Mathews Memorial Library Director Bette Dillehay is always looking for ways the library can serve the community, so when she learned about a new VMRC rule requiring crabbers to shift from paper records to reporting their catch online, she was sure the library could help.

“Mathews is home to many individuals engaged in this important industry,” said Dillehay. “But at this time, access to the internet is not always available, making this shift a major obstacle to compliance for the many individuals in Mathews.”

With the reporting requirement starting in January, Dillehay called a staff meeting to address the issue and pretty soon, a call went out to VMRC. The agency suggested that library staff be trained to assist any watermen who might need help reporting their catch.

As a result, VMRC fisheries management specialist Nancy McElligott visited the library last Thursday to train staff members, and now they’re ready to help not only crabbers but other watermen as well, such as aq...