Keeping Calvert Libraries the Best on the Bay
Dear Bay Weekly:
Bay Weekly readers voted Calvert Library Prince Frederick Best of the Bay. Glad as we are for that honor, we try to keep up that high standard in each of our four branch libraries.
Calvert Library as a whole is connected, plugged in, involved in the community. We watch and listen to our citizens to find out what they need and want and then work to provide.
We want to be the community’s destination for imagination, information and inspiration. We prepare children for school through storytime classes where they learn listening skills, social skills and a love of reading. We teach basic computer skills to senior citizens interested in taking part in the digital world. We support grassroots groups like Calvert Eats Local. We honor our veterans by providing storytelling opportunities.
We offer Mahjongg classes to help keep brains sharp. We promote hobby groups like On Pins & Needles for sharing creativity and fostering community. We assist local entrepreneurs in creating business strategies to enhance the local economy through our small business collection. We offer film, books and local issues discussion series for exploring the humanities and learning from each other. We work with students of all ages through job counseling and classes for gardening, writing, history research and more.
Calvert Library is a place of lifelong learning.
Yes, the economy has an impact on our services. The library is busier than ever. We help fill the gaps that the economy is causing. Customers can check out books, DVDs and CDs rather than renting or buying. They can participate in free events and classes at the library for education and entertainment. We can help them with their job search. We provide computers with high-speed Internet access to anyone who needs it. We provide wireless Internet.
We have experienced some budget cuts over the past couple of years, but we have been fortunate to retain our customer-service-oriented, well-trained staff. We are doing more with less thanks to these hardworking employees. Contributions from the Calvert Library Foundation and Friends of Calvert Library have helped fill in some of the funding gaps.
Calvert Library Prince Frederick is the newest Calvert Library building, so it was designed with the growing need for community gathering space in mind. This is what helped it be named Best of the Bay by Bay Weekly readers. The building has comfortable seating, plenty of computers, tutoring rooms, a quiet study room, meeting rooms and even a café. We host many of our events and classes in this building because of the beautiful space and because it is centrally located for our county.