Library Welcomes Everyone

In the recent months, Library of the Chathams has made a concerted effort to create an environment where everyone feels welcome.  It set up a taskforce, Coming Out of the Dark Age (CODA) that put forth several measures to make the library even more open and welcoming to the community.  Overdue fines for Chatham items are gone.  Your library cards can now be renewed for ten years instead of three, and you can renew them by phone.  Mandatory fees for the use of meeting rooms have been eliminated.

The newest expression of this openness is the Welcome sign periodically gracing the front lawn of the library.  It started as an idea from CODA to welcome diverse members of the Chatham community in their own first or native language.  We invited members of the community to write “welcome” in their languages.  This event kicked off on April 3 and continued through National Library Week April 3-9.

The next step was to combine all contributions into one poster, with the help of our friends, the local business Chatham Print & Design.  The resulting sign, celebrating the growing diversity of the Chathams, now welcomes everyone who comes to the library.  Come take a look and see how many languages are represented in Chatham.  Maybe you will find your own writing on it!