New branch manager at Cochran library expands programs in her first month

Tessie W. Norris Library in Cochran welcomed new leadership last month with the introduction of new branch manager, Tara Morris. In the past month, Morris has expanded programs at the library in her mission to make it “a place for everyone.”

Since Aug. 1, the library has held 14 new community events with around 200 total attendees. 

Some of the new programs include weekly Mahjong and Canasta clubs meetings, and more sporadic meetings for clubs like the Knit & Crochet Club and Dungeons & Dragons.

Previously, the only regular program held at the library was a book reading by the Retired Teachers Association, where every third Wednesday of the month between September and May, former teachers gather to read a book to the community. Now, the program is one of many. 

“We’re looking for something for everybody, every audience and every walk of life,” Morris told the TJP. 

Other programs held in the last month included Lego Club, Craft & Create and Puzzles.

According to Morris, the reception in just the first month has been overwhelmingly positive.

In the past several weeks, multiple organizations and community members have donated items to the library to carry on the programs. 

Farmers Home Furniture donated a loveseat, a chair and an ottoman, and the Chamber of Commerce donated over a dozen chairs. One resident donated a table and another an entire Mahjong set.

“I’m very impressed with Cochran and how much they’re supporting all of the programs and the team, making me feel welcome,” she said. “The programs and all the new ideas that we have, they’re just working, and it’s so great.”

Though Mahjong appears to be the community favorite, Morris says her favorite activity so far has been Canasta.

With over a dozen programs throughout the month, Morris called August only the “soft launch,” saying even more programs are planned ahead.

In addition to programs set up in August, September will see the beginning of a sensory play program for toddlers (Sept. 8) and a homeschool hangout for homeschooled children (Sept. 1). 

Morris says she has other ideas she wants to suggest to the board when they meet again in October, but for now, she needs to prove to them that the community has a vested interest in these programs.

“I’m working without a budget and trying to start all these programs and show that there is a need for our community to enrich it,” she said. 

According to Morris, library leadership are still searching for other ways to benefit the community through their programs, promising to adjust them as they go to meet public interest.

“What I want people to feel like when they walk in here is like ‘Have you been to the Bleckley County library?!’ That’s what I’m hoping for, and that’s what we’re working towards,” she said.

One area Morris says she especially wants the library to improve in is making the space feel more inviting for teen readers.

“The library isn’t appealing to most teenagers. Not by anybody’s fault, but teenagers are looking to find themselves,” she described. “I want them to know that this is a place they can come hang out, read, work on school work, socialize. I want them to feel like they belong here too.”

One program that has been popular with young people is the newly formed Dungeons & Dragon Club.

Morris now resides in Dodge County, but she only recently moved to Middle Georgia earlier this summer to be near family. An Orlando native, Morris said it was hard finding ways for herself and her four children to meet new people. 

“I grew up in the country on the outskirts of Orlando, so it’s all developed now… I want[ed] my kids to experience the same things I lived through,” she explained. “When we moved here, we moved up here blind. We didn’t know what we were going to get up into. In Eastman, there aren’t any parks or things to do during the summer for them [her kids] to meet people.”

She began researching ways her kids could make new friends in the area, and that’s when she made the decision to post to an online bulletin based in Dodge County asking others for suggestions.

“Everyone was like, ‘the library, the library, the library,'” she said. “We ended up going to some of their programs and ended up going there like all the time.”

Morris said the library appealed to her because it fulfilled the separate needs for each member of her family.

“My family specifically all had different needs when we walked through the door,” she explained. 

Morris, who’s currently in the process of selling her home in Florida, said she had a need for printing legal documents necessary in selling her home. Her toddler, on the other hand, had a need for a space where he could play with his toys and pick out picture books. Her tweens had a need for free comic books and making new friends before the school year started.

“It’s something for everybody. I want something for everybody and that includes my kids,” she said.

Around the time she began visiting the library in Dodge County, she met Kim Spencer, who serves both as branch manager at the Dodge County Library and as district manager of the Ocmulgee Regional Library System. After meeting Spencer, she offered her a job. 

Weeks later, Morris walked into Tessie W. Norris Library the new branch manager.

Only one month into the job, Morris says her goal right now is to just bring people in, one at a time. 

“I just want everyone to come and experience at least one program,” she said. “Just give them a chance. We’re going to have something for everybody.”