Making a Difference in Your Community



Shamrock Senior Center



Impact, outcome measurements, stakeholders, CEO, partnerships, return on investment; these are not terms you associate with the business of operating a public library. However, these terms and actions are part of the structure of Charlotte Mecklenburg Library. With limited community resources and high community need and demand, the library has to be able to tell its story, demonstrate community impact  and effectively communicate its benefits and values to our customers and stakeholders.

Don't stop reading. The first paragraph is as technical as it will get! The best way to share how the library impacts our community is through our customers.  Three customers share how the library made a difference in their life. Their experience demonstrates how the library's supports community issues through programs that address workforce development and life long learning.

Meet Josefina. Josefina takes advantage of weekly library sponsered computer classes offered at the Latin American Coalition. Josefina learned how to use the computer and Internet to fill out job applications and government forms. After completing the classes Josefina said, "Imagine when I apply to become a US citizen.  I can do it through the Internet and I did fill out all of those legal documents through the Internet without paying a penny."

Jose Luis is also a student in the computer class. He said he has learned many things about computers including how to write his own resume, apply for a job and use the Internet!



Luis attends  programs at Shamrock Senior Center. Library staff provides bi-monthly literacy programs to customers who speak Spanish as their first language. Luis believes library programs help the seniors become better thinkers. "Our brains are more active and we learn how to express ourselves in a better way. When you reach old age, we need more  support, and that is why these types of programs are very useful."



My 84 year old Aunt-in-law loves to hear stories about library programs. When I visit her, which I do often because she lives across the street, she always says, "Meryle, tell them (other family members) what you do at the library, its amazing. For the longest time, I thought you just checked out books." I am happy to share stories of the library's impact and value. I love to tell her how Josefina and Luis benefited from personal assistance that will help them find jobs and build  their workforce skills. My aunt understood how Luis felt about the literacy classes at the senior center and she new first hand how important this service is to healthy aging. Your library, Charlotte Mecklenburg Library, continues to be more than fixture in the community.  It is an institution that supports the critical needs  of the people and community it serves. And yes Nanny, we still have books!







Helping Parents Communicate with Teachers

Charlotte Mecklenburg Library provides library outreach programs at the Latin American Coalition. These workforce development classes are designed to help patrons increase computer skills to communicate, find jobs and create opportunities to enhance employment. Classes at the Coalition are planned and implemented by staff member Irania Patterson. Irania was excited when she connected the content of her class with the students need. Part of the curriculum of the computer classes is establishing an e-mail account. Once the students created the account and practiced it within the class, Irania was not able to tell if the students continued to use the account for communication. The students approached Irania when they wanted to use their e-mail account and computer skills to communicate with their children's teacher, since grades and student information is electronic for Charlotte Mecklenburg School parents. Irania created a lesson that taught parents how to search the CMS website to find their students grades and they used their new e-mail account to communicate with their children's teacher! This was a huge accomplishment for our computer class, but a more important accomplishment for our computer class students. The free services from the library are helping parents access information that helps their child with educational success! For more information on Spanish language computer classes call 704.416.0557 or ipatterson@cmlibrary.org.

Library by Mail Goes Multilingual!

A bit of history...The Outreach Department provides programs and services to patrons who cannot use our facilities in a traditional manner and partnering with Mecklenburg County Senior Center is a perfect fit. We offer regular literacy programs at the Shamrock facility on Willard Farrow Drive. The Willard Farrow location serves a diverse population, which includes seniors from Russia, Asia and Latin America. Twice a month, Irania Patterson visits the facility and offers programs in Spanish. In our quest to understand our patrons needs, she presented our Library by Mail service to the group and twenty-five qualified people signed up for the service! Within a week of processing the applications, books were mailed as requested. Even though our Library by Mail coordinator, Connie Ellington does not speak Spanish, she was able to pick up key words from the applications and mail patrons books and other material. One recipient was so excited about reading Spanish language books, she insisted on coming to the Library to thank Connie. The patron was over joyed to read her books. She said (translated) "I wanted that book for years. I love the books and the service, thank you so much. I did not have anything to read until the books came in the mail!" She kissed and hugged the staff before she left. We hope to replicate this service for other patrons at the facility.

We recently learned that the transportation service used to bring the seniors to the facility has been cut and many seniors will not be able to participate in the social and educational opportunities that are part of the nutrition program. The Library by Mail program will serve an important role in keeping the seniors connected to community resources as well as keeping them engaged through reading. Both aspects are important for healthy aging and life long learning. To learn more about our Library by Mail program visit www.cmlibrary.org.