Mitchell
Editor’s note: This article was written by Dan Mitchell shortly before his death on May 14, 2024. Dan has been a member of the Johnson County Public Library board of trustees since 2014 and recently joined the JCPL Foundation Board. His dedication to the library and his passion for seeing it reach more people made him an invaluable part of JCPL’s mission of connecting our community to resources. Dan shared his passion for libraries in this article; we are pleased to have the opportunity to share it with you. We are enormously grateful for his contributions to JCPL. We are honored to share his thoughts about public libraries with the community.
If you are an older person, as I am, and you haven’t been to one of our branch libraries, you will be absolutely amazed at how different a library is today compared to how it was when you were young. In my younger days, a library was where you went to get a book or perhaps to use some reference material.
Today, a library is so much more. We never had access to DVDs or eBooks. We never even heard of such things. We didn’t have meeting rooms for groups of various sizes to study or talk to each other. Today, you can walk into any of our branches and ask any person working there to help you find all the information you need.
Young children have more to do at a library today than they have ever had in the past. There are special areas in the library specifically designed to help children learn in different ways than are being used in pre-schools or schools. This makes learning fun, and it is important for a child to realize that learning is fun.
The Johnson County Public Library has special groups that meet at various branches, such as the Stamp Club and the Chess Club. Whether you are a beginner or a more advanced collector or player, everyone can participate.
The best way to see all the things the library can provide is to walk into one of the branches or log on to the JCPL website. If you don’t have a library card, get one; it is free. You can then enjoy all the things the library can provide for you.
JCPL staff members share in writing this twice-monthly column for the Daily Journal. Send comments to [email protected].
