The McKinney Library is learning how to accommodate its big boom in residents while at the same time getting creative when it comes to engaging the entire family in reading.
According to the last U.S. Census, McKinney is ranked among the fastest-growing cities in the nation and that means infrastructure must keep up.
The McKinney Library is learning how to accommodate its big boom in residents while at the same time getting creative when it comes to engaging the entire family in reading.
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WATCH HERE“In the seven years I have been here, McKinney has grown about 30% in population,” Gary Landeck with the public library said.
The growth also means an increase in diversity.
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SIGN UP “What we used to do is just kind of jam everybody into a room for programs that we would do. Now, what we’re doing for this big kind of events is using the entire library space. We are even going outside when possible because there are just so many people coming to the library,” Landeck said.
From culturally diverse music programs to story times and art activities, Landeck said there is something for everyone.
“We do STEM programming with things like a program called Mad Science. We’ve added some new ones as well. We do a monthly Friday night jam session with musicians and other offerings as well,” Landeck said.
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Their objective is to offer more than just books on the shelves, but also to help families write their own summer stories based on literacy.
“We continue to get books and we’ve got book clubs, people doing what they have always done at the library. But now there are people working on genealogy, tax planning, all kinds of stuff,” Landeck said.
All this as the McKinney Library System, which includes the John and Judy Gay Library, recently underwent an expansion in 2020. In the fiscal year of 2022, the library system added more than 1,600 members and touted hundreds of borrowers every day. They have also seen an increase in thousands of volunteer hours with people who just want to help with the library's more than 1,300 programs they offer throughout the year.
