How does your local library system measure up?

[pscot]

I just want to give a big shout out to my county library system, Sno-Isle libraries. They have a great selection, they keep up with new issues pretty well, and it's all available on line. I live 20 miles from the nearest city, but requests generally show up at my local library within a few days. They are a great community resource, as a good library should be.

[harun]

1. I recently checked out mine here in Bucks County, PA

and it is awesome. Really cool facility near my house too. I was impressed.

[napi21]

2. Our local library system is pretty good. They have all their info available online,

and as a senior, I can even get books mailed to my home (no charge) in a bag like a bank bag. I just can't get any NEW books that way. The new ones they have (1 YO or newer) have to be picked up at the library. My biggest problem with them is that they don't get a lot of new issues, and rarely get the progressive political ones I want to read! If I ask about them, they just say they're on a pretty tight budget.

I was spoiled from being raised in Pgh., Pa. where they get all the new popular books, and will even get the ones you request.

Needless to say, I've spent WAY

MOR on books than I ever want to or should HAVE TO!

[monmouth]

6. James Patterson lives "over the bridge" in Palm Beach and gives

a lot of his books to our library. Lovely man.

[Gormy Cuss]

3. It is abysmal.

It's also a county system. Books can be ordered for delivery to a local branch but the kicker is that non-circulating titles aren't part of the system and many of the more interesting collections on a special interest topic reside at one branch and are non-circulating, even though the items aren't rare
or that valuable. I can't fathom why the policy doesn't allow these to move around among the branches.

I bypass my own system but use my card to gain privileges at the larger city libraries in Oakland and San Francisco.

[old guy]

4. They are fantastic here.

There is a whole system of small town libraries all connected on line to get materials to one close to my house. They also have a system in place to download certain books to your computer and in some cases copy them to CD. I use it all the time. My tax dollars actually going for something good.

[monmouth]

5. Library in downtown West Palm Beach, FL the best I've ever been in....Kudos!

[CrispyQ]

7. Our library is pretty good,

although I've noticed a definite change in the number of new political books since 2004. They use to have a great selection of new conservative & liberal books. Now, not so many political books & mostly conservative. When we had the book club I could almost always get the monthly title from the library, but I doubt that would be the case anymore.

The facility is nice, but they have turned an entire wing that used to be the new books section into a small shop for artists & they stuck the new books section out in the lobby. :wtf: They use the money raised to fund the kids homework center. I'm not against that, but I wish they had put the retail section in the lobby & left the new books in the quieter area.

In 2004 I would have given them 5 stars. Now, 3.5. ;)

[eleny]

8. Jefferson County, Colorado get a thumbs up

[coberst]

9. Friend of the Library

My local city library does not have a very good selection of books.

I am a retired engineer and I read a great deal. I examine many different domains of knowledge. I have a college close by and I now have a "Friends of the Library" card from that college library. For a fee of $25 per year I have complee access to that marvelous library.

I recommend this to everyone who reads a lot especially if they read a lot of non-fiction.

[Sequoia]

12. Welcome to DU.

Your library sounds like mine...near a college too, a junior college. Thanks for the suggestion, I should be a Friend too.

[trof]

24. I'm treasurer of our local 'Friends' group.

Very worthwhile organization.

[shenmue]

10. It's not bad. Getting better.

They renovated some buildings, bought more computers and are expanding some of their collections. They are also trying to hang on to public programs in the light of budget cuts. Hard to do, and I take my hats off to them. Library people are some of the best in the world.

[Sequoia]

11. Not very good.

I've checked to see if they had 3 new books but none are in the system. It takes forever for new books to come in anyway, as if they were being delivered by a donkey cart. Sometimes I'll find an old book in the basement section. It seems they mostly order those horrid socker mom mystery writers.

[abluelady]

13. Mine is Terrific

Not only is the building new and comfortable, there are over 50 computers open to card holders all the time, meeting rooms for free, and of course a large selection of books, audios, magazines, and movies. I live in a county with about ten libraries. I can pick up a book at one and drop it off at another. I can put a hold on a book in the eastern part of the country and pick it up in the western part of the county. My favorite offering of my library is the ability to download books onto a computer, an ipod, etc. But the best thing about my library is when talking to a republican, I can brag about the benefit of paying taxes. Even repukes use my library!

