Forget The Internet! Ask A Librarian
By Greg Ritchie
Messenger Reporter
CROCKETT – As reported often in The Messenger, COVID changed a lot and the Crockett Public Library was no exception. Already becoming more creative and technological to compete with the internet and smart phones, it would be easy to write the local library off as a relic of a foregone era.
The Crockett Library has been able to work against those trends over the last few years, digitalizing content, setting up special rooms for genealogy and other topics, offering computer and internet access, maintaining a large area of kids books and stocking a film and music collection, too.
Over the past ten years, Sarah Colasanti has been part of that modernization, seeing the library transform into the modern and user-friendly place it has become.
You will usually find her in the back, organizing the collections and receiving new materials for the library. The Messenger recently donated the archives of the Houston County Courier newspaper to the library and Colasanti was there to collect and catalog them for future generations.
Born and raised in Crockett, Colasanti was homeschooled and after her older sister began volunteering at the library, she followed suit and began to give her time to the effort, beginning at the young age of 15. When she was 21, a job opportunity opened up as she was hired and hasn’t looked back.
Quiet and shy at times with strangers, Colasanti is not only a lover of books, but passionate about making sure young and old scholars alike can find and access those millions of words, whenever they need them.
“We’ve definitely had a lot of growth, with new people coming in and bringing new ideas and it’s just constantly evolving with more social media,” Colasanti said. “Our new children’s librarian has really grown our Facebook page and also set up an Instagram account for us.”
Not a fan of social media herself, Colasanti is more at home with traditional media, finding a love for all kinds of books, from history to gardening – a love she puts in practice, maintaining a vibrant garden in her spare time.
Some youngsters may have never been to a library or understand the many improvements and modern facilities they now provide. Some may never know the joy of researching a topic, finding the information yourself and that feeling of pride when you acquire knowledge firsthand – without asking a search engine and relying on whatever turns up.
“In the world of media and electronics, you have so much knowledge at your fingertips, but there’s something special about being able to come interact with people, ask questions and be able to get a physical book in your hands and look through and find the information,” Colasanti noted.
For a book lover like her, working in the library must be akin to the child in the candy store, surrounded by things you love. That’s true, Colasanti said, but it’s both a blessing and a curse.
“When I first started here, with all these books coming across my desk. I ended up with a wish list to read eight miles long,” Colasanti laughed. “I had to give that up years ago, because when you find five or six books a day you want to read, you just don’t have time to get through them all.”
Where does she see the library evolving in the next ten years? Hopefully, not completely online, she said, which she feels would be a great loss to our culture and might hurt that thirst for knowledge a local library can foster.
“I think we’ll have more resources available online for free and that’s one of the big things – there’s a lot of stuff you don’t have to pay for,” Coloranti pointed out. “We do have a couple of ebooks projects and online resources, so people can download books and audiobooks online.”
Here’s hoping our local libraries thrive and continue to inspire younger generations to learn about literature, art, history – and by finding the information themselves – maybe learn a little about themselves.
Greg Ritchie can be reached at [email protected]
