To say that Valerie Gross is passionate about the HoCo library system would be an understatement. As President & CEO of the HoCo Public Library system for the past ten years she has moved the system beyond the bricks and mortar of static libraries and into the very fabric of our community. When describing the mission of the HoCo system she quickly refers to its three pillars; Self-Directed Education, Research Assistance and Instruction & Enlightening Experiences. It was enlightening to me to hear her describe just some of the libraries programs, like the online homework assistance that is available seven days a week!
Where was this when I was struggling through Algebra?
We probably could have spent more time with her and less on the news stories but it was a pretty newsy week. We talked about Columbia ’s nerd ranking, the Rockburn Park bicycle skills course, Mrs America
Before we started taping, I asked Valerie about the problem of kids hanging out in the library. You may recall that school board member Cindy Vaillancourt expressed concern about this when she was running for school board last year. Valerie didn’t seem to think this was a real problem.
Paul and I are thinking of taking the show on the road soon. Though we very much enjoy our new home at The Mall, it’s fun to occasionally do an away game like we did at the HoCo Fair last summer. We’re open to suggestions to any place that is open to the public, preferably a place with a story to tell as well.
You can listen to the latest episode of “and then there’s that…” here.
