Welcome to Stories in Motion, where we celebrate the Library stories your generosity helps set in motion every day.
At the Prince George’s County Memorial Library System (PGCMLS), stories aren’t confined to the pages of books. They come alive in our libraries and communities in the child learning to read, the teen finding their voice, the family discovering new opportunities, and the neighbors building connections. With your support, these stories keep moving forward, creating ripple effects that strengthen our entire community.
In each issue, we share the people, programs, and moments that bring our mission to life and highlight the impact we're making together. Thank you for being part of the PGCMLS story and for helping ensure that our libraries continue to inspire, empower, and transform lives across Prince George’s County.
PGCMLS honors the life and legacy of Dolly Parton — not only a talented artist, but a generous philanthropist and literacy champion who the world lost on August 25.
Because of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, PGCMLS’ Books from Birth program has delivered more than 1.3 million books to children in Prince George’s County ages 0-5 free of charge, providing our youngest community members with books — and memories — to last a lifetime. Through Books from Birth and Dolly Patron’s Imagination Library, the next generation of Prince George’s youth will be well on their way to exploring stories, friends, and cultures through the expansive worlds of books.
Read on for a fun story about Dolly’s impact on one PGCMLS family (recent graduate pictured above).
Dolly's family has requested that donations in her memory be made to the Imagination Library. You can directly support Imagination Library families in Prince George's County by donating to the PGCMLS Foundation’s Books from Birth fund: pgcmls.info/donate
On September 25, as part of a nationwide “Give Like Dolly” fundraising push led by the Dolly Parton Imagination Library in celebration of Dolly Parton’s unwavering support of literacy and children, the PGCMLS Foundation raised more than $2,400 for the Books from Birth Fund.
These funds will go directly to supporting the book purchase and shipping costs that facilitate the Library’s distribution of free books to Prince George’s County families each month — a number that will continue to grow, with the recent addition of a bilingual book option for registered families.
Missed Give Like Dolly Day? Don’t worry — Giving Tuesday is right around the corner, coming December 1! Or make a gift anytime here.
With 19 branch library locations and a number of standalone initiatives, PGCMLS hosts on average more than 600 vibrant community programs each month. Your donations support all of that programming; here are a few highlights from the recent season!
Since the Books from Birth program launched in 2017, PGCMLS has consistently stood as the most active Imagination Library program in the state of Maryland, providing our littlest community members with books — and memories — to last a lifetime.
This has certainly been the case for two-time Books from Birth parent and longtime PGCMLS staff member Jisselle Vides, who works today as a clerical aide at the Glenarden Branch Library. Her oldest child, Caspian, recently received his final Books from Birth book… just in time for her youngest, Sammy, to receive his very first one!
“It was so exciting for Caspian to get each new book in the mail every month, and now he is excited to start reading to Sammy as he gets his books,” Jisselle shared during a family visit to the Glenarden branch. “When we got Sammy’s first book, it triggered a memory for all of us of when Caspian was a baby, and it was like, oh my gosh, this is really special. Because when we'd gotten his last book, the kindergarten one, I was like, oh, this is it!”
Caspian echoed these happy memories, showing off the pages of his favorite Books from Birth title (Dolly Parton’s “I Am a Rainbow”) while talking about how he has especially loved having his parents read with him every night before bed.
“I think Books from Birth has really brought us closer together as a family, particularly with the nightly storytime,” said Jisselle. “Mommy and Daddy reading to Caspian makes him so happy, and especially when I was pregnant with Sammy, we made it a point to do that nightly.”
Now that it’s baby brother Sammy who is getting books in the mail every month, Caspian has started to flourish in his big-brother storytime role. “Oh, it melts my heart when I see Caspian reading to Sammy!” she said, noting that “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” is Sammy’s favorite. “It will be interesting to see how their love of reading flourishes [because of this program].”
Jisselle has always been aware of what a valuable and unique opportunity Books from Birth is for Prince George's County residents, but was recently reminded of how true that is when a family member in another Maryland county shared her jealousy of Jisselle’s access to the PGCMLS Books from Birth program. “How beautiful to be able to receive all these books in the mail!” Jisselle said. “Gosh, it is really special.”
Summer Prince George’s (SPG), an exciting seasonal challenge for community members of all ages, invites community members to celebrate exploration and creativity through free events, community connection, and, of course, plenty of books! This year’s challenge theme, “Unearth a Story,” saw record-breaking community participation — 5,358 registrants, 2,534 completers, and 2.17 million minutes read (more than 4 years!) — and inspired incredible branch decorations, activities, and partner programs.
One of the highlights of SPG is the opportunity kids get to interact with plants, animals, and bugs through special presentations from local wildlife education organizations like CoreShark H2O, Eco Adventures, and Echoes of Nature.
“The Echoes of Nature facilitator did an excellent job ensuring that interested audience members got a chance to look at or touch the different creatures!” says Mount Rainier Branch Librarian Caitlin Clark, who got to observe kids interacting with a giant African millipede, an arthropod whose ancestors shared hunting ground with dinosaurs. “As she walked around the room with the millipede in her hand, it stayed very still and kids approached it with excitement and sometimes a bit of joyful hesitation.”
Caitlin shares that most attendees — kids and adults alike — chose to closely examine and touch the creatures when given the opportunity.
“Between the millipede and the hissing cockroach that audience members were invited to meet, I think everyone felt a bit braver around bugs after the presentation!”
More Summer Prince George’s photos are available on the PGCMLS Flickr.
