CLI discovers all Cecil libraries have to offer
Published on April 23, 2018
PERRYVILLE, Md. – In its quest to learn different styles of leadership qualities within the private and public sectors of Cecil County institutions, the Cecil Leadership Institute recently spent an afternoon discovering the behind the scenes operations of the Cecil County Public Library (CCPL) system.
“Our mission is to provide lifelong educational and cultural opportunities to everyone in Cecil County. Whether someone needs help starting a new business, locating that hard-to-find book, or looking for the answer to a lingering question, we are here to help,” said Morgan Miller, Director of the Cecil County Public Library. “We want to empower all learners in the community as the library is the community’s knowledge base and the go-to-place to learn.”
Within Cecil County, there are libraries in Elkton, Chesapeake City, Perryville, Rising Sun, Cecilton, North East, Port Deposit, along with an Outreach Bookmobile. These facilities are staffed by 74 dedicated individuals.
But these are not your grandmother’s libraries. In 2017, the CCPL had more than 420,000 visitors who checked out more than 953,000 materials. Today’s library system handles more than books, as visitors can check out DVD and Blu-ray movies, musical CDs, books on tape and disc, and even electronic books. The CCPL checked out more than 100,000 digital items in a 12-month period.
There are more than 64,500 library card holders in the county and 18,000 Student Virtual Library Card holders. These cards allow every students and teacher in the Cecil County Public School District to access online research, homework help and check out up to five books.
“This has helped us strengthen our partnerships with educational institutions in the county, particularly Cecil County Public Schools and Cecil College. Together, these three organizations play an important role in helping students and developing a workforce that will want to stay in the community,” Miller said.
For local entrepreneurs, the CCPL offers a Kick Start Your Business program designed to provide business plan help, small business startup guidance, small business programs, resume writing workshops, resources for non-profits and much more. There is free WiFi at all the locations for use by small startup businesses along with access to printers, scanners, and computers.
This approach to small businesses allowed the libraries’ meeting rooms to host more than 780 meetings in 2017 with nearly 5,000 attendees. The meeting rooms are also utilized for community lectures on topics ranging from home brewing to Egyptology.
The CCLP has a vast presence online with its services. There is full access to the training videos on Lynda.com, eAudio Books and eBooks, test preparation course and help with scholarships, movies, music, and audio files from Hoopla, along with many other training programs. For those wishing to learn a new language, CCPL offers Rosetta Stone free of charge.
The staff at the Perryville Library provide services for the veteran community who come from the Perry Point VA Medical Center. The staff help the veterans with classes, locate resources, and much more.