Warwick joins September is ‘Library Card Sign-up Month'

WARWICK-Celebrated throughout the month of September, the Ramapo Catskill Library System (RCLS) is endorsing the nationwide Library Card Sign-up Month campaign that encourages people to Get The Smartest Card @ your library and discover the important things a library card gives you access to, by signing up for a library card. "Your library card is your ticket to opportunity," said Robert Hubsher, Director of the Ramapo Catskill Library System. "What other card in your wallet gives you free access to books and CDs, magazines and movies and all sorts of other resources that can change your life n or just make it a little more fun?" Public libraries have always been the nation's prime lender of books, magazines, and other print materials. Today they offer a wealth of resources in other formats including videotapes, DVDs, books-on-tape, music CDs, computers and software as well as a variety of programs such as storyhours, book clubs and author talks. All the public libraries within the RCLS service area offer public access to the Internet and to a wide range of electronic databases. Observed since 1987, Library Card Sign-up Month is a time when the Ramapo Catskill Library System and librarians across the Hudson Valley and Catskills regions remind parents that a library card is the most important school supply a child can have. Libraries play an important role in the development of children. Studies show that children who are read to in the home and who use the library perform better in school and are more likely to become life-long readers and continue to use the library as a source of information throughout their lives. "Today's libraries are dynamic community centers dedicated to meeting the information and recreational of everyone from cradle to grave. Whether it's school age children, in public and private schools or those in home-school settings or business people or retirees, public libraries provide an invaluable resource for life-long learning. Librarians are the ultimate search engines. If you need help finding information visit your public library," explains Robert Hubsher, Director of the Ramapo Catskill Library System. Library cards are generally free to those living in the library's service area. In most cases, borrowing privileges are granted on the spot based on providing some form of identification, proof of residency or the signature of a guardian. When you can't get to the library, let it come to you. Call for answers by phone. If you have a computer, and Internet access, you can connect to the website of your local library. The Ramapo Catskill Library System home page www.rcls.org provides a link to all member libraries and their branches 24 hours a day, seven days a week. From your home or office, you are able to reserve and renew items online, all you need is a library card. The home page of each member library provides links to many useful electronic resources, including the Business and Company Resource Center, which offers information on over 448,000 US and international companies, and the Literature and Resource Center, which provides information on the lives of authors of all eras and genres