My local library has been closed for almost three years for renovation. With luck it may open later this summer. I look forward to describing how wonderful it is at that time.

Janalyn-our library sounds similar to yours in that I can peruse books on line, request books & am notified when the books are ready for pick up & due back.
Our library is connected to the greater Sacramento library system and all it's branches, so even though we live in a rural area we have the advantages of the city.

Pat

Our main library is downtown, and I used it often when I was working. Now I go to the closest branch, which does have computers for public use, but it has librarians to check out books and for the reference section. It is not too large but does have a separate room across the entrance hall for children. Their books are shelved there, and there are small tables and chairs for them.

I, too, love the ability to request books online and be notified by email when they arrive for pick up. One tiny gripe is that you can get your own requests from shelves in back of the check out area, but my last initial is on the bottom shelf just at floor level, not good for bifocals and stiff knees. The librarians will, of course, get them for me; but that makes me feel much too old.

The reference librarian was very good to show me the computer ropes both in requesting local material and books through interlibrary loan.

Their chairs are comfortable, too, and I would spend more time hanging out there if I were not so busy in my retirement years. They have lovely magazines and oversized decorator books that I don't want to bring home.

My library is part of a county system, and I make use of two of the branches extensively.

The smaller branch is closer to my house and it reminds me of a small town neighborhood library. It is modern and clean, and the staff is friendly. Of course the collection is quite small, but then I mostly browse the New Books shelf and pick up my requests which are delivered there. I deliberately check out my books with an actual human being. In fact, this is the only branch that still permits you to do so.

The other branch I use regularly is one of the busiest libraries on the West Coast by some kind of measurement -- per capita, I suspect, since I'm confident that San Francisco and Los Angeles must both check out more material. It has all the technology a library could boast. There is even a huge built in aquarium, the gift of a resident. There are reference librarians on the second floor, and they are happy to help you if you seek them out. Only rarely do I have a reason to though, a book missing from the shelf being the most recent occasion. I find the architectural style unappealing, very deliberately industrial and to me, off-putting, but it does function as smoothly as the machine it resembles. I suspect more people like it than do not. As for me, I miss the wood, stone, and tile from early 20th century libraries. Concrete just isn't cozy.

Rosefolly

I have been going to our library, which is part of a county library system since it was in one room at a local elementary
school.....way back in the 1960's. The librarian would hold my babies while I perused the books. My kids are now in their mid 40's.
It is now a free standing building next to our regional park and an elementary school and is always very busy.
It is small, the librarians are very good in remembering the patrons.
There is a section for new books which can be checked out for a week, a great DVD selection, ten computers, a kids library and a very helpful staff.
I plan on leaving money to the library upon my demise and also donate books and money on a regular basis.
We are fortunate to have such a great facility in our rural community.

My library is a bit of a throwback. I have mixed feelings about this. We are, of course, computerized, but the very small staff is not computer savvy, and as a rule the patrons aren't either. The paid employees consist of a director and 2 staff members. Many volunteers make up the bulk of the staff and many of them are technologically proficient. They do not notify by email, despite efforts to get them on that system. They still stamp the books with a due date and get very upset when ILL books come in without cards in them. The staff is mystified by this; I've told them many times that other libraries give you a little printed slip like a receipt. I keep trying to get them to stop stamping and writing little notes with the due dates as I check them in the computer anyway, to no avail. I do appreciate their efforts, however.

The building itself is very old and sadly lacking in charm. It needs a major facelift or at least some TLC. The outside is charming, but the inside is in need of paint stripping and remodeling. There is no display of new books. Those are tucked away in a corner on a rolling metal shelf. I would love to get a job there and be involved in renovating and updating. This is a dream as no such changes are in the works, and indeed there isn't much support for this. A few years ago Stephen King offered a great deal of money to create a library/community center that would have been wonderful, but there was no support in the community and it all fell to pieces.

Having said all these negative things, I do love the place and go there at least twice a week. The staff all know me, and my name is highly recognizable among all the staff and volunteers because of my high rate of ILL. They like this a great deal - apparently statistics are kept and people with high usage rates like mine are constantly being held up when funding time comes around.

ILL here in Maine is great, a huge variety of books and DVDs are available. Perhaps one of the greatest things technology has made possible!

A picture is worth a thousand words.

Here is a link that might be useful: my library

This was Rouan's and my first public library. The downstairs is a small library, and the upstairs was a community center when we were children. It spoiled me for modern libraries. I am firmly and forever convinced that this is what a public library really should look like - built of stone and lots of wood, full of niches and tall windows, and a fireplace along one wall. And of course, lots of wonderful books.

Rosefolly

Here is a link that might be useful: Foxburg Free Library

rosefolly, I have been reading all about Foxburg and finding it very interesting and thought the library looked a very welcoming place.
I was especially interested in the piece of information, the 'Things to Know' section about no plant/weed/brush/ being allowed to grow to more than six inches in height. I shall pass it on to my husband as he has an excellent crop of nettles/dock/mares-tails/sow thistles (you name it he's got it). Is there really some Council official who goes round with a ruler, leaning over the picket fences checking that growth is within the laid-down boundaries?

Vee, I would be very much surprised if that were enforced. Foxburg is a very small town and not very prosperous. It was settled back in the days of the oil boom and now has lost all its industry, the summer tourist industry being about all it has left. It was originally founded by a rich man who was building himself a little domain, carefully modeled after the 19th century English village ideal. In the past ten years or so another rich man purchased the abandoned mansion, restored it to its former beauty, and has set about restoring the town. The town is very happy about this. I still have an old friend living there and have visited it a couple of times in the past few years. I'm sure I saw some weeds, if nowhere else, then down by the bank of the Allegheny River.

