Serving everyone in the community, open access to information, and intellectual freedom - these are some of the things the new Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows library manager values in the public library system.

Teresa MacLeod, who took over as manager of both libraries on Jan. 2, has been getting familiar with the "busy" libraries and their programs.

"I think there's social value in public libraries," MacLeod said. "We serve the community - we serve everyone in the community."

Moving from Mission to Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows, MacLeod is doing the "same job in a very different location," she said.

But the end goal is the same - to provide library services to all community residents, MacLeod said, from babies to seniors.

In 2013, this includes a lot of technology, which gives access to information for library users.

While for some younger people, electronic gadgets are intuitive, there are still many people who don't use computers or other modern technology, and there isn't many places where one can go to learn.

The library provides workshops on how to use technology from introductory computer classes to social media lessons.

"It's comfortable to come to the library and have a little class," MacLeod said.

Talking with people in the community, it is often a surprise to the public that there is such a wide offering of material at the library.

"We still have a lot of work to do to get our message out," MacLeod said.

Books these days come in many formats: audio books on CD, mp3 discs, and playaways. There are also large-print books, eBooks, electronic audio books - as well as traditional paper books.

And while there has been a 37-per-cent increase in demand for e-Books, traditional books are still the biggest item in demand at the library.

Because she worked as a children's librarian for years, MacLeod said her bias tends to be toward a focus on children's programming.

"I always think if you can entice children early on, you have them for life," MacLeod said.

mrantanen@mrtimes.com