With 10 branches across the county, St. Joseph County Public Library (SJCPL) is booked with resources for the local community through a vast collection of reading materials, digital media, and educational programs that enhance the quality of life for all ages.
At its core, SJCPL aims to share stories with Michiana, most commonly through books. While the shelves of SJCPL are stacked with numerous genres of engaging reading material, what many aren’t aware of is that SJCPL has much more waiting to be discovered by its patrons. With music studios, printers, laser cutters, video and podcast equipment, and more, SJCPL not only lets the community dive into the stories of others but also connect and share stories of their own through a collection of various creative mediums.
Accompanying this is SJCPL’s unique and specialized programming lineup.
“We have a ton of stuff, some of which people don't necessarily think about or realize that we also offer,” said Daniel Lichty, SJCPL senior communications manager. “We provide story time to kids. We have a large outreach team that is constantly doing programming for all of our branches, which range from everything such as labs after school all the way to crochet and crafting classes. We also have the local and family history office here where we keep all the historical records for this area, such as land records. We have a ton of photos – we have decades worth of negatives from ‘The South Bend Tribune.’”
As the famous saying from the television show “Arthur” says, “Having fun isn’t hard when you have a library card!” At SJCPL, a library card unlocks a world of resources and services for individuals and businesses alike.
“With a card, you also get a large level of access to electronic journals and databases,” Lichty said. ”What that actually means is that you have access to most everything from your consumer reports. You can do research on some of your large purchases before you buy them. Ancestry.com is also included in that, and there's also a large number of resources for small businesses, such as legal expertise.”
Learning about the vast amount of resources available was a welcome factor for Lichty, who joined the SJCPL team a year ago. As a father himself, he loves that SJCPL has many options for both adults and children, meaning his kids can also get in on many of the programs he is so passionately eager to share with the community.
“The wide array of things that we offer here, the amount of programming that has been done and how many opportunities we provide the community to connect with one another, was probably one of the more impressive things I discovered when I first started,” he said.
A particular favorite of his is story time, which has a few different versions to cater to the different age groups.
“It’s a great way to get parents and kids out of the house and interacting with each other, which is awesome,” Lichty said. “It’s about a 45-minute block of time where they can come to the library and engage with the curriculum led by our early literacy librarian. Their focus is to engage with the children and with the parents.”
What fully brings SJCPL to life, however, is its people. Each branch is equipped with a dedicated team and a uniform goal of helping people with whatever they may need through the library's resources. Lichty was able to experience the camaraderie first hand when joining the team and knows each and every one brings the same passion they have for the library to serve the St. Joe County community.
“Our people are fantastic; they're always super friendly and nice. They also make it possible for you to get a space that you can just exist in. There are no strings attached, there’s no pressure, there are no sales,” Lichty said. “We are full of people who are trying to do good things in the community. My job is to support them and to let them do that through my role in marketing and communications. If I can use my skill set to get the word out a little bit more about all the services that we offer and all the things we have, then I'm pretty proud of that.”
Many exciting things are in store at SJCPL, and Lichty and the team are very much looking forward to the community joining in on the fun. To stay updated on upcoming events and to receive other updates about the library, those interested are encouraged to sign up for SJCPL’s newsletter through this link.
For more information about the St. Joseph County Public Library, please visit sjcpl.org.