For the 2017 National Library Week, libraries all over the country celebrated the theme of “Libraries Transform”. The event started in the 1950s as a way to remind the public of the resources that libraries offer to communities. The theme of “Libraries Transform” was designed to praise what libraries can achieve when they work with communities. Events in SMSU’s McFarland Library included presentations by theater and forensic students. Associate Professor of Library Maria Kingsbury appreciated this year’s theme and how it relates to the education students can receive in a library.

“Students come into the library with little experience on how to research,” Kingsbury said. “Research isn’t for confirming what you already thought, research should lead you to a place.” The goal of the McFarland Library’s participation in National Library Week is to attract students and the surrounding communities with events that reflect the transformation theme.

Reference/Government Documents Librarian JoAnn Robasse recognized how departments support the library and National Library Week. “This is something I’ve been doing for a long time,” Robasse said. “Departments are always willing to help out.”

The library is also undergoing literal transformation, as it is reorganized and updated. There are plans to make the first floor more receptive to group work and move collections between floors.