COMMUNITY NEWS

It’s good to be a library geek in Bellmore-Merrick

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New York Comic Con may have been held two weeks ago, but local folks were still able cosplay, attend panels and immerse themselves in popular culture at the Bellmore Memorial Library’s first-ever Geek Fest last Saturday.

The library, on Bedford Avenue, welcomed Bellmore, North Bellmore, Merrick and North Merrick library patrons for the convention-style event on Oct. 25. Over the coming year, each Bellmore-Merrick library will host a program that will be open to patrons from the other three area libraries in conjunction with “Geek the Library,” a national program to raise awareness about and passion for local libraries and all they do for their communities.

The Online Computer Library Center, Inc, a nonprofit library cooperative supported by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, partnered with Leo Burnett USA, a Chicago-based marketing communications agency, to create the Geek the Library campaign. Stafffers from Bellmore-Merrick’s libraries enrolled in it for free in June.

The campaign aims to inspire a conversation about the importance of the nation’s public libraries, as well as the need for increased financial support for libraries. The Geek the Library website offers resources for patrons interested in advocating for greater funding.

Staffers at the four libraries that serve the Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District saw the campaign as a chance to collaborate. The libraries are each hosting large-scale community events that showcase special features of their particular libraries, in addition to focusing on patrons’ interests.

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