SOUTH PITTSBURG, Tenn. -- The Beene-Pearson Library here will hold its second annual open house on Dec. 3 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. CST.
Suzanne Adcock of the Marion County Library Board said the state wants libraries to be more involved in letting patrons experience all they have to offer.
"We had great success with this last year," she said. "The city is very generous in its support of the library. Some places in [Marion] County don't have that. We're very lucky that the city has helped us make the library an active place."
Officials said the open house will follow the city's annual Christmas parade and include refreshments, Christmas stories, prize giveaways and music from the South Pittsburg High School band and a local dulcimer group.
Adcock said more and more people are coming to the library because of services such as Internet access, and the staff members want to show off all of the other services.
Mayor Mike Killian said he sees a dramatic change on the horizon in the ways libraries are used, and it is imperative for the Beene-Pearson Library to keep up with the shift toward technology.
"I used to have hundreds of books lying around, but now I have a Kindle [electronic book reader]," he said. "The library is not going to go away, but the use of books is going to go away. The library will still be the place for the community to go for information."
"We have the best facility, probably, in the whole county," Adcock said. "We do everything we can do to make this library good. We just want to invite people to come and see what we're doing."
Killian said the city is fortunate to have dedicated employees working at the library.
"They do an excellent job," he said.
Ryan Lewis is based in Marion County. Contact him at ryanlewis34@gmail.com.