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The Kalamazoo Public Library offers new resources and technology for the community Foster Neve-jones and josephine velo

The Kalamazoo Public Library offers new resources and technology for the community

Across from Bronson Park, stands the black marble building of the Central branch of the Kalamazoo Public Library (KPL), a pillar of the city of Kalamazoo since 1872.

KPL has recently celebrated its 150th anniversary, and since its founding, the library has provided the community with a multitude of resources and activities, many aimed at teenagers.

The teen library on the bottom floor is full of books aimed towards teenagers.

The Teen Section is one of the larger sections of the library and it includes teen media, with computers and gaming consoles. This area also has a special maker studio that gives teens a place to express themselves through art or reading and interact with each other outside of school.

Natalie Isham, lead teen librarian at the central library, highlights the Wellness Locker, which is a place for “teens to take what they need.” This includes materials like food and hygiene products, all provided for free by the library.

The library also documents decades of Kalamazoo’s history, providing extensive writings on Kalamazoo’s local history, preserving Kalamazoo Gazette publications digitally going back to the 1850’s, as well as housing yearbooks for Kalamazoo schools, genealogy records and obituaries.

There is also a 3D printer, a laser engraver, and a woodcutting machine.

All of these resources are free to use and have specific library employees who can help patrons with any questions. The Idea Lab is open 4 days a week (Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday), and is located on the third floor of the library.

The library also houses Peer Navigators, employees hired by the library to help patrons with more personal problems, whether it be struggles with addiction or conflict between friends or family. “People bring things in with them: trauma, addiction recovery, poverty,” Isham said, and Peer navigators are people trained to aid with issues, a free service there to help others with more personal problems.

Isham described the library as a public place, one where there is no expectation to spend money, which places it in a unique position compared to other organizations in Kalamazoo.

Libraries today have challenges in keeping up in a more modern world, and KPL has excelled with many creative solutions to this problem. The Library of Things is a newer addition to the library, focusing on other resources that the library can offer.

The Library of Things works similarly to checking out books, but you are able to check out items like baking equipment, all sorts of electronics, and cleaning equipment like vacuums and power cleaners. Allowing these materials to be checked out can help patrons who may not have access otherwise.

Another major segment of the library is the law library, a resource available to people to help patrons with legal issues, whether it be divorce, custody, tenant or landlords, real estate, or even name changes.

The law library is the only one like it in the state, and came around in the ’90s when the county saw a lot of people representing themselves in court, so the library made numerous changes to provide more information and resources to those people.

KPL also has a massive selection of audio visual materials, one of the largest circulation materials in the library.

“Before COVID we had around 5 thousand DVDs and other AV materials circulating,” said Isham.

The children’s section of the library also has a focus on early literacy. Their children's area has story readings each week for kids under 12 years old, as well as learning computers and musical instruments for kids to experiment with.

Natalie Isham described the five parts of early literacy as talking, reading, writing, singing, and playing. Each of these parts is important in helping younger kids develop their literacy skills from an early age.

Credits:

Josephine Velo