The Las Vegas-Clark County Library District wants you to know that at any of its 25 branches, you are "Free To Be."

That's the name of the District's new campaign.

And to understand it better, I visited a unique room in the East Las Vegas Library where I spoke with the library district's Executive Director, Kelvin Watson, and its Head of Collection and Bibliographic Services, Rebecca Colbert.

Well, I'm going to start with Kelvin.

I have a couple of questions for you first.

-Okay.

-This room that we're in seems a little out of place for a library.

What room are we in?

Why does it exist?

(Kelvin Watson) We are in the East Las Vegas Library, and the room that we're in and the way that I describe is that it's our one from scratch.

It's our DJ booth.

It's our green screen.

It's our "teach you how to be a DJ on the Las Vegas Strip."

It's a "record your music in the studio."

It's the all-around "get you ready for your career," for example, in DJ-ing or filming.

So it's-- that's what this room is.

-Why is it in a library?

-So it's in a library because libraries are more than just the books that we have.

Books are included, certainly.

That's our focus, resources.

But it's also part of what libraries are when we are educating the community around technology, for example, right?

This is a great place for you to learn how to use those resources.

We have podcasting studios in the library.

We have 3D printing in the library.

We have GoPro cameras in the library.

We have so many resources in the library that are to help and educate, to entertain.

So if you look at the library's mission, those words are all in our mission.

Those are things that-- that's why, in the library.

-And this fits perfectly into your new campaign, Free To Be.

How would you describe what Free To Be is?

-I would describe Free To Be as, first, free to be yourself.

Free to experience.

Free to be connected.

Free to be fearless.

Free to be all of those things that we don't think about when it comes to ourselves.

And the library is a place for you.

If you're not already experiencing who you are, the library is where you're free to be yourself.

And that can come through reading.

That could come through experiencing our DJ booth.

That could be learning about 3D printing, and maybe you'll be the next builder of a home that's built in 3D printing.

That's where you're free to be.

And we provide that safe space for you to be yourself.

-For that exploration.

Rebecca, you're wearing the shirt Free To Be.

Now, you are in charge of bringing in all the materials that all the libraries, the 25 different branches, have.

Why would you argue this campaign is necessary right now?

(Rebecca Colbert) I think it's always been necessary.

But it's good to put words to concepts.

People think of a library as a house of books, and we're so much more than that.

And I think inviting people in to discover things-- as Kelvin was describing all the podcasting and moviemaking, I thought about one of our branches, actually, several of them now, do sewing classes.

And back in the day, we might have purchased sewing books or craft how-to books.

But now you can actually come in, create something perfectly free with a machine that you're never going to have access to at home, and take it with you.

So you've come in and had an experience and then you take it away and you share with people.

And I think that that concept of coming in and actually tinkering with things, learning something, honing a skill, sharing community together is so much more active and engaged than just going to the library to get a book about how to sew.

And so I think knowing that (a) the material and the experiences here are literally free and (b) we have something for everyone, really covers how we're trying to put the word out that you are free to be just about anything you want in the library.

-I will add something if I can.

One thing I want to add is my favorite things that-- thing that I like to see, especially on social media when we're promoting the things that we're doing at the library is I didn't know the library did that.

So this is a perfect "I didn't know the library did that."

-If you weren't doing this, would the libraries be in trouble?

-I think-- yeah, that's a great question.

-Yes.

-So I will say, yeah.

I will say yes.

One of the reasons is that, first of all, we're not the only library in the nation that are-- that's doing this.

You've probably heard of the term "makerspaces" and things like that.

We don't call them makerspaces.

We just call it what we're doing, like the sewing and, you know, the doing scratch here in DJ.

But it's how the library has moved from just being a house of books, as Rebecca said, to really being a community anchor, community center, community-- real, a true community resource with our meeting rooms as well as the resources that we offer, the partnerships that we have in the community as well.

So if we weren't doing these things, yes, we'd be in trouble because we would not be providing the value to the community that they deserve from the library.

-Part of it is just natural evolution.

