Alesha Lacky:  Hello, everyone! I’m Alesha Lackey, the branch manager for Allegra Westbrooks Regional Library and this lovely woman to my right/left is Debra Sharp, the branch manager for University City Regional Library. We are so happy that the Library Foundation asked us to start the show. Please continue to enjoy your dessert and wine. Debra and I are seasoned librarians so we are pretty good at getting loud and exuberant people to simmer down.

Are you ready, Debra? One, two, three…

Together: SHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Debra Sharp: Now that we’ve got your attention, Alesha and I wanted to share from the branch perspective what your support for the Library means to us. This is my eighth time at Verse & Vino and there is always such an overwhelming sense of love for the Library in the room. I always leave this event feeling grateful and excited to be involved in such an important and valuable part of the community.

Alesha Lacky:  For me personally, when I joined the Library, I found my people. I found the people who were the doers and the helpers and the thinkers. One of the reasons I decided to apply for a manager role is because the scale of my impact could be greater.

One of the things that I love about working at Allegra is the community connections that we make and the variety of partnerships. There are lots of growth and lots of challenges in the Beatties Ford Road corridor, and the Library is right there in the middle of it — almost literally.

I know it’s a cliché, but it’s really about helping people. We serve such a diverse community and have such incredible partnerships with Novant Health, Johnson C. Smith University and many small business owners in the corridor of opportunity. With the Foundation’s Flight Fund, we were able to build a community garden and create a program with the YMCA as our partner called “Water Fun for Everyone” with in-branch programming to help demystify learning how to swim and provide the support necessary to make the plunge.

Debra Sharp: I’ve been working in libraries since I was 16. I love public libraries. I love what they do for our community. I love the trust that American public libraries have built over generations. And I am so excited for the expansion of the University City branch and the increased impact that it will have in our community.

I’d like to say hello and thank you to my friends at University City Partners who sponsored a table this year. I appreciate your partnership. UC Partners are doing a lot of great things for the area. They’re bringing new programming to our branch including leveraging the immense talent and wisdom at UNC Charlotte and helping us activate outside of the branch.

I hope you all will come visit our branch this spring in our new location. The space is two stories and full of windows and light. A unique sculpture by renowned North Carolina artist Anne Lemanski will be displayed in the branch. The piece is a life-size Appaloosa horse built entirely of hand-stitched archival paper. The artist created the spots of the horse using images from vintage children’s encyclopedias. We love celebrating our creative community at the Library.

Alesha Lacky:  Our libraries punch way above their weight. We are just two of 450 employees serving over one million Mecklenburg County residents and beyond. That’s why we rely on our partnerships, our communities and all of you.

Debra Sharp: Our libraries are at the heart of every community, offering far more than books. We provide free access to knowledge, technology, and resources that can change lives. From curious children to lifelong learners, from our most ambitious patrons to our most vulnerable, we are your people. Thank you for investing in us, and in them, and in the power of knowledge.

Alesha Lacky:  Let’s ensure that knowledge is shared, that doors remain open, and that everyone is welcome. And let’s celebrate all of this tonight. Sheri, I think we’ve got the crowd’s attention. Let’s start the show!