To the Editor:

As representatives of our Princeton Public Library Board of Trustees, we welcome this opportunity to remind our community that Sunday, April 23 through Saturday, April 29 is National Library Week (NLW).  This year, the theme of NLW is “There’s More to the Story.”

And indeed there is!

Our Princeton Public Library (PPL) is full of stories in a variety of formats from picture books to large print and from audiobooks to e-books and beyond, including in a range of languages. But there’s so much more to our story.

Our Library of Things lends items like museum passes, games, musical instruments, and tools.  Library programming brings our community together for entertainment, education, and connection through book clubs, storytimes, movie nights, crafting classes, lectures, and so much more.  Our Library infrastructure supports our residents, providing internet and technology access and literacy skills as well as support for local businesses, job seekers, entrepreneurs, and, yes, Princeton University students.

The American Library Association has set aside Tuesday, April 25 as National Library Workers Day, and our trustees, on behalf of our community, want to celebrate our staff.

Our Library would not be the exemplary institution that it is without the outstanding services of the entire staff, the support of the Friends & Foundation and our Library volunteers, and the generous financial support of the municipality. To all, our profound thanks.

We hope that, as patrons visit our Library next week, they’ll take the time to acknowledge our colleagues; it doesn’t have to be only on the 25th.  In fact, it doesn’t have to be only next week.

We’re grateful to our superb staff for the work they do throughout the year, so we ought to tell them so whenever they help us — in April or in September or at any other time — with locating a book, finding some obscure detail to support a report, teaching us how to use an app to give us access to the wonders of the technological world, offering a program that feeds our minds or souls, or providing a forum for presentation of ideas. They consistently fulfill the mission we’ve articulated in our new strategic plan, including “advancing knowledge, encouraging dialogue, and providing opportunities for discovery and joy” while serving as the “vital cornerstone of community connection, where curiosity and wonder flourish.”

Thank you, PPL staff members!  We’re privileged to serve you and to have you serve our patrons and us.

With appreciation, on behalf of the PPL Board of Trustees,

Robert A. Ginsberg
President

Stephanie Oster
Vice President

Jeffrey Liao
Secretary

Christopher Van Buren
Treasurer

Witherspoon Street