Fontana Regional Library

Programs: The fontana regional library is the public library serving jackson, macon, swain counties in the appalachian mountains in rural western north carolina. The library provides free access to books periodicals, audiovisual materials, programss for children and adults, inforomation, computers, and internet access. The library also has a mobile outreach unit providing programs and resources to area child care facilities. In order to better serve the stem education needs of the community, the library added a portable planetarium to its offerings this year. This resource is available for use at schools, festivals, and science programming events throughout the service area. In the first 4 months of operation, the library has presented 110 shows to over 2,800 participants. Broadband connectivity and internet access are limited in our rural communities. Therefore, the library provides free public internet computers and free wi-fi access to the public in all our buildings. The computers were used nearly 57,000 times and the public used their own wi-fi devices on the library network nearly 86,000 times. The library provides information resources both in the buildings and online to all persons without discrimination. In the past year, the library lent over 350,000 items, including books, music, video, telescopes, backpacks, games, and equipment; or nearly 4 items per every man, woman, and child in the communities. Nearly 40,000 of these were electronic resources available online through the website. There were over 457,300 visits to the library during the year, nearly 63,000 visits to the library website, and the staff answered over 88,300 reference questions for the public. The library provides the community with safe, comfortable places to gather and share information and ideas. The library presented over 2,500 free programs and classes to the public, attended by over 52,000 people; over 78% of this audience was children. This year, library meeting rooms were used for over 6,700 non-library meetings, attended by over 29,500 people. For those who can't come to the library, the library reaches out to them. The library's mobile preschool unit visited 30 day-care centers monthly, providing literacy resources, story-telling, programs, and workshops to area children and their care-givers. The library partnered with over 203 local area groups and agencies, including schools, the department on aging, the health departments, southwestern community college, western carolina university, the southwestern commission, and aarp, to provide service and information to the public. At a time when some people are suggesting that libraries are not needed, our statistics show that usage of library resources is evolving, and the library remains a vital part of the community. The library is the heart of the community, enriching lives and inspiring the future.