Celebrate Fayetteville: Exploring the Greater Fayetteville Region

makes learning about science, technology,
engineering and math fun. In a survey by
Up & Coming Weekly, residents voted the library
as the best use of local tax dollars.
From an operations standpoint, assistance in
economic recovery is a primary activity of the
public library, which has become known for its
work in helping the unemployed. People visit
the library for help with resumes, job searching
and access to prospective employers through
job fairs. Small business owners conduct
research and learn other skills, such as how to
use social media for marketing. When unemployment
rose, the library rallied to get people
back to work, offering not only free resume
help and classes for essential job-related computer
skills, but also one-on-one help for
adults, who can learn in personalized settings.
Librarians are uniquely positioned to
connect with soldiers and their families by
providing much needed resources and help
during times of transition caused by deployments,
transfers to new duty stations or
retirement. Through a needs assessment
study, the library is further broadening its
services to the military community.
The Local & State History Room at the
Headquarters Library houses books, maps,
pamphlets, newspapers, microfilm, census
records and photographs. What began as a small
local history collection now includes extensive
material about almost anything concerning
North Carolina and Cumberland County.
Each year, the library hosts Summer
Reading Clubs. This crucial program bridges
the summertime learning gap that arises
between the end of the school year and the
beginning of the next. Youth, who are unable
to get to the library during the summer, are
served when librarians take the program to
them at day camps throughout the county.
The Friends of the Library devote themselves
to library services and programs,
providing funding that make programs such
as the Summer Reading Club possible. The
Friends also support Librari-Con. This popular
anime and manga festival reaches teens from
around the state and provides an outlet for
imaginative expression.
Efforts to ensure that everyone feels at
home at the library include care to increase
accessibility. Programs such as Sensory Story
Time meet the needs of children with autism
and other special needs. Through grant funding,
the library has increased its technology
that adapts to learning differences for youth
and adults.
The Library Endowment Trust makes a
great library even better. The Trust makes a
real difference for generations to come
through financial gifts that enhance library
services and opportunities that would not
otherwise be possible.
Now, more than ever, the Cumberland
County Public Library & Information Center
is serving our community.
For more information about the library,
please visit www.cumberland.lib.nc.us.
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Left: Early literacy development is crucial to
providing services to children. Following
story time, a young reader and her mother
choose books to take home.
Below: Nearly twenty-five years ago, the
Library Board of Trustees envisioned an art
collection for Cumberland County citizens.
Through private fundraising, the library’s
collection has grown to ninety-seven original
pieces of work by North Carolina artists.
In a written agreement signed in 1984,
primary responsibility for the collection was
transferred to the Friends of the Library.
An Art Collection Acquisition Policy has
been developed to guide the quality of future
art work. The collection is valued at nearly
$330,000 and can be viewed from the
library’s website.
TITLE: ONCE UPON A TIME. CREATOR: ELIZABETH DARROW.
FORMAT: OIL ON CANVAS. DATE: 1986.
LOCATION: HEADQUARTERS LIBRARY.
F A Y E T T E V I L L E P A R T N E R S
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