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SoHo library has new role model
  
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By YVETTE OROZCO
All was quiet, but things were happening, both slow and fast.
The computer desks were buzzing with the Internet while people in the book aisles read, researched or just browsed.
This is the way things are most days at the South Houston Branch Harris County Public Library.
The library building is not a big one, but it holds the door open to a world of knowledge and opportunity for its residents, especially the young people of the community.
“I want this to be a place for people to make a connection,” said Martha Fisher, senior children’s assistant of library services.
A former teacher, Fisher is a new addition to the library staff, beginning in August, with more than a decade of library experience behind her. She is currently working on her master’s degree.
Fisher, born in San Antonio, is a first-generation Mexican-American who spoke no English until the age of five or six. She is the first female in her family to graduate from a four-year school, the University of Houston, and now hopes to set an example for the ethnic community in Harris County.
“I want to give them a connection to literacy,” said Fisher. “A lot of kids would rather be outside, playing soccer or on MySpace – I want to help them learn to love knowledge, not just on the computer, but also in books, sciences and other things. Not just that world they know, but I want to open up a greater world.”
Growing up in a small community, Fisher also understands how confined the world can seem to children.
“They may think that South Houston has four walls and they can’t leave it, but through our facility and programs we have here, they can see that there are colleges, scholarships,” said Fisher. “Children don’t have to settle for ‘My dad did this so that’s what I have to do.’ Instead they’ll say, ‘I can take the SAT, I can study, I’ve got all these different ways I can do it.’
“I’ve been there, so I want these kids to see that I am successful and that they can do it too.”
Both Fisher and Branch Supervisor Pablo Sanchez came from diverse backgrounds.
“I want this to be a place where children, parents, aunts, uncles and cousins can come and it can be a place for them,” said Fisher. “It’s very important for them to feel that it reflects who they are.”
For more information, call the South Houston Branch Harris County at 713-941-2385.
About the library
What: The South Houston Branch of the Harris County Library.
Where: 607 Avenue A, South Houston
Hours: Mondays 1-8 p.m.; Tuesday through Thursday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; Fridays, 1-6 p.m.; and Saturdays, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Closed Sundays.
Telephone: 713-941-2385
On the ’Net: www.hcpl.net/branchinfo/sho/shoinfo.htm
The computer desks were buzzing with the Internet while people in the book aisles read, researched or just browsed.
This is the way things are most days at the South Houston Branch Harris County Public Library.
The library building is not a big one, but it holds the door open to a world of knowledge and opportunity for its residents, especially the young people of the community.
“I want this to be a place for people to make a connection,” said Martha Fisher, senior children’s assistant of library services.
A former teacher, Fisher is a new addition to the library staff, beginning in August, with more than a decade of library experience behind her. She is currently working on her master’s degree.
Fisher, born in San Antonio, is a first-generation Mexican-American who spoke no English until the age of five or six. She is the first female in her family to graduate from a four-year school, the University of Houston, and now hopes to set an example for the ethnic community in Harris County.
“I want to give them a connection to literacy,” said Fisher. “A lot of kids would rather be outside, playing soccer or on MySpace – I want to help them learn to love knowledge, not just on the computer, but also in books, sciences and other things. Not just that world they know, but I want to open up a greater world.”
Growing up in a small community, Fisher also understands how confined the world can seem to children.
“They may think that South Houston has four walls and they can’t leave it, but through our facility and programs we have here, they can see that there are colleges, scholarships,” said Fisher. “Children don’t have to settle for ‘My dad did this so that’s what I have to do.’ Instead they’ll say, ‘I can take the SAT, I can study, I’ve got all these different ways I can do it.’
“I’ve been there, so I want these kids to see that I am successful and that they can do it too.”
Both Fisher and Branch Supervisor Pablo Sanchez came from diverse backgrounds.
“I want this to be a place where children, parents, aunts, uncles and cousins can come and it can be a place for them,” said Fisher. “It’s very important for them to feel that it reflects who they are.”
For more information, call the South Houston Branch Harris County at 713-941-2385.
About the library
What: The South Houston Branch of the Harris County Library.
Where: 607 Avenue A, South Houston
Hours: Mondays 1-8 p.m.; Tuesday through Thursday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; Fridays, 1-6 p.m.; and Saturdays, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Closed Sundays.
Telephone: 713-941-2385
On the ’Net: www.hcpl.net/branchinfo/sho/shoinfo.htm
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