Education continues to be a top priority for the Elizabethton/Carter County Public Library.
The public library entered into a partnership with the Tennessee Higher Education Commission, Tennessee Reconnect, to help encourage community members to receive some education – whether it be the completion of a degree or certification.
Tennessee Reconnect is all in conjunction with Gov. Bill Haslam’s “Drive to 55” initiative to increase the Tennessee of Tennesseans with a postsecondary degree or technical school certification to 55 percent by 2025.
According to information provided by the library, roughly 37.5 percent of citizens in Carter County have some degree. The Governor’s Office recently released statistics that Tennessee needs 871,000 post-secondary degrees or certificates to reach 55 percent, but mathematically there’s no way to achieve that goal by only serving high school students. 900,000 adults in Tennessee have some college but no degree.
But when the opportunity presented itself, McKenzie Todd, college success advisor for the Northeast Tennessee Reconnect Community, saw a great landing spot after meeting with the staff.
“This was actually suggested to me,” Todd said. “There are two other college success advisors, and I work a late night on Thursdays to accommodate adults. I work until 7 p.m. but my office in Elizabethton closes at 4 p.m., so I was trying to find a good place to come where I could meet with adults.”
Todd worked together with Library Director Renita Barksdale and Community Resource Specialist Cheri Tinney to set up inside the facility to meet with different patrons.
“Thursday is one of our densely populated days,” Barksdale said. “This would be a great place to meet all walks of life of our community and work with patrons.”
Todd, who serves Carter, Johnson, and Unicoi counties, will be on site at the library each Thursday from 4:30 to 7 p.m. pending any sporadic recruiting events she may have to attend.
Individuals can also receive information at a booth on display at the front entrance of the library.
Tennessee Reconnect focuses on adults that are 25 years or older. Interested individuals that are looking to go back to school must apply for the Reconnect grant but are not allowed to use Tennessee Promise funds. Those questions, along with others, can be fielded by Todd by either visiting on Thursdays or contacting her via email at mtodd@ab-t.org.
Community togetherness continues to be the motto for the public library. Just a couple months into the year, the facility is taking part in a variety of different programs and initiatives, and it comes due to the support from the public and the work of the staff, Barksdale said.
“2017 has been on fire for the library,” she said with a smile. “We’re just so excited to see all the partnerships, the community coming in to embrace the library and the library embracing the community right back. It takes a library to raise a community, and that’s what we stand for. We want to continue building these relationships to grow the library for our patrons.”
Further inquires can be fielded from the public library by calling (423) 547-6360 or visiting the Elizabethton/Carter County Facebook page online.