The Washington Post Interviews Ginnie Cooper, Chief Librarian at the DC Public Library

The interview (five questions and answers) with Cooper focuses on changes to the DC Public Library system.
Here’s one question and answer from the interview.

What library would you say has undergone the most changes, and which developments are you most proud of?
Our work with very young children is very different and quite wonderful now. I was at a meeting earlier today where they were talking about the very small Southeast library, which is getting overflow from Northeast because Northeast is under construction right now. We’re doing three story hours a day at that library, and we can hardly keep people out. . . . It’s a great way to teach families to get their children ready to learn. I think we’re doing an even better job of buying what people want to read, so we’ve seen the doubling of downloadable-items use each year for the last two. . . . I read something the other day that said the number of kids who read on a device doubled in the last year, and I think that tells us something about our future. . . . I’m proud of the fact that we’re getting the books and other materials that people want, the downloadable stuff that I talked about, DVDs that people want, the downloads that you might need if you don’t speak English well, and you’re trying to cook or do a car repair or something else. All of those are things that I am especially proud of — that people use their library as gathering places formally and informally.

You’ll also learn that Cooper was married in a library and guests tossed pages from romance novels at the new couple.

Filed under: Awards, Interviews, Libraries, News, Profiles, Public Libraries