Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
SIXTEEN-MONTH-OLD OLIVER Brown attends Ironwood Carnegie Library's second after-school reading event of the school year Thursday, along with eight other children. Assistant library director Lynn Wiercinski, left, read, "The Day the Crayons Quit," by Drew Delwalt.
IRONWOOD - Ironwood's Carnegie Library is "Geeking the Library" with an open house Thursday at 5 p.m.
"Geek is a verb," Elaine Erickson, library director, said. "For example, I geek the library."
Geek the Library started in 2010, and is an effort in communities across the nation to show people that the library has the resources to support whatever it geeks, their passions, Erickson said.
The open house will kick off the program, with goodies and treats provided. Participants can create posters about what they geek.
The library has been working with local schools, Gogebic Community College, the Chamber of Commerce and the Ironwood City Commission on the project, Erickson said, with plans in the works for a commissioner to share what he or she geeks at the library, one a month.
Erickson said the Wakefield library will geek, as well, at a later date.
Libraries offer their communities Internet access, and accompanying online opportunities, as well as traditional services such as books and programming, according to a "Geek the Library" fact sheet.
Libraries support both personal and economic development, and can influence job creation and community expansion.
Studies indicate dollars spent on libraries provide solid economic returns to the community.
The program is funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
For more information, visit geekthelibrary.org.
