For Immediate Release
May 5, 2000
Information and Referral Awareness Week
In North Carolina
Governor James Hunt has issued a proclamation designating the week of May 14–20, 2000 as “Information and Referral (I&R) Awareness Week” across the state. I&R is the practice of matching up individual needs with the appropriate human–services organizations that can help meet those needs. One of the most important tools for providing I&R services in Cumberland County is the Answer BookÓ, a publication of the Cumberland County Public Library & Information Center.
ACCESS/Information Services at CCPL&IC helps individuals to help themselves by accessing information about various community organizations. Five members strong, the I&R Team spends a considerable amount of time throughout the year in verifying the data they collect in community–information files which are accessible in print or online, as well as over the telephone. Affiliated with the North Carolina Alliance of Information & Referral Services (NC AIRS), and the national Alliance of Information & Referral Systems (AIRS), ACCESS/Information Services provides a vital service to the citizens of Cumberland County by ensuring that information about human–services agencies and groups is accurate and up–to–date.
The twentieth edition of the Answer BookÓ will be available later this month at all CCPL&IC branches. The cost is $3.00 per copy. For questions relating to the Answer BookÓ, or any other community resources, call ACCESS/Information Services at the Library at 483-7727. The Answer BookÓ may be accessed on the Internet at the Library’s website http://www.cumberland.lib.nc.us. Citizens may also use dial-up access to search the ACCESS database by calling 483-5212 from their computer modems. The database is listed under “Community Information.”
The Answer BookÓ and the ACCESS database are prepared and maintained by Nora Armstrong, I&R Coordinator, along with Gloria McFadden, Terry McBryde, Judith Stoddard, and Anne Reynolds-Smith, who also serves as Answer BookÓ Coordinator.