This week, the Natchitoches Parish Library (NPL) hopes that all community members will join in and celebrate National Library Week by learning more about their local library. The Friends of the NPL (FONPL) is sponsoring a drawing for a Kindle Fire tablet to encourage learning more by signing up for the NPL’s monthly newsletter. To enter for a chance, text NEWS to 318-357-3280 through next Saturday and follow the instructions. Or ask staff at any circulation desk for other ways you can enter to win.
Additionally, the NPL will be out in the community sharing about library resources and classes throughout the week. Monday, from 3:30-6:30 PM, the NPL will be at Super 1 on the Bypass; Tuesday, from 3:30-6:30 PM, they will be at Hobby Lobby; Wednesday, from 3-5:30 PM, there will be a special celebration in the Main Branch’s lobby; and Friday, from 3-5:30,patrons can celebrate at the Northeast Branch in Campti. Those who stop by can win some library swag, get their faces painted, learn more about the NPL’s offerings, and enter for the Fire tablet drawing and enjoy refreshments, sponsored by the FONPL.
During National Library Week, libraries across the US are encouraging their communities to visit explore and access their library’s virtual and in-person services. The NPL offers a wide array of online resources that are available from the comfort of home, including Hoopla and Libby (digital checkout), My Heritage Library Edition (genealogy), Chilton Library (vehicle repair), and more. In-person classes are also offered each month for children, teens, and adults.
Whichever way you use the NPL, your local library is an accessible and inclusive place that fosters a sense of belonging and community through knowledge, connection, and community. The NPL seeks to make a difference in people’s lives by providing electronic learning resources like online homework help and wi-fi access for students and workers who may lack internet access at home. The NPL is supporting the community with curb-side pickup, grab-and-go craft kits, and story times, to name a few.
This National Library Week, the public can show their appreciation and support for libraries by visiting natlib.org, following the NPL on social media, and using the hashtag #NationalLibraryWeek.
Molly Shannon, multiple Emmy-nominated and Spirit Award-winning actress, comedian, and legendary Saturday Night Live cast member, will help celebrate our nation’s libraries as the honorary chair of National Library Week, April 4–9, 2022. Shannon will highlight the numerous ways libraries serve to connect communities to books, resources, programs, and, of course, each other.
“I am so honored to serve as honorary chair of National Library Week for 2022. My mom was a librarian. She encouraged kids to read. So, the work of librarians and libraries has such a special place in my heart,” Shannon said. “Libraries are places where communities connect—to things like broadband, computers, programs and classes, books, movies, video games, and more. But most importantly, libraries connect us to each other. Supporting National Library Week in this role allows me to connect to my mother’s memory and all the librarians out there. Thank you for everything you do.”
The theme for National Library Week 2022, “Connect with Your Library,” promotes the idea that libraries are places to get connected to technology by using broadband, computers, and other resources. Libraries also offer opportunities to connect with media, programs, ideas, and classes—in addition to books. Most importantly libraries also connect communities to each other. Overall, the theme is an explicit call to action—an invitation for communities to join, visit, or advocate for their local libraries.
“We are just delighted to have Molly Shannon serve as the honorary chair of National Library Week 2022,” said American Library Association President (ALA) Patty Wong. “Molly has made us laugh for so many years, and she exemplifies the creative spirit and spark that libraries and librarians nurture when they connect readers to new books and ideas. Molly is a national treasure, as are our libraries. We’re so glad to have her on board.”
Molly Shannon will release her memoir in April 2022. “Hello, Molly! A Memoir” is a candid, compulsively readable, hilarious, and heartbreaking memoir of resilience and redemption filled with behind-the-scenes stories involving everyone from Whitney Houston to Adam Sandler to Monica Lewinsky, with many told for the first time. The book spans Shannon’s time on Saturday Night Live, where she starred alongside Will Ferrell, Adam Sandler, Cheri Oteri, Tracy Morgan, Jimmy Fallon, and many others. At the same time, it explores with humor and candor her struggle to come to terms with the legacy of her father, a man who fostered her gifts and drive, but who was also left with the impossible task of raising his kids alone after the loss of their mother.
First sponsored in 1958, National Library Week is a national observance sponsored by the American Library Association and libraries of all types across the country each April.
