News, Stories and More
Des Moines Family Geeks Christmas
Since launching the campaign in June, the Geek the Library team has crunched numbers, visited pilot libraries and wondered if our efforts are really making an impact. But no statistic could match our excitement to see the Geek the Library-themed Christmas card created by the Wills-Cross family in Des Moines, Iowa. They saw the campaign, understood it, got excited about it and wanted to continue to spread the word.
It is tradition, says Harold Cross, that the family creates an eclectic card for the holidays. This year’s card, which features all six members of the family and what they geek, was inspired by the look and feel of Geek the Library’s ad campaign in Des Moines. Lou Reed’s ‘I geek art’ first caught the attention of this creative family—who were then pleasantly surprised by the full awareness campaign and important public library funding message.
“As I’ve grown and matured,” notes Harold, “I keep gaining more appreciation for passion and how it can impact one’s life. Life is too short and precious to toil away at something without passion. To be successful, to be happy, to be responsible, to achieve something, you have to care, you have to have passion for it.”
While the card is light-hearted and fun, the Cross family is serious about the critical value of public libraries and understands their role in making sure adequate funding is available. Harold believes the public library is an important cultural cornerstone in any community and supporting it is critical—even if you are not a regular library user. “It is a very valuable resource for those who need it,” he says, “and, at some point, we all need it.”
Harold and his wife Kim both remember going to the library as children. “We both took our own children to libraries here in Des Moines when they were younger. Someday we’ll take our grandchildren. Libraries have a long-lasting impact on children. There is something special about a library—the peacefulness, the helpfulness, the structure and organization, the sheer vast amount of knowledge it contains.”
The Geek the Library team would like to thank the entire Wills-Cross family for their efforts and for supporting the campaign. We geek creative families!
Have you seen the card? Take a look.
December 18, 2009
Get your geek on. Show your support. Geek the library.