Natalie Draper, manager at the Richmond Public Library’s main branch
Outside the Franklin Street entrance of the Richmond Public Library’s main branch, 63-year-old John Pegg, sweaty from the sun and smoking a cigarette, sits on a bench to read a book. “My favorite authors are Hemingway and Faulkner,” he says.
Homeless after “losing a job and being a chronic alcoholic — but I’m getting treatment,” he emphasizes, Pegg explains that his life wasn’t always this way.
He’s often inside the library researching how to improve his current situation. The librarians, he says, are helping him get his life back on track.
“Librarians are wise people,” Pegg says. “They’ll furnish you with solid advice.”
They also help him with computer skills. “I’m an internet idiot, but they go ‘clackety-clack,’ ” he says, moving his fingers as if typing on a keyboard, “and they come up with the information you’re looking for in a heartbeat."
“You’ll see a lot more librarians out from behind the desk,” says Natalie Draper, manager at the Richmond Public Library’s main branch. “I think the focus has shifted from collecting to connecting.”
Richmond’s nine library branches recorded nearly 800,000 visits during the last fiscal year, with about 630,000 items checked out, Draper says.
But these days, it’s more than books that draw people to the library; new technology is a huge reason people visit, and librarians are keeping up with the times. The Main Branch’s Innovation Lab includes a 3D printer, 3D scanner and virtual reality goggles, among other equipment.
“The expectation of library workers is that they have a high degree of digital proficiency,” Draper says. “I may be expected to do anything from helping someone set up email to teaching a 3D printing class or leading a group on a virtual reality experience on any given day.”
Reynolds Community College student Darius Goodwyn uses the library’s computers for schoolwork and appreciates that the library keeps up with emerging technology. “It gives students, and people in general, a chance to gain that new knowledge in this technological era,” he says.
Draper and Jonah Butler prepare to livestream a lecture at the library.
Librarians at the Richmond Public Library also assist people like Pegg, connecting them with social services.
“We have a lot of patrons who are experiencing homelessness or are in some sort of crisis,” Draper says. Partnering with trained social workers, she adds, “We always work to find creative solutions to serve the information needs of patrons, and for some people that’s ‘Where can I find housing, health care, a shower or lunch?’ ”
Recently, Draper and other librarians who have volunteered to do so have been trained to use opioid overdose reversal kits to save lives.
Changes to the library facility also reflect changing times. No longer filled with endless rows of bookshelves, a card catalog and a librarian at a desk whispering “Shhh!” to noisy patrons (though there are still quiet areas), alongside the new innovation labs the library now has open rooms featuring comfortable seating arrangements that invite discussion about educational topics.
The library also offers “enriching and educational programs based on the needs and interests of the community,” says Draper.
Most of these programs are technology-based learning opportunities, but it’s a sewing class that’s in high demand here. Draper teaches the class. She designs and makes her own clothes, which sparked the interest of library visitors who wanted to learn how to sew themselves.
Busier than ever with new duties, librarians still perform more traditional tasks such as research and collection development. That’s one of the reasons Draper chose the career.
“For me, growing up the way I did, a military brat, we moved around a lot. The first thing that we did when we got into a new town is, my mom would take us to get our library cards,” Draper recalls. She says the library was a comforting presence to her during the constant change. “The library connected you to the community. You got to meet the librarian. You could find your favorite author on the shelf within seconds, so you’re sort of going home. Even though home changed a lot, the library was always ‘home.’ ”
Draper hopes everyone who steps into the Richmond Public Library feels the same way about being here.
“Everybody, regardless of how they’re dressed or where they’re from, they’re welcome,” she says. “I always like to think, if you don’t belong anywhere, you belong in the library. For somebody who doesn’t know what the library has, what the library has is nothing but surprises.”
Never miss a Sunday Story: Sign up for the newsletter, and we’ll drop a fresh read into your inbox at the start of each week. To keep up with the latest posts, search for the hashtag #SundayStory on Twitter and Facebook.
