Hi.
My name is Avery Walker, I'm 23 years old, I'm a full-time student at UNLV, and I'm here
to share a little bit of my story and relationship with the West Las Vegas Library Theater and
the Las Vegas Clark County Library District.
As far as I can remember, the library has always been a part of my growing up and my
education.
I actually had my kindergarten graduation ceremony here in the library theater.
I was five years old then, so my relationship began really early with activities involving
community outreach and also academia.
I spent countless hours in the library, especially during middle school and the beginnings of
high school.
I would have to complete many projects during the week that required me to have access to
a computer, which I didn't always have.
Also books for research because I was always interested in the arts from the time I was
in middle school, and so the library played a major role in personal research that I wanted
to do for the arts and dance.
My relationship with the library has given me kind of an upper hand in regards to the
work field that I study because I am a dance major at UNLV.
My artistic training began when I was 13.
I was a percussionist with the West Las Vegas Arts Center Performance Ensemble, which I'm
now the coordinator for.
I began dancing when I was 16.
I just finished my last dance concert with UNLV, so just moving on the route to graduating
and receiving my BFA.
All young people definitely need to invest in getting a library card because it opens
you up to the entire world.
It kept me out of the streets and out of what most young people my age were doing.
It gave me a vehicle to be able to pursue more than what I could see right in front
of me.
Without the library services and the programs that the library offered I probably would
have been in a completely different field and I found my real passion, which is for
the arts, so I'd just like to say thank you.