Lori Allen: See the library in a new light

I was riding with a few girl friends to our P.E.O. meeting when I asked about the topic of our speaker for the evening.

“I think it’s on the library,” someone replied. A couple of us made an audible sigh, and I secretly wished I hadn’t carpooled so I could sneak out early. I had a lot to do at home that night and besides, I already have a library card. I really didn’t need a lesson on the Johnson County Library.

I was wrong. If you haven’t been to the library lately, trust me, you need to know this.

As the program began, Melody Kinnamon introduced herself and passed around her business card. The card contained a direct phone number and personal email address. She said she would be happy to help us at any time if we needed help finding information.

Doesn’t she know how dangerous this could be? How many times had I searched for material, despite all of the access the Internet provides, and just couldn’t find the information that I was looking for? An offer to help people find the right data with just a phone call or email? I worried what would happen when news of this got out — the phone would be ringing off the hook.

Melody talked about the changes going on at the library. Instead of the place where you check out books (which you still can do), she said the library has become a community gathering space.

In the Maker Space, for example, they have a 3D printer, a sewing machine and even tools that you can check out for weekend projects. If you work out of your home or simply need to connect with another person or group, the library has large public meeting rooms in addition to private smaller ones.

Listening to Melody talk about the library was mesmerizing. Remember the way your elementary school librarian would read stories to your class, and the words would jump off the page, in full color and with a little glitter sprinkled around? That’s how she talked. The suspenseful cadence of her speech, the careful words she chose and the excitement she put into her voice was enchanting as she described all of the offerings of today’s library.

Melody’s primary focus at the library is digital literacy. This refers to resources that are accessed through the library website and simply require a Johnson County library card. Have a small business and need some training on, say, Facebook advertising? Your library card gives you free access to the learning site Lynda.com, which is a lot less than I am currently paying for this privilege!

You like books on tape so that you can learn or be entertained on your commute to work? They have that, and it’s — you guessed it — free. Can’t make it to the library because you broke your ankle but want a book to save you from boredom? They have a service that will get the books of your choice delivered right to you.

Lost your job? Universal Class provides online courses. That would be a great place to explore another career or take a life enrichment class.

But wait, there’s more. I’ve saved my favorite for last. If you have kids who occasionally need some help with their homework (maybe algebra or chemistry isn’t your strong suit), the library has a service called Tutor.com. With a Johnson County library card a student can connect through library’s website to a personal tutor for help with homework, test prep, algebra and more.

Tutors are available from 4 to 11 p.m. and are thoroughly vetted certified teachers, college professors, graduate students and credentialed professionals who can help students through a shared whiteboard, chat and file-sharing. If I were a teacher, I’d offer extra credit to students who researched all of the things they could do at the Johnson County Library.

Melody continued to be captivating: “There’s that great line in the movie, ‘Good Will Hunting,’ when Will tells an obnoxious Harvard student that in 50 years he is going to realize he ‘dropped a hundred and fifty grand on an education you could have got for a dollar fifty in late charges at the public library.’”

In her typical spellbinding manner Melody finally declared, “I would go on and on…as you can see we have something for everyone in the community — the young student, the adult learner, the small business owner, the job seeker, the senior learner and the working professional.”

Yep, I feel pretty honored to have Melody’s business card. And I’ll bet she’d give you one, too. But more even more impressive is having a Johnson County Library card.

This story was originally published September 22, 2015 at 4:50 PM with the headline "Lori Allen: See the library in a new light."