Last summer, a lightning strike and resulting fire forced the Ponte Vedra Beach Branch Library to close for two weeks for repairs. Coming on the heels of the pandemic and the disruption in services, it was a hardship for area residents who rely on their library.
“I think what I learned through that whole experience is that this really is the heart of their community,” said Debra Rhodes Gibson, director of the St. Johns County Library System. “They didn’t want to go to any other location to pick up their holds. They didn’t want to use the Bookmobile. They didn’t want to use books by mail.”
What they wanted was to go to their hometown library.
And while virtual options got patrons through the impact from Covid, in-person availability was what people were craving, a fact borne out by statistics regarding the rise in library use once things got back to normal.
“People want to be with each other,” Gibson said. “They want that human connection with the staff and their neighbors.”
One of the reasons for the library’s success is its active Friends group. In fact, the library values their input so much that one of the Friends of the Library members was asked to sit on the interview panel in the search for a new branch manager.
The job went to Kim Odom.
“We couldn’t be prouder to have someone like Kim and her experience taking over the helm,” said Gibson.
To learn more about the Ponte Vedra Branch or the St. Johns County Library System, go to sjcpls.org.
To learn more about the Friends of the Library or to make a contribution, go to folpvbfl.org.
