Check this out

Published 6:17 am Thursday, February 28, 2008

The library misses you.

Sure, you went as a kid. You may even have taken your own kids. But there’s more to the library than the children’s section.

The Lynnwood Library is one of several local libraries offering a wide range of programs designed to lure adults back to the library, including its Current Events and Public Forum series.

“People still have in their mind the idea that this is the place you go for children’s programming,” Lynnwood reference librarian Kathy Blinkwitz said.

“We’re trying to buck the trend. So many people come here, we want them to stay a while.”

Blinkwitz started Public Forum in 1999, which evolved into a lecture series that usually features a speaker from Snohomish County.

She added Current Events this fall, a discussion group that talks about world events. Bob Bolerjack, The Herald in Everett’s editorial page editor, is the new moderator.

Blinkwitz “has done a really good job of finding some topics that are of interest to a general adult audience,” said Mary Kelly, Sno-Isle Regional Library System spokeswoman. “It’s tough getting adults into the library. They want to come and pick up their books and leave. They’re busy.”

The library is an important gathering place for the community, Blinkwitz said, and more people have become interested in local and international issues since the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Public Forum and Current Events help make the library “like the old Greek forum where people can come to discuss subjects,” she said.

Both programs include information about a variety of issues. A previous Current Events meeting focused on the November election results.

Katherine Schiffner is a reporter for the Herald in Everett.