Fontana Regional Library

The Fontana Regional Library is the public Library serving jackson, macon, and swain counties in the appalachian mountains in rural western north carolina. The Library provides free access to books periodicals, audiovisual materials, programs for children and adults, information, computers, and internet access. To serve the stem education needs of the community, the Library has a portable planetarium available for use at schools, festivals, and science programming events throughout the service area. Broadband connectivity and internet access are limited in our rural communities. Therefore, the Library provides free public internet computers and free wi-fi access to the public in all our buildings. The computers were used over 14,000 times; the public used their own wi-fi devices on the Library network nearly 197,000 times. The Library provides information resources both in the buildings and online to all persons without discrimination. In the past year, the Library lent over 528,000 items, including books, music, video, telescopes, backpacks, games, and equipment; or over 55 items per every man, woman, and child in the communities. 140,117 of these were electronic resources available online through the website. There were over 251,000 visits to the Library during the year, 130,496 visits to the Library's website, and the staff answered nearly 72,000 reference questions for the public. The Library provides the community with safe, comfortable places to gather and share information and ideas. The Library presented 1,373 free programs and classes to the public, attended by over 17,883 people; over 74% of this audience was children. This year, Library meeting rooms were used for 6,441 nonlibrary meetings, attended by 19,811 people. For those who can't come to the Library, the Library reaches out to them. The Library partnered with over 150 local area groups and agencies, including schools, the department on aging, the health departments, southwestern community college, western carolina university, the southwestern commission, and aarp, to provide service and information to the public. At a time when some people are suggesting that libraries are not needed, our statistics show that usage of Library resources is evolving, and the Library remains a vital part of the community. The Library is the heart of the community, enriching lives and inspiring the future.