The library offers more than books

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Colin Cates
  • 49th Wing Public Affairs
HOLLOMAN AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. --  *Editor's note: National Library Week was April 8 to 14, 2012.

"To those with ears to hear, libraries are very noisy places. On their shelves we hear the captured voices of the centuries-old conversation that makes up our civilization," said Timothy Healy, President of the New York Public Library from April 25, 1923 - Dec. 30, 1992.

Ahrens Memorial Library at Holloman Air Force Base voices the stories of then and now.

"The library is a place where you can come and find anything and everything you need, said Steve Haydu Holloman AFB library director. "This is not just a place for books it is also for people to come and interact."

The key to accessing the library's resources is a library card.

A library card is very valuable, said Haydu. The Air Force has paid for a variety of media, including books, magazines, digital media and internet search engines.

Haydu said the most popular resources that Airmen use at the library are College Level Examination Program and Dante's study material, along with checking out DVD's.

"The main benefit for me to have a library card is to study the CLEP and DANTES test prep collection," said Senior Airmen Heather Evans, 49th Logistics Readiness Squadron fuels operator. "I like the fact that I can rent old movies as well as new ones."

Airmen can access eBooks, movies and music, without even coming into the library, from overdrive.com, a great resource for mobile devices, said Haydu.

"I also have twin boys who love to download books and get books on tape," said Evans.

Ahrens Memorial Library is part of a multi library network, which allows people to borrow books from other libraries' collections.

The library also has a program called inter library loan, where books can be sent here from other bases in Air Combat Command, said Haydu. If Airmen need books for a work or educational reason this is a very helpful program, making thousands of books available for Airmen to accomplish their task.

Airmen who may not know how to find what they are looking for can use the databases which are great resources we offer, said Haydu.

"A new program that I am starting this month is called `Library Secrets Unveiled` for Airmen to get a quick overview of what the library has to offer with a focus on the catalog," said Haydu. "The goal of the program is to make it easier for Airmen to navigate their way around the library."

Each month the library will focus on another resource that is offered here and all that information can be seen on the library calendar, said Haydu.

The library also offers language learning, financial material and military research material, said Haydu. Another great resource for an Airman's family is tutoring.com, which is free tutoring for military dependents.

The library has excellent people, facility and countless number of resources, said Haydu. The main mission is to be the center of a community where Airmen can get information about all matter of things.

"I have gone to the downtown library, and the base library has more to offer, which is a huge benefit to me to be able to stay on base and have all these resource readily available," said Evans. "For an Airman, the library is a great place to come to get the things I need done."