Local libraries celebrate National Library Week

Though technology is leading the way in many subjects, local libraries are still thriving.It seems like there’s a national holiday every other day, but this week’s holiday is very important for libraries on the Central Coast.

Two different libraries with very unique personalities are celebrating this weeks holiday, which ends Saturday.When it comes to public libraries, funding often comes from the surrounding community.

“Friends of the public library or Harrison Memorial Library pay for all of our books, materials, our e-resources, our equipment, all of those types of things. So we are so fortunate to have all of the support for the library,” said Ashley Wright, Library and Community Activities Director for the City of Carmel by the Sea.

Public funding allows for libraries like this one to create a beautiful space full of today’s cutting edge resources.

“I’m very supportive and they had authors there and very interesting topics it’s very much apart of the community,” said Harriet Lynn, Visitor at Harrison Library in Carmel

Having the right resources is one major way libraries serve their community,and these days that means having the right technology.

“One of the interesting things about libraries that I don’t think a lot of people realize is that we’re early adopters of technology, because technology is a great way of disseminating information and that’s what we’re all about,” said Ashley Wright, Library and Community Activities Director for the City of Carmel by the Sea.

Caeser Chavez library in Salinas does what it can to help the community it serves the kids here.

“So this library is definitely a really good example of a community library, we have a lot of different age groups that come in just in this space alone you can see we have adults and children. We definitely have a kind of family vibe that goes on here,”Melissa Mejia, Librarian Two at Caeser Chavez library in Salinas.

The kids at this library definitely seem to be enjoying themselves.

“I love this library because it’s a lot of fun right here, and you get to know a lot of knowledge of books and you understand things, and you learn things every single day,”kids at library.

In addition to it being National Library Week, it’s also National Book Mobile day. E-books are growing in popularity, and both libraries I visited today offer ways to download books online.

“They’ve grown in popularity over the last few years, especially now that children are getting chrome books through the schools. We’ve noticed that they are coming to the library and asking more about ways to download those directly to new devices. So we do offer applications…apps like Overdrive and Hoopla for patrons, the chance to learn about how e-books work and to be able to download them directly on their devices,” said Melissa Mejia, Librarian Two at Caeser Chavez library in Salinas.

“We definitely do have a robust digital collection, in fact our e-books, audio and just books have surpassed our print collection.”Ashley Wright, Library and Community Activities Director for the City of Carmel by the Sea.

In the last three years funding for public libraries has increased in Monterey County. Much of that money has gone to creating an updated digital experience.