual physical print alive helps us balance that out.”
National Library Week is sponsored by the America Library Association. It’s been observed and celebrated since 1958.
