Change is constant.
When I was young, I thought change was essential and found it thrilling. The more mature (older) I grow, the less I tend to embrace change, but the more change confronts me.
A recent visit to the Pea Ridge Community Library brought home how much change is all around us. The director explained that libraries are more community centers are are there to help patrons in far more ways than just providing books.
A former aficionado of libraries, I liked the tall, dark, book-filled shelves. I loved searching through the card catalog for just the right book. I found the quiet stuffiness comforting and a good place to read.
As a mother of young children, I took my children to the library often but was always shushing them. And we were thrilled to walk out with armloads of books for a week's reading.
As computers became more popular, I saw libraries welcoming computers, shelves opening up, more open spaces being made possible in libraries. School libraries were renamed media centers.
One of my daughters during her young adult years became an assistant library director and I listened to her discuss some of the many changes being made in libraries.
Regardless of your former view of a library, it would behoove you to visit the Pea Ridge Community Library. If you're not tech savvy, the clerks there will be glad to assist you learn more about what is available there.
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Editor's note: Annette Beard is managing editor of The Times of Northeast Benton County. She can be reached at [email protected].
Editorial on 06/19/2019