Library Love Stories

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	"...The library has been a lifetime of rewards and support..." -Dick Saunders. Dick Saunders began using the library as a student at Flint Junior College (now Mott Community College) and from there, he became a lifelong FPL patron. "The library...helped me to remodel two houses. It’s provided me with entertainment, recreation for my sports, my hobbies, my investments and just about every facet of my life." He believes that the Flint Public Library supports the varied needs of Flint residents. "The library is not just a tool for the intellectual. It’s a tool for the electrician to help understand how to wire homes. It’s a tool for the carpenter. I learned how to build kitchen cabinets from books I used in the library. When I had to plum the house, I had no idea of how to pour a solder joint but I found books in the library..The library provides tools and instruments for just about any kind of trade, industry, activity that you might want to name." In addition to being an endless source of information, Saunders sees the library as a destination as well. "The thing I enjoy so much about this public library is that it’s not just a place where there are books. There’s music, there’s art, there’s all kinds of activities going on all the time...It has provided a very important accentual part of the recreation, education and entertainment for this community."
	“…On Martin Luther King Day I think the library is the place to be…500 or 600 people come in for a recitation of the I Have a Dream speech, young men come in and sing and dance…the library is key and it’s a great place to be.” –Jennifer Roth-Emkow, Librarian. The Flint Public Library is often at the center of important community events. The library has become known as the place to be in Flint to celebrate the Martin Luther King, Jr., holiday. For more than 20 years, the library has honored the civil rights leader by keeping its doors open and inviting people in for music, a dramatic presentation of the “I Have a Dream” speech, and other speeches and activities. More than 500 people from all walks of life left this year’s program inspired by the life of Dr. King.
	"My branch of the library is the hub of our neighborhood... ” -Cindy Cromwell. Cindy Cromwell is an avid reader and visits the Cody Branch library. “My branch of the library is the hub of our neighborhood,” she says. She has depended on the library to provide her with reading materials during illnesses, and as a place for her children to receive help with schoolwork. She has watched her branch evolve into a destination for neighborhood children. “They come to the Cody Library. It is safe, they have access to whatever materials they need, they have access to the computers and their parents know that they’re in an environment that’s good for them.” As a community service liaison for United Way, Cromwell knows first hand how much the Flint community needs agencies like the library to help them through difficult times. She says the library is “… a vital, vital part of the community… If they try to close my library I’m laying in the middle of the road!”
	"The library is something that the whole community is in vital need of..." -Lavarne Ross Local artist and lifelong Flint resident Lavarne Ross considers the library to be an excellent resource. He uses the library to research specific projects and to learn new things in general, and he particularly values the assistance provided by expert FPL librarians. “You have personal, professional assistants that can fine tune what you are looking for,” he says. Ross has created community-themed artwork for the library and advocates its use among young people in the Flint community. “I recommend our young people…to use the library to research the topics that they’re working on.” In the age of the Internet, Ross still considers the library to be irreplaceable. He says there are, “...certain things that the library offers that the Internet does not… the library is something that the whole community is in vital need of.”
	"It's just a wonderful thing to have for kids in the community..." -Jason Hurley. Jason Hurley and his daughter are frequent library users, and they love the children’s room. “Most of the time…I come in with my 6-year-old and we go straight to the kids section, which is incredible…it’s just a wonderful thing to have for the kids in this community,” he says. Jason, who works at a video store, also refers customers to the Flint Public Library when his store doesn’t have what they are looking for. “The thing that’s the most impressive to me about the library is the selection. I don’t think you can find a better selection of anything that you are looking for- novels, DVDs, magazines, kids, autobiographical, fictional or otherwise.” Hurley considers the Flint Public Library to be a treasure to the community and hopes it will continue to grow, just as his own family has. “We used to come here for story time, actually when my 6-year-old was a little younger and I now have a 3-month-old so I’m sure we’ll be coming back very soon.”
	"I felt like I had my own personal librarian.” - Garry Wilson. The Flint Public Library has played many different roles in Garry Wilson's life. The library has helped him in his family history research. “…One of the services of the library that I really appreciate is the Genealogy section. I've been involved in Genealogy for probably 25 or 30 years and through that work I've traced my wife's family back to early France in the 1500's when they first came over…” Wilson has also attended library programming. “…We've been involved over the years in musical programs here, computer programs…I've participated in the annual sales of used books and I really enjoy that. Matter of fact, just today I dropped some off for the next upcoming sale…” Now, though, he appreciates the Library for its great service and wonderful collection of books. “…I do a lot of reading. I'm retired and I've had some health problems so I'm kind of home bound and I read 2 or 3 books a week probably… What makes the library so valuable to people like me is the closeness of the people that work at the library…I have very, very good experience with the library over the years particularly at Civic Park and then later on at Cody, felt like I had my own personal librarian. They would keep books that they knew I liked, they would put them on to my reserve list for me that I didn't have to hunt them down all the time and I really appreciate that because it felt like I was part of the family.”

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