I wanted to take a moment and share with you why I give to the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library Foundation.  For several years I’ve been giving consistently because the Library, in all honesty, has given so much to me. When I began working at the Library I was a fresh, twenty-something-year-old working in the Teen Loft at ImaginOn.  Much like the teens I served, I thought I had it all figured out.  At that time my exposure to the world was largely limited and with it so was my worldview.  I would have stayed in that place and mindset if it weren’t for the gracious people who worked with me in the library, and if not for the customers who I had the privilege to serve every day.  The Library became my safe exposure to the real world, and I slowly and safely learned that the constraints I put around others and myself were unhealthy and unloving.

That’s the point, isn’t it?  To grow, to change and evolve – to become better.  That’s what the Library does for its community.  That’s what you and I get to do for our community.

I can’t tell you how grateful and humbled I am to work at an institution whose business is to improve lives and build a stronger community.  There aren’t many things more worthwhile.  If there were I’d be doing it. The best part is I get to do it with you all.

Thanks for all you do each and every day!

– Seth Ervin, Innovation Leader