The Whitefish Bay Library Gets it Right

The Whitefish Bay Library is an outstanding community resource that gets it right. 

This past Valentine’s Day, the library sponsored an activity in which you could fill in a few message lines on a heart to explain why you “love” the . After filling out my note, I spent a few moments looking at the messages on the hearts posted around the library. I was struck by the many messages from library users of all ages.  I saw a heart from a child who had dictated the message and signed her name. I saw messages from early writers. Teen writers had left messages. I saw hearts with messages written by parents like myself. And I saw hearts from grandparents. 

All those heart-felt messages were telling the library about something it had done right. Many messages were about fun and worthwhile activities that the library had hosted for kids, teens, parents, and adults. Other messages expressed thanks to the library staff for their good cheer, help, and graciousness.  (I concur wholeheartedly with these messages, as I can truly say that I have never been in the library without being warmly greeted and helped.) Still other messages told of the writer’s love for reading—surely encouraged, in some part, by the access to books and other media at the library.

My family goes to the library every week without fail.  We are there to check out books, movies, and books on tape.  We are also there to look up books on the computer or to play with the puzzles.  This past weekend we had an additional reason to go the library—the semiannual Friends of the Whitefish Bay Library book sale.  If you did not have the opportunity to experience the sale, I would highly recommend it the next time around.  There are books and materials of every shape and size, all amazingly affordable.  It was fun to browse and to see everyone else browse, including my children who had a ball finding books “just their size.”  Happily, there were many volunteers to help with locating books (although the organization is terrific), finding bags (or boxes) to hold your books, and to help you out the door. I was even given a hand by a young man who took my bags to the car. 

Kudos to the Friends of the Whitefish Bay Library and to the Whitefish Bay Library—they get it right.