What Do We Want to Do?

Someone asked me this question today and it took me by surprise! Here is my answer...what's yours?

What I think we want to do is:

Provide a library for our rural community that meets the needs, interests, and dreams of our growing population of library users. What strikes me most about what I'm hearing from our patrons is what they dream their new library will be. This has really captured the imagination of South Benton! Of course, everyone wants to know when it will be built...but questions like, "what is it going to look like, how many computers will we have, and how big will it be?" keep coming up mostly! This library is a huge step in bringing Monroe and South Benton into the 21st Century. But in a way that everyone will be comfortable with. We have many old families with such a unique history in our community and we can't lose that link to the past. I see the restoration of the Train Depot being a way to ease the Monroe Community Library into the 21st Century and like our motto of the South Benton Library Project states, "Linking the Past with the Future". Providing a library for new families moving to Monroe's proposed housing developments will be a key element to our livability. And the new library will be one of the first things that will capture the attention of people driving through our community. What an opportunity to become a showcase for other rural communities in Oregon. We can't pass this up...

Dreams I have heard from patrons for the new library:

Lots of computers
Showcases for artwork
More books!
Quiet spaces found within
Coffee...?
Meeting places


What is your dream?

(My personal dream is a fireplace where anyone can snuggle down and read when it's raining and gloomy!)