Check out your local library, you'll find more than books

It’s Library Card Sign-Up Month, and this year’s theme, according to the American Library Association, is “one card, endless possibilities.”

Lakes Region librarians agree. 

Libraries, some of our oldest and proudest institutions, have persisted millennia, serving millions of individuals and thousands of communities. Today, they’ve got books, but they’ve got a lot more than that, too.

“A lot of people don’t realize the benefits their public library has,” Erin Apostolos, director of the Meredith Public Library, said in an interview. 

Digital downloads, streaming services, a maker’s space, myriad classes and digital conversion equipment are just some of what the library in Meredith has to offer. 

Apostolos has been in the public book business more than 30 years, and she’s seen a lot of change. When she began working in libraries decades ago, people were mostly interested in the status quo: checking out and later returning bound, physical books. But when VHS tapes were introduced, customers were particularly intrigued.

“Libraries have been trying to keep current,” she said. 

They do so in order to maintain a relationship with the public, and cater to their evolving needs. 

“Our goal when we did our [2021] renovation was to be Meredith’s living room, and I think we are,” she said. 

Now, the library is a space for events, hosting them for all ages and audiences — typically, there’s three or four items scheduled at the Meredith library daily — and best of all, services are free. See the full schedule at meredithlibrary.org.

“If you’re a Meredith resident, it’s no cost,” Apostolos said.

“September is a push to get people to come back,” Katherine Dormody, director of the Gilford Public Library, said in an interview. “It’s the best value in your wallet.”

She, too, has witnessed the evolution of the library as needs of local residents grow.

“The library is everything these days to a community,” Dormody said. “It used to be just about books.”

At many libraries, she said, you can visit their “library of things,” collections of useful items like hobby kits, a so-called grandparents kit, telescopes and other items.

“It’s a connection to the community, it’s a connection to any kind of class that someone might want,” she said. “You name it, we do it.”

For more details, visit gilfordlibrary.org.

At the public library in Laconia, they’re celebrating Library Card Sign-Up month with a contest: stop in to use your library card any time during the month of September and enter their pizza raffle. Four lucky winners will receive $25 gift certificates to South End Pizza & Seafood, located on South Main Street, in a drawing on Oct. 1. For more information, visit laconialibrary.org.

For Eileen Gilbert, director of the Belmont Public Library, signing up for library access provides limitless opportunities. 

“A library card is useful in a lot of different ways,” Gilbert said in an interview. “They’ve got a lot of activities going on, a lot of things besides physical books.” 

Belmont’s also got a “library of things” — games, tools, hobby activities and a radon detector coming to the library “very soon.” Belmont, like many other libraries, is creating a “third space,” inviting community members to take advantage of their resources and to have a safe place to spend their time, all free of charge.

For all Belmont library's offerings, visit belmontpubliclibrary.org.

Gilbert’s been in the business 20 years, the past 10 in Belmont, and she’s seen the shift in consumer demand toward electronic and audio books and other online services like music streaming, though “people still want the physical books, just as much as ever.” 

“Library card sign-up month is a reminder for the community that they have a lot of resources that they can use.”