Base library nabs ACC level Award

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Rae Perry
  • 4th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
SEYMOUR JOHNSON AIR FORCE BASE, N.C. --  Air Combat Command (ACC) has awarded the 4th Force Support Squadron's (FSS) base library with the ACC Library of the Year Award.

This award reaffirmed the staff's hard work and dedication to the base.

"This award validates what we do," said Kim Huskins Web, 4th FSS library director. "It means a lot that the Air Force and Air Combat Command understand we are working hard for them."

The base library accomplished many things that led to them winning this award. The biggest, they believe, is a digital archive which includes base photos, newspapers and other items vital to preserving the past for future generations.

"We are the only library in the Air Force, that we know of, that has put together a digital archive," said Rich Garafolo, 4th FSS reference librarian and digital historical collection care-taker. "We feel Seymour Johnson and the 4th Fighter Wing have such a rich history and unfortunately a lot of that is going away."

Members of the staff also work very closely with other base agencies to get the word out that the library is not just a place to get books, movies and video games.

"Over the past two years I have put forth an effort to concentrate on mission essential aspects of the library," said Garafolo. "We really concentrated on getting out into the squadrons, doing briefings to let the Airmen know what we had to offer."

The largest group of beneficiaries to the briefings are Airmen attending Airmen Leadership School (ALS). Airmen learned how the library impacts the base's mission in addition to them getting more information on how the library can help them with the challenges of ALS.

Airmen are not the only people who benefit from the library, as each year the staff hosts a free summer reading program. During the program, a librarian sets the number of pages each age group has to read and participants are given incentives to complete the goal. Attendance in the program sky-rocketed this past year, Huskins Web said.

"The results of the summer reading program was amazing," said Huskins Web. "We had over 200 children and teens registered weekly."

For additional information on what the library has to offer, call (919) 722-5825, visit their web page, http://library.seymourjohnson.accqolnet.org/ or visit them in the Watkins-Das Education Center.