Today I made a visit to the local nursery to buy some potting soil for the Library’s Boston fern, which is getting a little to big for it’s terra cotta britches. Upon arrival, I spotted a woman watering flowers and I and asked if she could help me. She looked up and smiled, "Oh, you’re the lady from TV!" She said that she enjoyed watching Library staff compare the movie version of Mary Poppins to the book by P.L. Travers on a recent segment of the Library’s book discussion program, "Cover to Cover" , which airs on local public access TV. In turn, I noticed that she was wearing a denim apron bearing the Monterey Public Library logo. I said, "Oh, you’re wearing a Library apron!" She said that she won it as a door prize when she visited the Library’s booth at Monterey’s annual free plant distribution event "Cutting Day". She said that she loves the apron and that she never comes to work without wearing it. We continued a pleasant chat about the Library while I completed my purchase.

Participating in community events and promoting reading on television are just a couple of the ways that the Library reaches to people wherever they are. It’s also our way of trying to build a community of readers and lifelong learners who support and value the Library. Do these efforts work? Would the nice woman at the nursery have positive feelings about the Library even if she didn’t view "Cover to Cover" or if she hadn’t visited our booth at Cutting Day? Well, I don’t know for sure, but walking back to my car today, I couldn’t help but smile and think, "Yes, maybe we do reap what we sow!"