Say “Hola!” to Viridiana Marinelarena, our volunteer Spanish translator in the School to Work program. She is offering free Spanish-English translation support in the library on Tuesdays from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. Viry, a junior at the high school, has lived in Pagosa her entire life. She grew up in a bilingual family speaking both English and Spanish at home.
School to Work in a class in which students choose a local business to work for during school hours, with the business’s agreement. It’s an opportunity for students to work and be evaluated as if they were getting paid. Their grade is based on attendance, work evaluations and a journal.
Viry hopes that she can encourage more Spanish-speaking patrons to come into the library and not be afraid to ask for help – and also teach the library staff a few Spanish phrases to help them communicate in return. She is looking forward to going to college and becoming a professional translator and interpreter.
We are very grateful to Viry and to her teacher, Ms. Toner, that our Spanish patrons will have the benefit of her enthusiasm and language skills.
Job search support
If you are looking for work, we invite you to attend a free one-hour information session on Monday, March 22 from 1 to 2pm presented by the Linda Stuckwish of the Pagosa Workforce Center and Tessa Michaelson, adult services librarian. You will find out about important resources and useful tools to help in your job search. There is no registration or fee for this program.
Library card rule in force soon
A gentle reminder that beginning Thursday, April 1, you will need to present your physical library card for circulation transactions (checking out, renewing in person, updating records, etc.) and for using the public computers at the library.
This is standard practice at most public libraries. Here at our small-town, we are proud to match our personalized service by recognizing many of our patrons by face or by name. So in the past we haven’t bothered to ask for your library card. However, we know that to best protect individual patron accounts with regard to accurate contact information and circulation records, we need to scan your cards at check out. Not only will this ensure that you know and are responsible for what is checked out on your account, but it also will help decrease account misbehavior and other costly consequences for your library.
If you can’t find your library card or want to update to a new card, the normal $1 fee will be waived throughout March and April. After May 1, you will have to pay the $1 card replacement fee. |