LIBRARY DIRECTOR PRISCILLA MASSEY SPEAKS TO ROTARY
“I started working in the library at age 14, while I was in high school, continued during my college years and have altogether worked in the library field for 26 years. I love sharing resources with the community!” says Priscilla Massey, director of the Winn Parish Library system, to members of the Winnfield Rotary Club at the regular meeting on July 19, 2023.
Ms. Massey is frequently asked, “Is the library obsolete?” She answers “yes and no.” While the traditional brick and mortar library with paper books is slowly becoming used by fewer people as more and more digital/electronic books and information resources become available, the services and information our library makes available to the public has increased rather than decreasing. As more and more public services and programs require access to the internet, and many people still lack access to a personal computer connected to the internet, the public in Winn Parish may avail themselves of computers provided at the library.
“A world of digital resources are accessible to the public via a library card,” according to Ms. Massey, who brims with enthusiasm over the services the public may access through the Winn Parish Library system. Of course, Winn still has branch libraries in Atlanta, Calvin and Dodson as well as the relatively new location in Winnfield at 200 N St. John. With a Winn Parish library card, which is free of charge, one may access thousand of free e-books and audiobooks on your personal Kindle or other electronic smart device via the Libby app. A coalition of about 20 parish libraries in north Louisiana have joined their resources together on Libby so that any person with a library card of any of these libraries may download an ebook or audiobook from the system. And no late fees—ever! When the 14-day checkout period ends, the digital book automatically returns to the “library” unless the borrower renews the withdrawal.
The Louisiana Digital Library, accessible through the Winn Parish Library’s website, offers over 400,000 historical items from Louisiana’s digital archives, libraries, museums and other repositories. One may see archived newspapers, photographs, maps, manuscripts, books or oral histories. It may be accessed from a personal computer through the winnlibrary.org website.
Free on-demand, online tutoring and career support for adults is available through the library website on tutor.com. This same service offers students assistance with homework via the library website, through the Louisiana Library Connection which has access to HomeworkLouisiana.
Also accessible through the library via the Louisiana Library Connection are fill-in-the-blank, downloadable, continuously updates legal forms on Gale LegalForms.
For those needing personalized language services, the library offers free access to translations by native speakers, Englis as Second Language and American Sign Language courses, and study for the U. S. citizenship test, as well as language learning for kids grades K-12 on the Pronunciator foreign language app.
All one must do to access all these absolutely free services and more is to visit the library and sign up for your very own library card.
