Bienville Parish Library “Patron of the Week”!

In the early part of this year, the Bienville Parish Library Ringgold Branch manager, Naomi Wyatt began a patron appreciation program. It was such a great way to show how much our staff thinks of our patrons, it quickly became a system-wide patron appreciation program!

Each time a patron visits the library, their name goes into a jar and at the end of the week a name is picked and that individual is our — Patron of the Week! We show our gratitude with a picture that is displayed in the library and on social media (with their permission), and our patron takes home a small token of our appreciation.

History of the “Library Patron”

In the old days, becoming a library patron was by invitation only, and you went through a heavy vetting process to become a “patron”. You needed a sponsor and, only after a stringent review by other members of the library and a “substantial” monetary donation, were you given access to read the books that were part of the library’s private collection.

Bienville Parish Library Patron

Today, the term ‘library patron’ is the only holdover from the early days of private town libraries. In fact, most property owners in Bienville Parish are patrons of the library. A portion of parish property tax dollars go to support the Bienville Parish Library system so it can:

• Provide services and resources to the community.
• Purchase books, DVDs, CDs, and laptops with the latest software!
• Offer programs and events that are free and open to the public.
• Have desktop computers that the public can use to connect to the Internet, access the latest information and documents that help get their business done!

All of it and more is available – because of YOU!

Thank You for Your Support!

Each week when we draw a name from the jar, we acknowledge those things that are unique about our BPL Patrons. We want them to know how special they are to the library staff. The people that come into the library are the same people we see in town and see at church. They are our neighbors and friends. They are our “Library Patrons” and they make it possible to keep our doors open to serve our community!

So, when you visit your neighborhood library and see all the really cool things you can do there… Remember, it’s because of YOU, the people of Bienville Parish, and the patrons of the Bienville Parish Library! The greatest people on earth! THANK YOU!

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