Tag: first2know

By: Dwana Pinchock

On a personal level, I have always really loved literature, and I’m a big fan of our library system. We have an amazing one here, and I am happy to tell everyone to take advantage of it.

What’s really exciting is that Open Stage has been able to partner with [DCLS] to bring a touring production of A Christmas Carol, to the East Shore Area Library, which was great and a huge success. We had two performances in the community room, and it was well attended!

This was just another way for us to celebrate The Library, to celebrate Open Stage, and to celebrate this adaptation of great literature. People could experience this Charles Dickens story in a whole different way.

Our production, which is a two-man version of the show, tells the story with a lot of Foley sound effects. I think that that people found it really interesting and that created a lot of great discussions.

Another exciting thing about theaters and libraries is that we get to gather and have great conversations about big topics, including this wonderful work by Dickens.

Do you have any personal stories about libraries maybe while growing up or even as an adult that you could share?

I think that one of my favorite memories is growing up in Oklahoma. I grew up lucky being exposed to a lot of storytelling. That happened at our library.

I specifically remember seeing some storytellers there, sharing Native American stories. I firmly believed that the community gathering that happens at libraries and the events that happened around storytelling, helped me become the theater professional that I am today.

I don’t think that I would be the same kind of storyteller I am today without being exposed to the books I got at the library or to events like listening to the storytellers.

Stuart Landon is the Producing Creative Director of Open Stage; a regional professional theatre and educational program located in the heart of downtown Harrisburg.  

Today’s libraries are so much more than shelves of books. They are dynamic community hubs that offer a wide range of services beyond traditional reading materials. From public-use computers, high-speed internet, and free Wi-Fi to Interlibrary Loan programs, meeting rooms, and collaborative spaces, libraries provide resources that bring people together.

With the addition of convenience-focused services designed to further help members save time, money, and effort, libraries continue to be an essential part of modern life.

Here at the Dauphin County Library System, or The Library, we offer a number of convenience-focused services that you may not have tried yet– services like Bookadvisor (ourpersonalized book recommendation program), Teacher Material Request (a service that supports educators by gathering materials for use in classrooms),  or Curbside Pickup (available at 6 of our locations).

Have you ever wanted to print something that someone sent to you on your phone, but you didn’t have a way to do so at home? The Dauphin County Library System’s “Print From Anywhere” wireless printing service may provide you a solution. Here at The Library you can print directly from your laptops, tablets, and smartphones. To learn how, click here.

Or have you ever had a question or research need at a time when you were unable to visit a library? Try Ask a Librarian, The Library’s remote reference service designed to respond to questions via email. Just complete our Ask-a-Librarian form (or email your question to askalibrarian@dcls.org), and an Information Services professional will assist you (usually within 24 hours). No in-person visit required. You can find a link to our Ask-a-Librarian form on our Services webpage.

To learn more about these or any of The Library’s other services, please visit https://www.dcls.org/services/.

Whether or not you are a member or visitor of the Dauphin County Library System, if it’s been a while since you’ve checked out what services your library (or library’s website) has to offer, now is the perfect time to explore. You may be amazed at the variety of untapped resources and opportunities waiting for you!

Luke Blum is our Account Executive at iHeart Media. We’ve been working with him for almost two years.

It’s been great to be involved with the Dauphin County Library System. It’s something that that means a lot to me. The Library is always there, trying to help folks out. It’s a center of culture. When I think of libraries, I think of culture and a gathering place. Your library can reflect your town or city and it’s full of people that care and want to help others. It’s not like those people get huge bucks to be there. They’re there because they are passionate about it and that’s something I’ve always really appreciated.

It’s really cool to be able to help spread the word about some of these events that Dauphin County Library System is having. [The Marketing team] said they didn’t want The Library to be the best kept secret anymore, and that was something that really resonated with me, so we hit the pavement pretty hard and started spreading the word. The first thing that we did as a big project was the renaming of the George & Hettie Love Memorial Library. That was really cool. We did some ads, and we did an interview on one of our shows on WHP-580. I think that did very well.  

We’ve also expanded to do some podcast ads advertising different programs like Children’s Book Week.

This is something that I’m passionate about because libraries bring people together. Libraries tend to be a place where somebody who doesn’t know where else to go or who doesn’t have another place to belong can find their place and find things that they’re interested in.

I really like East Shore Library. A lot of the libraries that I’ve been to tend to be in these cool buildings. Large buildings with unique architecture. I think that the East Shore Library is one of those for sure.

I can still picture what the library looks like in the town where I grew up — Westminster, Maryland. They had garden boxes everywhere and it was a place that I looked forward to going to a lot when I was younger.

As I grew older, I learned there’s this whole other aspect to the library: Research. That was something they taught us about when I was in high school, but I didn’t really appreciate it until I got to college and was attending Millersville University. We had a very big library there. It was a place where we spent a lot of time, and it became a place for getting work done. I would go there, almost like I would go to an office, to do research for school and for projects. I’d use databases, which many libraries offer for free. I don’t think most people realize how incredible that service is.

Now we’re in a digital age. And not enough people know that you can do more than check out books. You can check out DVDs. You can check out CDs. You can check out games. You can check out seeds, all sorts of stuff.

I think that as I got older, I started to realize that the library is a place for culture, entertainment, music, art, literature, and joy.