$1 Invested Yields $5 Return

It starts long before the library opens.

At some of our libraries, patrons can be found in our parking lots at 7:30 in the morning. Why? To "park" on our free public wifi.

The doors open at 9 a.m. Always, there's a line.

Some race to the Internet computers. Others head to the newspapers, hold shelves, or reference desk.

By 10 o'clock, we get the storytime surge: moms and kids.

By 11:30, the lunch crowd starts to arrive. People race in to grab their books from the hold shelves. Other people browse, or sit and read.

Who Endorses the Library?

I was at at a restaurant recently, where I was approached by a young father who had something he wanted to tell me.

He had three children, ages 9, 7, and 4. One Saturday, he gave them a choice. They could do anything they wanted: go to a movie, go for a mountain hike, eat out, or -- but then they stopped him.

"No, dad!" they said. "We want to go to the library!"

He shook his head, then grinned. "It's their favorite place."

Shall Library Funding be Increased?

Imagine that you run a business, and that you're doing very well. By every measure that matters, the demand for your services is on the rise. In fact, over the past five years, it's up by124 percent.

Not only that, your market share is growing. Eighty percent of the households in your target area are solid customers.

This week's column comes from a Highlands Ranch resident who discovered a surprising secret: some of the best writing we've got is in the children's room. By Manijeh Badiozamani, Ph.D., a Highlands Ranch Library patron

My Turn to Share My Story