Nancy Klingener, Community Affairs Manager for the Monroe County Public Libraries, joined Good Morning Keys on Keys Talk 96.9/102.5FM yesterday morning to talk about what’s going on in the libraries.
The Islamorada branch was remodeled last year, which was great.
Klingener said, “This year we will be celebrating the 60th anniversary of that building as a branch of the library, which we’re really excited about. It’s actually the oldest building in our Public Library system. It’s not the first library to be part of the County Library System, because that was built in the 1930s after the Labor Day hurricane.”
The Library app is also a new development.
Klingener said, “We just added that last year. Once you install the app, you scan your library card, and then you can just have your phone to check out books. You can do it at the desk at one of our branches. You can do it at our self checkout machines at the branches. You can do it at our kiosks. It’s a really cool thing, and then you don’t have to worry about like, oh, do I have my library card with me because you always have your phone with you, right?”
There are also musical performances coming up from the libraries.
Klingener said, “They’ve already started, and we have a bunch of different performers who are going up and down the Keys to each of our branches. And the best way to find out when they’ll be at your local branch is to go to our website, and click on Events right at the top, it’s got a little calendar icon, and select your library, and you can see what’s coming up, including a lot of performances. One really cool thing about the calendar is you can add an event to your own calendar, either iCal or Google Calendar, and you can also email yourself a reminder from the calendar, and you can share it with a friend if you want to be like, hey, let’s go check this out together and just email it, share it right from there. These are free and open to the public. You don’t have a library card, just come on in. We have lots and lots of resources and activities to offer. So the best way to find out what’s happening at your local branch would be probably to just stop on in and speak with the librarians in the children’s department and find out what we’ve got going on.”
There are a lot of classes with a lot of topics.
Klingener said, “It’s a team effort. Trust me, we have staff at each and every one of our branches that come up with these and program them and make them happen. It’s impressive.”
The libraries are closed on Sundays.
Klingener said, “You can always get ebooks, e-audio books, video and more from us. Just go to 24/7 library, that’s right on the top, next to events, and you can find out. You can even sign up for a library card right there, if you don’t have one, and get started online right away. Speaking of New Year, it’s not too late to do new year’s resolutions. It’s still January. And in fact, you could do it any time of year. And there’s a little item on the website right there about New Year’s resolutions and all the ways that we can help. And one of the biggest ways we can help is if one of your resolutions is to save some money this year so you can get books, magazines, audio, books, video, lots of stuff and activities, games, all for free.”
For more information, click here: https://www.keyslibraries.org/