If you think of schools 40 years ago before the internet, before everyone had a computer in their pocket, basically, with a phone, you had books.

And it was a very isolated transaction.

Education is so much more than that now.

And libraries had to keep up with how people were learning and how people were acquiring content.

We are a house of books, but we circulate a tremendous amount of ebooks and e-audiobooks.

And we provide that.

The trick is you don't need to come into the building to get it.

So we have these other experiences where if you're coming to the building, you're still getting a tremendous value out of the experience.

-And you had mentioned, I've heard you mention in interviews, the library is open 24 hours.

How is that possible?

-So as Rebecca just mentioned, you don't have to ever come in a library, actually a physical library.

But we are available 24/7 online for accessing ebooks and databases and downloading books and just finding out what we're doing.

-And streaming movies.

-And streaming movies.

-And streamng music and getting tutoring services and studying for MCATs or SATs.

All of that is available.

-Learning a new language.

All of that is available to you without coming into the physical building.

-Back to the library being a house of books, I found this interesting.

A Review-Journal article, said that only about 10% of this 41,000 square foot library actually holds books.

When that started happening, I mean were you having an existential crisis?

-Yes and no.

Our purpose in providing print material to patrons is really a lot of breadth and a lot of depth.

We want everyone to walk away with something.

But customers tell us what they want from a library.

And a lot of them move to entertainment, whether it's entertainment by reading or entertainment by watching movies.

And so we're always trying to give people what they come in looking for.

And we don't actually get a lot of complaints that, well, you don't have books about this.

I really wish you had a book about that.

Our collection has 3 million items in it.

We have a book somewhere about something, and folks can always request it from another library and get it in like two days.

Or we can find something online for them.

But no, 10%, if you come in here, the first thing you notice are the books.

They're there.

We're just using this space really creatively to flank all of our experiences with the book collection.

But our books are all individually chosen by our excellent librarians, and I don't believe we're missing out because we're only devoting 10% of our space.

-And to Rebecca's point, you know, specifically in this library, the East Las Vegas Library that we're, that we're in, is that you notice the living room experience, right, that's surrounded by books.

So you've got-- you can grab a book or you can grab the newspaper like I did this morning, read the newspaper, and be comfortable, comfortable seating.

That's really that experience.

I come from a retail background.

-You used to work for Borders.

-I did.

So one of the things that I have been communicating and sharing with libraries, not just our library, but other libraries, is I challenge us to always try to figure out why people go to certain places to be entertained.

So why would you come to the library to leverage our wifi versus leveraging Starbucks, for example.

Because of the experience.

And so that's the other piece that I think about and I share with my team as well is that those are the other things because people have choices.

And we're, you know, competing with people's time and interest and other programming here, especially here in Las Vegas, right?

Think of all of the programs and plays and theatrical events that we have, that we get thousands of people attending free versus actually having the opportunity to go and enjoy that on the Strip or other places.

-Well, and I, if I could say, I remember when this building opened.

And I remember purchasing the collection for it that was going in.

And we are so in the neighborhood communities.

We talk to the schools to find out what books that they're having their students read, what they're emphasizing.

Our librarians do a lot of outreach to the community, the senior centers, the schools.

And so we knew in advance what they wanted in this location.

And we not only provided that, but we consistently, monthly there's new material coming in.

So it wasn't just, here, set it up, load it with 10% full of books and then walk away.

The advantage of this place over something like Starbucks?

I don't have to buy anything.

I can bring my multi-generational family.

I can let the kids run wild in the Young People's Library.

To that end, we actually have toys on the floor that they can play with, and we have toys that they can check out and take home.

And this was one of the first libraries that we did that on a really broad scale.

And it's been enormously successful.

-I heard an interview you did with KNPR, and you mentioned that people can check out American Girl dolls.

-American Girl dolls.

-And that touched me because you had mentioned not everybody can afford one of those.

-I never had one as a kid.

They were and they are expensive.

And we packaged them with a book because there's usually a book that tells the story of the doll.