Rosefolly

Funny you mention the height of the weeds in a garden as I can confirm that there *are* municipal code inspectors part of whose jobs includes writing citations as to the heights of the weeds in a private yard. However, it's not as petty as it sounds, as it is used primarily as a nuisance law to get absentee landlords and lazy neighbors to keep their property up to maintain property values throughout the community.

We have a mix of rental and private ownership of homes in our particular neighborhood, and when there are some less-than-desirable people who move in, it's useful to have knowledge of these "nuisance laws" to use as leverage especially if you have a useless landlord or property owner.

As we have a lot of college students in our area, the local Codes Inspectors tend to focus on "more than three unrelated people" in the house (two or less is ok). That prevents large gaggles of students living in one place that is only made for two or fewer. Most students are good neighbors, but there are some frat boys around the corner who receive some "neighborhood" focus, so to speak, due to poor behavioral choices in the evenings....

Back to the topic on-hand: our library is lovely. It's not architecturally lovely, but most of the people who work there are friendly and competent. As I used to work for the City government for years and have been a heavy user, most of the workers know me and are used to my esoteric title requests for ILL.

The building itself is not pretty - more of a rectangle, very purpose-built and 1970's. Our city has not always had a library, and so I am grateful each and every time I step in to pick up a book or three. There are different branches throughout the city, but one is in a temporary location due to a black mold problem. (It was by a playa lake which would explain the problem even arising in a semi-arid environment.)

Selection is fine, and if they don't have it, I can usually find it through ILL. I don't really like to spend much time actually sitting down and reading there though, as there are some *interesting* homeless (and other) people who congregrate there (naturally since it's warm in winter and cool in summer and has bathrooms). The homeless problem has been much relieved since the City Council passed an ordinance preventing people from bringing their sleeping bags and all their bags in with them when they entered the building, so as the homeless people don't want to leave their things unattended, they tend to stay elsewhere.

Can't really judge the homeless for being there - the library is built for the public and to be used by the public and if I were homeless, no doubt I would zero in on that space as well. I just don't really *enjoy* breathing in the rich fetid smell of unwashed bodies when I am browsing the bookshelves.

Our library also has a good section of genealogy, of computers, graphic novels, and reference materials. They also offer basic computer classes and space for a non-profit who focuses on literacy and ESL training to a GED level.

The library admin don't seem that open to new ideas though, as any time I return from UK and see what my library in Bedford has been doing, I send it on and ZAP. Nothing happens. Perhaps they don't like my ideas!...

Here is a link that might be useful: City of Lubbock (TX) library

I worked in various libraries most of my life. Now that I have relocated to historic downtown Charleston, SC, I find I tend to use the nearby College library, where I am a student. The building is attractive, fairly new, has lots of computers, a "new books" section, friendly, helpful staff, and a great ILL department. It's less than a 10 minute hike from where I live.

Our city library is huge, has book sales, lots of computers,movies, and an Archives. It's just too far of a walk for me, so I tend to use its bookmobile. One very disappointing issue is the following: shortly after I relocated here, the city library weeded out all their foreign language books, except those in Spanish. A real pity, as I am in a French conversation group at present, and there are many French speaking folk who live downtown.

I'm lucky -- an abundance of libraries within easy driving distance. The smallest branch library is in a nice "town square"-type community (stores, restaurants, movie theater, small grocery store, arts theater, and a dog park/strolling park across the street). But when you walk in, the first thing you see is desk after desk of computers. People can sign up for computer time, and those seats are always filled. There's also WiFi, so others come to the library for "office" work. That's great -- not everybody can afford his or her own computer. But the layout just seems to push books to the periphery, and that kind of saddens me. This is the library I usually stop at on my way to work to pick up my "holds." And the libraries in that county (which is just 15 minutes or so away) have deep CD and DVD collections.

A library a bit closer to home is a slightly more "warm" place -- there are plenty of computer desks, but when you walk in, there are many book displays (how many times have I picked up interesting books there before I remembered the titles I MEANT to look for? Too many!). The librarians do a great job on their book displays. And because there are two really big used-book sales a year, there is enough revenue from those, and from the county, to also have many shelves of "just released" books. CD/DVD collections, not so much.

And then there's the library in the next community over, where I used to live. It was designed by the architect Michael Graves, and I was really interested in seeing it. I walked in, and I actually felt cold. A lot of glass, soaring roof line. But there were so many shelves that looked half-filled. I couldn't decide whether they were just still pulling things out of storage, or whether they'd spent so much money on the redesign that they were short of book funds! Haven't been there recently, but I trust that everything's out of storage by now.

But I have to admit that even tho I realize I have a wealth of library options, none of them stacks up against my memories of my favorite library -- the one I grew up with, in Connecticut. Picture your quaint New England buildings -- that was it. Small, but it always had what I needed for school projects; the card catalogs; beautiful heavy Windsor-type chairs -- just a wonderful atmosphere for researching and finding something new every time. My dad and I went there together frequently.

So for me, it's not just the building and the materials -- the best library has to "envelop" me somehow, with friendliness and warmth.

Pammyfay, I am firmly convinced that truly good library architecture will envelope you with friendliness and warmth. That really is one of the things it can do. Good architecture can invoke a powerful emotional response, and that is one of its jobs.

There is an excellent book on this topic, widely available, called A Pattern Language: Towns, Building, Construction by Christopher Alexander and several co-authors.

Rosefolly

I'll have to look for that book, Rosefolly -- thank you for mentioning it!

An add to my long post: The best libraries? Ones where the librarians don't always shush children. I recall a long time ago when one librarian just tried to distract an overtired child with a picture book. That was impressive! And perhaps that child is growing up to be a library lover.