Chattahoochee Valley Libraries in the Spotlight!

Anchored at the Robert A. M. Stern-designed Columbus Public Library, the Chattahoochee Valley Libraries continue to provide successful programming, outreach and service to all residents of Columbus GA and the surrounding West Georgia counties of Cusseta-Chattahoochee, Marion and Stewart.

A vital addition in recent years has been our two new Bookmobiles. One is a complete Digital bookmobile featuring Wi-Fi and broadband Internet service via satellite hook-up. Funded by a major grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, this vehicle is targeted to rural areas that have no or limited availability to broadband technology. It is scheduled for several hours per location to allow patrons enough time to access the Internet for job searches, state assistance, employment testing and more.

The new Muscogee County Bookmobile is a state-of-the-art mini-library on wheels. Targeting over 43 locations in the metro area, it was funded by a generous gift from Aflac, the insurance company headquartered in Columbus. Scheduling for this vehicle is geared to senior homes, low-income housing areas and several apartment complexes that cater to those with disabilities.

The Columbus Public Library is also home to the ColumbusLibrary for Accessible Services (CLASS), one of the twelve sub-regional talking book centers in Georgia. A recording studio, designed to National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped standards, was donated by area restaurant Country’s Barbecue and has provided a vital service in recording newspapers and books for patrons throughout the state. CLASS now finds itself in the forefront of helping adopt the BARD Mobile app from NLS that is anticipated to transform the delivery of materials in the near future.

Library programming continues to be a community favorite. 53,000 patrons attended 1,800+ events over the course of the last fiscal year. Program highlights include the First Annual Columbus Children’s Book Festival, which despite a rainy day that forced activities inside saw about 4,000 patrons attend presentations by R. L. Stine, Jane O’Connor, Jerry Pinkney and others. A week-long  visit by The Wall That Heals, the touring half-scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall, brought several thousand to the library. This was the culminating event of this year’s The Big Read celebration of Tim O’Brien’s “The Things They Carried”, a month-long series that saw appearances by the author and others. The “Building Common Ground” lecture series brought notables like Nikki Giovanni, Dave Isay, Jonathan Haidt and Michelle Norris to town for a series of provocative talks. Currently the library is hosting the ALA exhibit “Lincoln: The Constitution and the Civil War.”

More information about Chattahoochee Valley Libraries  can be found at www.cvlga.org or by calling 706-243-2669.