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Explore (Mike Moore/mmoore@jessaminejournal.com / September 5, 2012) |
Jessamine County has much to offer, and Sunday, the public library invited residents to come out and “Explore” the options, community relations coordinator Heather Reynolds said.
“Explore is our annual advertising campaign,” Reynolds said. “It’s all about exploring Jessamine County.”
Some 2,800 people attended the event, which featured everything from food vendors to nonprofits giving out information about individual organizations.
“We’ve got this big event out here as kind of a kickoff,” Reynolds said.
The goal of Explore is for residents of the county to learn more about what is available in Jessamine County, Reynolds said.
“And it’s also to have fun at the library,” she said. “We not only have books and other materials; we’re a community center for people to come and study and have fun.”
Reynolds said the library wants the public to view it as a resource in many areas of life.
“We want people to get comfortable with what we’re doing,” Reynolds said. “Then they can learn about all the other things we have to offer as far as children’s programming and anything with adults. We have programs that help with jobs and resumé assistance and assistance with eReaders, and you can get downloadable books at the library.”
Library director Ron Critchfield said the library plays many roles for the community, especially in the area of education.
“We are focused on emergent reading and early literacy skills as well as educational and entertaining programs for people of all ages,” he said. “In the last fiscal year alone (July 1, 2011 through June 30, 2012), we taught nearly 4,000 attendees in this program and other job-related training inspired by the grant. This training is motivating some to re-enter the work force, others to gain new skills to become marketable after losing jobs, and others are learning to navigate online job postings and use the Internet to apply for new jobs.”
During the 2012 fiscal year, 246,946 patrons visited the library.
For more information on the Jessamine County Public Library, visit jesspublib.org.
