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Health & Fitness

What Has Your Library Done for You?

You might be surprised to learn about some of the many ways the library helps its customers.

What has your library done for you? At , this week alone:

I was asked for books about starting a business. I showed the two customers Starting Your Own Business: The Only Start-Up Book You'll Ever Need, How to Start a Business in Virginia, and Legal Forms for Starting and Running a Small Business. Will they really start a business? Will it be successful? If so, did we help?

A woman came in and said she needed to know more about a cancer with which she'd just been diagnosed. I showed her books such as Everyone’s Guide to Cancer Therapy: How Cancer is Diagnosed, Treated, and Managed Day to Day.  Better yet, I showed her how to use MedLine Plus from home to access information from the National Institutes of Health, American Cancer Society, Mayo Clinic, etc. written for the layperson. Will she be okay? Will any of these resources help her to cope with her diagnosis or improve her quality of life during and after treatment? 

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A coworker told me of an immigrant family who spent a lot of time at the library over the years working with volunteer English language teachers and ESL (English as a Second Language) materials. They became successful business owners in the area and they have become volunteers at the branch themselves. The parents and now-adult children help others learn English and learn about using computers.

You probably have a story about a favorite book we suggested to you, a homework assignment that stumped you, or computer project that stymied you.  Please share! 

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