PARSONSBURG, Md. — Wicomico county celebrated a new library Wednesday that many say was long overdue.
County leaders, Wicomico Public Library staff, and neighbors gathered for the grand opening and ribbon cutting of the Lewis R. Riley library on May 20.
For over 20 years, the Eastern Wicomico Library branch was run out of a double-wide trailer in Pittsville. That branch closed back in February, as WBOC previously reported.
Now, the branch has reopened in its new home on Parsonsburg Road in Parsonsburg.
Kerry O’Donnell will be the branch manager of the new Lewis R. Riley library, but she’s been with the Eastern Wicomico library branch since its very beginning when it was based out of only a single-wide trailer. O’Donnell has seen first-hand how a library can impact generations and says this new branch is an investment in future generations in the community.
“One of my significant memories is a gentleman who came into our first single -wide trailer, carrying his baby daughter and got her first library card,” said O’Donnell. “Now she's in college, and, so we're seeing those kids come back with their own kids…it's just like a full circle moment. We want to keep doing the things to help kids find literacy.”
O’Donnell said having a library in this area will provide community members of Parsonsburg and the surrounding Eastern Wicomico County easier access to all the services a library can provide.
“This area hasn't really had a lot out here,” said O’Donnell. “Salisbury is a big hub, so everything happens, of course in Salisbury. We have to travel. I live in this area myself. We have to travel into the Salisbury area to get to anything. So we wanted a spot and the community wanted a spot where it was a one stop shop.”
Beyond coming to read and check out books, community members can make copies, fax documents, and use meeting room spaces at the new location.
O’Donnell and her staff are already coming up with programs. The library staff plans to create a memory lab for digitizing physical media such as cassette tapes. O’Donnell also said she wants to host story time around the fire pit behind the building and increase those events to provide mothers with not only a break, but a time for kids to enjoy themselves.
O’Donnell encourages anyone with ideas to stop in and share them.
“When I think of a library, the first thing that comes to mind is home,” said O’Donnell. “And that's what we want to make it feel. We want this to be your home away from home so you can come in. We want it to be safe. We want it to be comfortable. We want it to be a place where you're not alone. If you don't have friends, you'll make friends because you leave here friends with us.”
The library was dedicated to Lewis R. Riley, former Maryland Secretary of Agriculture, who was born in Parsonsburg and lived there throughout his entire life. His family attended Wednesday’s ceremony.
“It's really cool to go in there and I'll be able to see my grandfather's name and to see his plaque,” said Riley’s granddaughter Lindsey Gordy. “It's just a great resource because I grew up in this town, and we had nothing like this when I was younger, and I would have loved to have a place to go and hang out and to check out books, to play games and just meet with my friends.”
