Campbell County Library’s express units are convenient ways for people who don’t live near a library branch to access library materials.
The first two express locations were installed in Melbourne and Silver Grove in 2017, and a third location has opened in Newport, coined the ‘west side express.’ It will be located at the Northern Kentucky Scholar House to serve the parents and their children who live there, along with the seniors living in Two Rivers Apartments nearby.
How does the program work?
Those interested in checking materials out from a library branch can place a hold on library materials, which are then delivered to the express locations. The items are placed in a lockbox and accessed by a library card. Returns can also be made to the units.
Campbell County Library Director JC Morgan said someone who helped make the express units possible is Tom Jones.
Jones, who grew up in Fort Thomas, said the two areas he’s passionate about giving to are parks and libraries.
“I put them in exactly the same category because, from my perspective, they both offer so much to basically everyone,” Jones said. “A library has books; it has music, newspapers, it has things for old people, for young people. There’s something for everybody. “
The first two locations were targeted toward students. Melbourne’s site is by St. Phillip School, and Silver Grove’s is at the volunteer firehouse, installed when Silver Grove School was still open.
Jones spoke at the ribbon cutting for those units in front of a crowd of children, and he said he held up the boarding pass that he used to fly into town the day before in one hand and his library card in the other. He asked the kids how a library card was like a boarding pass.
“It’s another way for you to get where you’re going,” he said.
Morgan said quite a few people live in the cities, but there need to be more people to justify building a library branch there. Further, public transportation access is limited to the cities making it more challenging for those without vehicles to get to a library.
“During the pandemic, those express libraries became very popular because people were stuck in their homes, and it was a way to get library materials without having to be in a physical location around people,” Morgan said.
The two locations have been used over 22,000 times since installation in 2017.
The third location targets a different demographic than students like the first two. The Northern Kentucky Scholar House provides affordable housing for caregivers responsible for a child and enrolled in an advanced degree or schooling like cosmetology. Additionally, Brighton Center’s Two Rivers Apartments will be within walking distance of the express unit.
“It’s a great idea,” Jones said. “It’s a super way to bring the resources of the library to neighborhoods where the people may not have ready access to actually go pay a visit themselves.”
Jones said he would support additional locations in the future should the need arise elsewhere.
“It meshes perfectly with my underlying philosophy of ‘something for everyone,'” Jones said. “Here you’ve got the library, providing a service for everyone. We’re talking about two communities that have special needs, and they’re (the library) reaching out to them. So, I’m really on board.”
