MRRL celebrates National Library Week

Missouri River Regional Library (MRRL) will host a variety of activities this week to mark National Library Week.

MRRL has served Cole and Osage counties for more than 110 years, and next week its staff will also celebrate the 40th anniversary of the dedication to the library's Jefferson City building.

"National Library Week celebrates the important role libraries play in their communities," MRRL Director Claudia Schoonover said in an email. "MRRL is a vital resource to the patrons of Cole and Osage counties. We provide a variety services, traditional ones, digital ones, as well as programming for all ages. ... We appreciate the support of our patrons and hope they will come out and join us for our patron appreciation event on Saturday."

Schoonover added the patron appreciation day will have free food, drinks, crafts and games for children. The event is from 11 a.m.-1 p.m.

Throughout the week, patrons can replace lost library cards for free and donate food to reduce library fines. One can of food will be worth $1 of overdue fines, and donations cannot be used to cover the cost of replacing materials, said Paula Schulte, library marketing coordinator.

"Food for fines is one event our patrons look forward to, and it is a way for us to give back," Schoonover said. "We are giving the food to Salvation Army, and I definitely have some fines so I will definitely be participating. ... In the past we gave it to the Samaritan Center, but we are trying to change it up."

MRRL will also debut its new online resource, Lynda.com. This learning website hosts 3,000 courses with more than 130,000 videos to help patrons pursue professional and personal goals, according to a news release. The courses are delivered by "expert instructors," and some offer certificates for completion. To better assist patrons in using this new resource, help will be available at the MRRL from 10 a.m-2 p.m. Wednesday.

The library also unveiled the 2015 Capital READ's book: "Bettyville" by Missouri author George Hodgman. MRRL has a speaking event scheduled for Hodgman later this year.

National Library Week was first sponsored in 1958 by the American Library Association (ALA). Libraries and schools across the country participate in the event. The ALA and the American Book Publishers formed a nonprofit organization called the National Book Committee in 1954 to promote reading among Americans. The nonprofit developed the plan for the week of appreciation to gather more support for libraries. The first theme of National Library Week was "Wake Up and Read," according to information from the ALA.

For a list of MRRL's National Library Week activities, check mrrl.org.