Meeting Everyone’s Needs: Springdale Public Library Offers Programs to Reflect Community’s Diversity

Sarah Loch was destined to be a librarian from a very early age.

“I always loved books and reading as a kid,” she said. “When I was trying to find a profession that would allow me to share that love of books and reading with other people, libraries were the perfect fit. The times I’ve felt most successful as a librarian is where I’ve found a person who thinks they don’t like to read and I’ve found the book that changes their mind.”

Even as a 10-year-old, Sarah, the “young adult” librarian at the Springdale Public Library, pushed her pro-reading agenda on her friends and family.

“I was very convinced of my own intelligence because I read lots of books,” she said, laughing a little. “I was always
trying to share the facts that I learned from those books with other people.”

Her enthusiasm for books, reading, and learning wasn’t always appreciated.

“I did learn how to reign it in a bit as I aged,” she said. “I had a lot of younger siblings so I kind of grew into that.”

Flash forward about 25 years and Sarah is still advocating for books, reading, and learning. It’s her job, and one she loves.

“Our programming for children at the Springdale Public Library is very popular,” she said. “We offer programming for birth through age 12. We have regular storytimes for babies, toddlers, and preschool-age children. We have a bilingual storytime for our Spanish speaking families and those who would like their children to be more literate in Spanish.”

Having a current collection and a diversity of books is important to the modern library system.

“We want to meet everyone’s needs so there are books where everyone can see themselves reflected,” she said. “We want to have materials that reflect the diversity of Springdale as a community.”

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