So we're still encouraging literacy and interaction with reading.

But we have doll tea parties.

They can check out-- I mean they could literally play with every historical doll American Girl has created.

-Wow!

That is neat.

The Free To Be, when I hear that, I automatically want to say, free to be yourself.

And I thought, was the Library District concerned that maybe people are being discouraged from being themselves these days?

For example, some of the pushback that libraries have received across the country for some of their LGBTQ material, was that a concern for the Library District, that people aren't getting to be free, be their true selves?

-That actually wasn't a concern, because here at the library, we know that, again, that we're the place where you can actually be yourself because we're going to have something for everyone to do, something for you to read or something for you to participate in.

So this actually is a place for you to be yourself.

This is the last bastion of democracy, the library.

This is about you having that opportunity.

And going back to-- the campaign started prior to my arrival, but the premise of the campaign was actually based on something that the Librarian of Congress said about freedom and talking about the library and around those concepts.

And so that's what we focused on in doing the campaign.

-Well, you said something.

I don't remember what conference or meeting it was, but it stuck with me.

You say a lot, but "free people free people."

And that made me feel so much like a participant.

Yes, the library, we're free.

We're free thinkers.

We're free to cultivate whatever kinds of collection people want.

But that also empowers everyone who comes in to discover that about themselves.

A librarian that I work with has a saying that labels are bad for books and people.

And so you'll find all kinds of material in our collection, but it's not-- it doesn't have a bright red sticker on it that says, hey, if you're part of this minority community, read this book.

But they're free to come in and find it, because we really believe in that integration of everything.

We've got something for everyone, and it's all blended here.

-Have you received any pushback for any of your material?

I mentioned across the country LGBTQ material, some being against it being in libraries, in public libraries.

-Of course.

We get a lot less pushback than some other parts of the country, and I just attribute that to Vegas still being kind of the wild west where things are accepted.

But the trend is that the half dozen or so requests for reconsideration that we've had this year have all been based on non-binary or gender fluid materials primarily for children.

But we have a process.

We have staff that listen when a patron comes in to express dissatisfaction with a book.

And there is a formal procedure.

They can write us a letter, and we investigate and send them some reviews and explain why the book is in our collection.

And very rarely does it go beyond that.

-What do you want people to know when we talk about this idea of removing books from shelves?

-You know, I'm gonna add one word that Rebecca left out so she can remember this quote, that free people read freely.

That's what I want you to remember, that free people read freely.

We're all free.

So we're free to read whatever it is.

We're free to experience whatever it is that we have in the library.

That's the individuality that we have, each of us.

And we each should be enjoying, and this is the place, the library is the place to do that.

So that goes right along with Free To Be is something else.

And I don't own that quote, actually.

That quote came from the executive director of the American Library Association, who is a friend of mine, but we also were speaking on this topic at South by Southwest this year.

And she spoke those words, and there's actually T-shirts and backpacks and all kinds of stuff you can get from the American Library Association.

But that stuck with me as well as it stuck with Rebecca, because that's true.

-If we're not free, then we are unable to read what we want.

-Or do what we want, within boundaries.

We're not breaking the law, but pretty much we're able to pursue careers like the ones that we have, for example, right?

-I think the important part of that is equity in access.

We have 25 branches across Southern Nevada, and it's important that everyone in every corner of this valley has the opportunity to freely go into a library and discover material that they're interested in or have an experience that they want.

And so we are adamant about making sure every branch is fully staffed and sourced with material so everyone everywhere can find something.

-Yeah.

I was just thinking, as we're talking, about me specifically, in that it was only just a couple of generations ago that my great-grandparents, for example, weren't allowed to go into a library.

Or they had a specific library that only had specific resources.

And so that's not what we are, and that's not what we're doing.

And so I'm proud to work with Rebecca and the team at the library district and all the work that we do in trying to make sure that we are providing that equitable and equity across the valley.

-Kelvin Watson and Rebecca Colbert, thank you for so eloquently and passionately explaining what the Free To Be campaign is.

-Thank you.