[terrya]

14. The Chicago Public Library system is the best.

An excellent resource for the City of Chicago.

:thumbsup:

[MountainLaurel]

15. Better than most around here

By fluke of fate, I ended up living in one of the more well-funded municipalities in the area. So, my library is pretty good -- real reference librarians, well-staffed, a good collection. Also, they are part of a statewide system, which means I have access to many books my library doesn't own. There's a major hole, though, in terms of books by independent publishers and more academic nonfiction works.

[Bigmack]

16. Kitsap Libraries are the BEST!

7 months of the year, the Kitsap library system in Washington state is the "mother" of our small local library - the Little Boston Library, which is one of the only libraries in the nation located on an Indian reservation. Little Boston won the designation as "the best small library in the country" a few years ago, and this year moved into its new quarters as part of the new Long-house, "House of Knowledge." The new facility is wonderful and our librarians are fantastic. The rest of the year we're "part" of the San Diego library system in a little town in the eastern part of the county. Alas, the San Diego system doesn't BEGIN to measure up to the Kitsap system up in Washington. Much of the time down here, when the book we want isn't available in the San Diego system, we'll check out the Kitsap system, and sure enough, they'll have the book. Kudos to the Kitsap Library system. But also, kudos to ALL the libraries. Thanks for being there for us members of the Great Unwashed! Ms Bigmack

[China_cat]

17. Deleted

due to being a stupid dupe

[China_cat]

18. Ours isn't too bad

except for the branch closest to us that went seriously fundy a few years ago...85% of books there now are christian fundamentalist crap.

The other branches are pretty good, even allowing you to reserve books online, order interlibrary loans, etc.

[lumberjack_jeff]

19. Awesome. Timberland Regional Library

For some reason, libraries in Washington are all generally top notch.

[pscot]

20. I'd like to believe it's our intellectual superiority

but I got a feeling it has more to do with the brief, grey winter days,the long rainy evenings. Our need is greater than elsewhere.

[lumberjack_jeff]

21. I think it's because that around here "public" isn't a dirty word.

Public power, public transportation, public library, etc.

[scholarsOrAcademics]

22. Everett / Seattle library

I'm learning the Seattle library computers after being spoiled on the Everett computers. I'll loose u-tunes in Seattle, no headphone hookups.
Democratic Underground is not going to be sound with videos.

[TheCentepedeShoes]

23. It's good

Central downtown and 4 branches, one across from my office. Good online catalog and can have books transferred there if I don't feel like driving to where it normally is. Actually spent some of this morning in the catalog listing books I want to read and seeing if they have some other new ones yet.

[hippywife]

25. Ours is pretty good.

Tulsa City/County Library system. I find myself using their online catalog and request system alot. I can usually find what I'm looking for but some new titles take awhile to circulate because they don't seem to get many copies of some of them.

I love the library. It sure beats buying books all the time. I really like being able to get one that I might really want to buy and check it out before investing the money.

[shenmue]

26. Not ours...

They don't have a lot of variety and they really aren't responsive to the public.

[topaz_eyes]

27. Horrible.

Nothing but trashy fiction. This is a small town, so they have a limited budget. Unfortunately, with the little money they have, they choose to keep up with the latest Nora Roberts, Danielle Steele and poor-quality Mormon fiction. I assume they think that's what people around here read. The problem is that people read that stuff because that's what the library has. It's circular.

Fortunately, they only charge $2.00 postage to get books from interlibrary loan.

[niccolos_smile]

28. My library is at my home...

I have about 400 books now (yes, I compiled a list). I haven't read them all yet, but I will.

As a young child and a teenager, I went to the library quite often and considering it was a rural county, the library system was pretty good. Now I just buy the books I want and add them to my own library. I used to loan them out to people, but after not getting a few of them back - such as my copy of Milton Freidman's Capitalism and Freedom with all my notes in it - I quit loaning them out.