Recently the Air Station and Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island libraries underwent changes meant to improve its quality.
What started as an unfortunate occurrence inspired change. The Air Station Library lost 350 books from their R section due to water damage and has undergone many new changes.
Some of the changes brought to the Air Station Library included new carpet and paint.
“Pretty soon we’ll have new books and more to offer,” said Rosemarie Krauss, the librarian for both the Air Station and Parris Island. “Right now we are transitioning to become a better, brand new library.
“We just received the last component for the game rooms. We will have two game consoles with 24 games and a few chairs to accommodate our visitors,” Krauss continued.
Nineteen of the libraries throughout the Marine Corps already received game rooms.
“The service members need a place where they can relax and when you come into the library to do one thing you usually come in to do another, therefore they can accomplish a lot here,” Krauss said.
The staff is trying to add new features to the library to suit the needs and wants of its patrons.
“We are brain storming about adding a communication room, which would allow families to communicate with their deployed loved ones,” Krauss explained.
The library already offers a wide range of services, which can be found on the bulletin board behind the library.
“We want to be as up and coming as we possibly can and are trying to highlight the services that are available to the [service members] and their families,” Krauss said. “We’ve gone through a lot of changes in a short amount of time.”
The Parris Island Library will also offer more space for its book collections with its inclusion of the old reproduction office in the Douglas Visitors’ Center.
“All these new changes will hopefully encourage more [service members] to use the library,” said Lance Cpl. Brandon Sweet, a culinary specialist with Headquarters and Headquarters Squadron. “Single individuals will most likely use the game room.”
It is a much larger space and very pretty on Parris Island, according to Krauss.
Two study rooms and an elevator will be installed there. Changes in both libraries in the past year include an updated children’s section and the addition of more historical information regarding the Marine Corps at the Parris Island Library.
Another addition is the education center, which will focus on providing books and testing materials for exams.
“We’re really working hard to get them everything we can,” Krauss said. “We’re getting new materials all the time and have books from the commandant’s reading list and the Navy list in the education center.”
For more information, call the Air Station Library at 228-7682 or the Parris Island Library at 228-1672.