Do you love your library?

Children in Lehighton Area Memorial Library's story time sessions do and soon their own depictions of what the library means to them will be on display at local businesses.The "Love Your Library" campaign is modeled after the plot of Amy Heist's book "Jamaica Louise James."In the book, Jamaica's grandmother works in a New York subway station but is saddened when customers go about their daily business without taking notice to their surroundings. That all changes when Jamaica hangs her drawings and paintings on the station walls, leading people to take notice of the colorful additions.Library aide Kathy Long hopes for a similar outcome in Lehighton."We're hoping that people see these drawings, from our youth who use the library on a regular basis, in stores, banks, restaurants and other businesses," Long said. "The timing is such that they'll be going up before we mail out our annual appeal letter. If we can get people to read the letters, they'll see what the library does and that it really does need money."It pains Long to hear comments about libraries no longer being needed after the rise of the Internet and other technology.Many people, she said, don't have the means to purchase an Internet connection, movies or books and still rely on the library to access those items."The library is not dead by any means," Long said. "We're giving out more library cards than ever before. A lot of people come in for the first time, or for the first time in a long time, and are amazed at what they can get here."The library staff keeps not only an extensive collection of books on hand, but also closely monitors its movie and television series collection, offering both classics and new releases.If a book is not available, the staff can search its interlibrary loan database and get it shipped free of charge from another library in Pennsylvania.Audio books are also available and are popular with commuters.The library holds multiple story times targeted at different age groups."The children love it," Long said. "We usually have a story and a craft. It really helps the young children learn how to read and become readers themselves. Teens love their books as well."Like any library, finances are a concern in Lehighton. Over time, tough cuts have been made to keep it afloat."We eliminated an entire day and are no longer open on Mondays," Long said. "We're also open one less hour on every other day. We haven't heard as much about the hour as we have the Mondays."If the library can get noticed, something Long hopes that the drawings can help accomplish, it's possible for a greater flow of revenue.While paying a 15-cent fine with a quarter and telling the library to keep the change is nice, she added, it doesn't keep the lights or pay for fuel."The end goal is to get people thinking about giving money more than once a year," Long said. "Maybe they give some now and another donation in another three months. Everyone should love their library and they can play a part in making sure it stays around."