Stories are essential to any library.

They are found on the shelves. They are in the books, the magazines, the newspapers, the movies, and the music that populate those shelves.

But they are also found among the shelves. They are in the patrons who visit the library: the children, the parents, the young adults, the teens, the seniors. They are found among the people searching for jobs and those who are seeking information. They are in the staff members who assist patrons, the trustees who look after the library’s well-being. There are certainly stories from the local community, all begging to be told.

Among the 14 diverse libraries that make up the Mohawk Valley Library System in Upstate New York, there is an abundance of stories waiting to be shared.