The One Card Wyoming Really Needs
A Wyoming library card offers many benefits for patrons.
Libraries have far more to offer society than presenting a physical location that residents can visit to check out books.
In fact, visiting your local library can help inform you about events, resources, and tools that you never knew you had access to.
In Wyoming, being a library cardholder has incredible perks, but so too does living in Wyoming even without a card.
Let’s go over a few of the perks and benefits that holding a Wyoming public library card has to offer residents throughout the state.
Services for Wyoming Residents
While having a Wyoming library card presents residents with immense value (which we’ll cover a little later in this article), you don’t have to be a cardholder to check out some of the services available to you thanks to your local library. Wyoming residents can take advantage of a world of information at their fingertips, as so many library resources are hosted for free online.
Let’s take a look at some of the helpful resources offered to Wyoming residents, regardless of their library membership status.
Literacy Tools
Wyoming libraries make extensive efforts to spread the joy of reading throughout the community, and because of this, Wyoming residents can take advantage of numerous free literacy tools and services.
- Talking Books - Talking Books is a special segment of library services that cater to individuals who are deaf, hard of hearing, visually impaired, or otherwise unable to read books written in traditional print. Wyoming libraries offer both audiobooks for the visually or reading-disabled as well as books and other pieces of media that have been translated into sign language or subtitled content for the deaf and hard of hearing.
- Literacy Program - Wyoming libraries also host an array of literacy programs for young people in the state. For example, the Wyoming Reads program gives first-graders free books to keep and practice reading from. The entire GoWYLD Network offers a plethora of reading and literacy tools that residents can use to enhance the reading and learning experience. Finally, the Letters About Literature program is a reading and writing contest that’s designed to get children more involved in reading and more interested in literature.
Business Resources
Starting and operating a business is far from a simple endeavor, and because Wyoming libraries are operated by a community of the most educated and experienced people in the state, local libraries present patrons and residents alike with an array of business resources to use at no cost.
Some business resources include the following, and each resource is easily accessible online for business owners with tight schedules.
- Grants - A collection of grant-related resources and opportunities
- Marketing - A selection of marketing tools, tips, and resources businesses can use to spread the word about their organizations
- Events - A calendar that lists business-related events taking place throughout the state
- Business Webinars - A video resource collection that allows business owners to view and learn from an archive of content, which also announces new events that potential attendees can register for and attend online
- Business Playbook - A book of resources that business owners and aspiring business owners can use to get their plans off the ground
- Startup Help - A variety of resources that business owners can use to start a company on the right track, or develop a nonprofit organization that aligns with the laws and regulations of Wyoming.
Wyoming CAN
Though the internet has been around for over two decades in most standard households, Wyoming library employees are well aware that cybersecurity is a serious concern that many residents aren’t fully aware of. As such, the Wyoming CAN (Cybersecurity Action Network) Committee has developed and produced an array of different cybersecurity resources. These resources mainly take the form of the state’s Cybersecurity Education Program.
- Cybersecurity Education Program - This is a selection of tools, courses, and other resources that Wyoming residents can explore to learn more about cybersecurity and how to keep their identities, financial information, and everything in between safe while the individual surfs the web.
Wyoming Library Cardholder Services
Being a Wyoming library cardholder presents residents of the state with an immense amount of information they can access at the click of a button. Whether patrons need to physically visit their local library to use the organization’s facilities or they prefer to explore from the comfort of home, being a library cardholder opens you to a sea of information.
Take a look at some of the services that Wyoming libraries have to offer for cardholders.
- Research Guides - This selection of research guides not only covers an extensive number of topics, but it also has resources that researchers can use in order to make the most of their endeavors. Research guides are designed to not only help individuals find the information they need, but they also provide patrons with tips and strategies to use in order to gain as much information as possible.
- Training Calendar - The training calendar posts and keeps track of different training events that will either be hosted by the library itself or a reputable instructor that covers the topics at hand. This calendar lets Wyoming residents know what’s coming up, how to get involved, and what to do between registration and the event itself.
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WYLD Network - The WYLD Network and its selection of WYLD resources aims to help library patrons learn about numerous historically significant pieces of information. For example, the network offers an array of genealogy resources, encyclopedic entries, reference pages, research resources, auto repair manuals, databases, courses, and much more.
- Library Catalogs - The Library Catalogs resource spans across the entire state’s established libraries, and upon exploring the catalogs, library patrons can find exactly which titles they’re looking for as well as titles that are recommended for the coverage of certain topics.
Libraries are a hub of information, which you can access practically anywhere, at any time, if you happen to hold a Wyoming library card. Membership at your local library costs absolutely nothing and the benefits available just beyond the library’s homepage (or physical entrance) make signing up for a card a no-brainer.
If you live in Wyoming, check out your local library to learn more about the unique set of services and tools you have the chance to use.
Stay tuned for more on libraries, library services, and how to get involved in supporting your local library.
SOURCES
http://pluto.state.wy.us/awweb/pdfopener?md=1&did=11202669