A dual-language initiative supported this year by a Capital One grant, the “Digital Learning Program for Afghan Communities” series is designed to help Afghan adults who want to improve their digital learning skills develop essential digital skills for daily life.
This year’s series, which ended in mid-September, was among the most successful the Library has yet hosted. Students deeply engaged in the learning material, including one participant who attended sessions at both program sites to ensure she had the opportunity to cover and master everything in the curriculum.
“The atmosphere at these programs is focused, respectful, and collaborative,” says PGCMLS Bilingual Outreach Associate Maribel Rodriguez. “Parents learn finance and technology skills while their children play nearby, creating a rare moment of relief from daily responsibilities.”
“There is a really beautiful flexibility and generosity to this program,” says Karen Anadol, PGCMLS Foundation Chair, who joined this year’s students at two of the sessions that were hosted at an apartment complex that’s home to many families in the county’s Afghan community. “It is so meaningful that, through this grant-funded program, the Library is able to engage [students] in a setting that works for them and they feel comfortable in — a setting where, if they have children, they can be cared for and played with while their mothers are learning.”
“I have never attended school, and in America, any educational program is very helpful to me. Educational opportunities are very important to me,” said one participant.
“I thank the organizers of this program. It was very useful and educational, and I hope more programs like this will be offered in the future,” shared another.
The PGCMLS Foundation is proud to support culturally and linguistically relevant programming and resources like “Digital Learning Program for Afghan Communities” — programs that have a real impact on our community.
“Visiting programs like this reminds me of the Foundation’s mission, to help PGCMLS give the opportunity to people to do whatever it is they want, whether that’s expanding their knowledge, having a safe place to sit and draw, or go to any of the Library’s million different programs,” says Karen, the PGCMLS Foundation chair. “Especially in the current climate, that's what hits me the most, emotionally: Where can people go and have a space of safety and acceptance? Hopefully they know, it's at our libraries.”
Despite budgetary limitations, the PGCMLS Collections team works hard every day to ensure that the Library is meeting the needs of our community. Donations made to the PGCMLS Foundation earmarked for the Digital Collections Fund help support these efforts — and their impact in the lives of PGCMLS cardholders.
Community members now have free access to The Banner through their PGCMLS library card. This new digital news resource can be found on the Library’s Online Resources page.
The Banner (baltimorebanner.com) — a recent addition to Maryland’s local news landscape — officially added a Prince George’s County bureau earlier this year. By providing PGCMLS customers free access to The Banner through their PGCMLS library card, the Library is facilitating greater media literacy and engagement with local issues for all Prince George’s County community members.
Note: PGCMLS-facilitated passes to The Banner expire every seven (7) days. Cardholders can renew their free access an unlimited number of times. Ad-block and pop-up blockers may interfere with the authentication process.
The Library’s agreement with The Banner will guarantee cardholder access to this independent local news source through June 30, 2028.
Hello! I’m just writing to commend your staff for some truly outstanding service. This morning I read about a new title — “The Housewives Underground” — in the New York Times. It wasn’t available through Overdrive on the Libby app, so I tagged it to request consideration for purchase. Within six hours of placing this request, I was notified that the title was purchased — and I was able to check it out on the Libby app immediately! I truly appreciate this wonderful customer service.
Additionally, I’m able to read the New York Times every day thanks to free access through the PGCMLS website. I’m a retiree, so this money-saving service is also very much appreciated. Thank you, PGCMLS friends, for all that you do!
As a PG Country digital collections user I wanted to pass on my praise for the collections development team. I am a sci-fi aficionado and have been surprised and delighted time and time again by what I now have access to thanks to your team. I just finished Peter Watts’ ‘Echopraxia’ on audio via Libby. It's one of all time favorites and I never thought I'd be able to find it at a library. Earlier this year, Calvert County put out a hard sci-fi book list to highlight their own collection. Ironically, I've read nearly every book from that list via the PG County digital collection because the Maryland digital library consortium had very few of the books on audio.
To reiterate, thank you thank you thank you to whoever maintains and develops this wonderful collection.
The programming and resources offered by PGCMLS is so exceptional that it regularly receives external recognition at both the state and the national level. The PGCMLS Foundation is proud to support such outstanding service!
In May, the Maryland Library Association (MLA) awarded three PGCMLS initiatives with statewide recognitions of excellence:
PGCMLS provides a variety of engaging, intentional programs and services for immigrant communities in Prince George’s County throughout the year, including dedicated programming in September during Welcoming Week and at the annual PGCMLS Festival of Cultures, which is sponsored in part by the PGCMLS Foundation.
“This festival is where the Library’s diverse community can come together to recognize our common humanity and to celebrate all of our different traditions, languages, dances, food, and stories,” says Maribel Rodriguez, PGCMLS Bilingual Program and Outreach Associate.
The Library’s work in this arena was featured at this year’s American Library Association annual convention, as part of a presentation titled “From Commitment to Action: How Libraries Support Immigrants, Refugees, and Newcomers.”
“[PGCMLS’] contributions were wonderful and added so much to the presentation,” said presenter Lonna Vines, a librarian from the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Public Library system who is also working on a book-length project on the same subject. “Through my work on this session and my research for the book, I can say with absolute confidence that [the PGCMLS] team is making a meaningful difference for immigrants, refugees, and newcomers. Not only for your community but on a national scale through your willingness to collaborate with me, as well as your work with Smithsonian — and probably thirty-two other ways that I don't even know about!”
Welcoming Week runs this year from September 10-19. The fifth annual PGCMLS Festival of Cultures will take place on Saturday, September 19.
