Newspapers / The Yancey Journal (Burnsville, … / April 21, 1966, edition 1 / Page 9
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Regional Library Week Being Observed By Avery-Mitcheli- Yancey Regional Library By Ashton Chapmen During National Library Week, April 17-23, it’s well to consider the diverse and continual'y expannding ro es North Carolina libraries play in the life of the communi ties they serve. And the ac cent is on service, the librar ies no longer being mere de positories for musty tomes and engaged principally In supplying Intermittent visi tors with “good books” to whi’e away the time. Take for instance the Avery-Mitchell-Yancey Re gional library. Composed of three county libraries and the Spruce Pine Town Lib rary, it far exceeds the sum of its parts. Although the 35,127 books in the four libraries add up to less than one volume for each of the 39,923 residents, these volumes had a circula t'd! last year of 102,748. And this record circulation was in the face of steadily increas ing numbers of TV sets in the area. — — > CHEVROLET CUSTOM CAMPER vx-x-ft-x-t-wxviv:?! * 1 ym I '■ rr*’ WITH SPECIAL EQUIPMENT FOR OUTDOOR LIVING! Want to make life more enjoyable? Get a specially equipped Chevy Custom Camper pickup. Add the camper body of your choice. You can use the truck for work with body detached, then mount your camper body and head for the great outdoors. Go where you want, stop when you like. You’re . .. free as the breeze! And you can go often because it doesn’t cost much. A Chevy Custom Camper will add a most pleasurable new dimension to your life. Talk to your Chevrolet dealer about any type of truck . 32 Yiii ROBERTS CHEVROLET - BUICK INC. Franchised Dealer No 1019 West Main St. Burnsville, N.C. Munuhu tm ( i \s Uc» n N.» no 5 THURSDAY, APRIL 21, 1966 But it wasn’t for book circulation alone that this struggling regional library received last year the covet ed Dorothy Canfield award made annually bp the Book of-the-Month Club. While the SI,OOO cash award made possible the pur chase of important books prohibited by the library’s limited budget, it was of even greater importance in boost ing the spirits of the few full-time, the part time and volunteer workers, the lib rary board members and Friends of the Library groups A’l had been devoting much time, thought and energy, rot only to ways of exposing patrons to cultural aspects of life but to bringing them concrete, practical help in solving the day-to-day pro blems of living and of earn ing a llve’ihood. This award of merit has spurred all concerned to even greater efforts. They remember that the region had no county-wide library service until Avery authoris ed a county library in 1942, followed by Yancey In 1945 and Mitchell in 1948, and a Spruce Pine Town Library • in 1952. > A small bookmobile was acquired by Avery in 1948 &”d the other counties soon followed suit. Today two of the small original bookmo biles are still being operated, plus a large walk-in model. One or more of these are making .trips every day. of ten into remote sections wuere oooks and moya«in— might otherwise never pene trate. Combining the three coun ty liDianes into a regional unit in 1961 increased the amount of state a.id federal aid available, however, last year’s receipts from ail sour ce! totaied less tnan sl. for each of the area’s 39,9*3 re sidents. What this regional library is achieving with such scanty annual approp riations seems almost mira culous. The 2,547 books added last year, bringing a total to 35,127, lnc-uded not only purchases but donations, a number of which were mem orial books worn out by readers each year. And the THE YANCEY RECORD cost of books continues to spiral. All four libraries in the re gion have had to shift quar ters several times. Only the Avery County Library now has its own building. Some additional space for the Spruce Pine Library in the town hall was recently pro vided; but all four libraries are still inadequately housed and will become more crowd e das anticipated growth continues. Being in the world-famous “Spruce Pine Mineral King dom,” the Avery-Mitchell- Yancey Regional Library was several years ago designated the depository for the min eral book collection of the State Inter-Library Loan Service. Books and pamph lets now exceed 2,000. They’re In almost constant use by area residents and Increas ing requests for loans to pa trons of other libraries in the state are being filled. Mineralogical and lapidary Journals are among toe 60 periodicals to which the re gional library subscribes. The regional library has on file a large number of films and filmstrips on a wide variety of subjects. On short notice, thousands of Fchevroletl others can be secured on loan for a nominal charge, often only postage. The library also has sever al hundred records and tape recordings of music, plays, poetry, children's stories, etc! The loan of many, many others may be had for a small charge, usually only postage. f Practically any non-fiction book in print, and most fic tion, not in the regional lib rary can be secured for read ers through the State Inter -7* Library Loan Service for cost of p-»stage only. Neighborhood Youth Corps enrollees are now being trained in the regional lib rary. These trainees are helpful in cataloguing, book mobile trips, extending lib rary hours and showing films to community organi zations and special-interest groups, as well as using au dio-visual materials to assist non-readers and poorly equ ipped readers. The experien ce the trainees are gaining shou’d prove very valuabie Ito them. The three counties each has a Friends of the Library group, who help make possi ble the expanding of the many services the libraries can render and creating new ones, not o->ly through dona tions of time money but by sponsoring film showings, lectures and other educa tional and entertaining events. The Spruce Pine group is raising funds to purchase a building site, which will them to secure federal and state aid for a new, modern library - But above all, the regional library hoc been fortunate in continuing to have the fu’l-tlme sprvloes of such a dedicated professional lib rarian as Mrs. Dorothy B. Thomas, whose services would hardly be available to any of the comoonent lib raries individual’y, even on a part-time basis. / ling, gggg r- •*— I IFF4CASUALTY We’ll jump through hoops to EARN your insurance with f£ ’PERSONAL SERVICE ROIERTS AGENCY lorasvlllo, N.C. Mom 6(2-2191 All Typos losoroaco
The Yancey Journal (Burnsville, N.C.)
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April 21, 1966, edition 1
9
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