Dekalb County, Georgia

 The Northlake Branch of the Dekalb County Public Library (DCPL), also known as the Northlake-Barbara Loar Library, is one of the over 20 branches of this suburban public library system, and one that I frequented during my residence in Georgia. The library was named after a former library director who served during the 1980s.

The main branch of DCPL is located in downtown Decatur, which I will blog about in the future!

Originally constructed in 1991, the exterior shot is how it looked when I first visited in 2005, but the interior photos were taken after the 2008-09 renovations were completed, increasing its size from 10,000 to 15,000 square feet.

Montgomery County, Pennsylvania

The Lower Providence Community Library in Eagleville, Pennsylvania was actually my local library during my brief residence in Southeastern PA. Of course, the first thing I did when I moved there was get a library card! Despite being located in Montgomery County, it was not part of a consortium, although with an "Access Pennsylvania" sticker on your card, all libraries in the state (not just the county) were accessible. I haven't run across this feature in any other state yet and am wondering if this is something perhaps unique to Pennsylvania. It certainly is convenient when you think I could travel clear across the state on vacation and check out items during my stay. Of course, when you consider that I would be receiving the same services of local patrons whose taxes pay for their home library, it does raise some questions. Nevertheless, those same patrons would be able to utilize my local library so perhaps it all comes out in the wash!!!

A library in the land of dueling banjos!

Up until now I've given pretty much favorable reviews of almost all of the libraries I've been to. Then came my visit to Cleveland, Georgia! Later that same day when I visited the library in the fake alpine town of Helen, I stopped by the only other, and main, branch of the White County Public Library, which in turn is part of the consortium called the Northeast Georgia Regional Library System. A member of PINES, these libraries simply do not get sufficient funding and therein lies the paradox - libraries in areas with high average household incomes get the most funding despite the fact that residents do not rely heavily on library resources and are in a much better financial situation to purchase their own books, music, movies, etc. Libraries in poorer areas such as rural Georgia get much less funding and here citizens are much less likely to afford to buy their own material and rely on the public library for borrowing privileges.

All I remember from this visit is a drab building, especially on the inside. Dark, musty and the collection in virtually disarray. No one acknowledged my presence and I didn't stick around very long. Now this was more than six years ago, so perhaps there's been a renovation or other changes made. I for one certainly hope so!

A Library in the Deep South!

Huntsville, Alabama is anything but your quintessential southern town and this picture of the main branch located in Madison County is also not a normal occurrence. At least it didn't look this way when I visited back in August of 2007!

With a dozen branches, the Huntsville-Madison County Public Library's main branch was completed in 1987 and contains over 530,000 volumes.

This video gives a good overview of the history of the library.

Nutre tu intelecto y tu espiritu!

That's the slogan of the Dorado Community Library, a public library about 20 miles outside of San Juan, Puerto Rico which I was able to visit earlier this month. It has actually been around for 34 years and for a community this size not bad at all, and definitely one of the better libraries in all of the Caribbean. The library has over 30,000 volumes in Spanish and English, a computer lab with internet access (non-card holders must pay a fee), a meeting room and it offers various programs for both children and adults.

~~~ Henrietta Hankin ~~~

Located in Chester Springs, Pennsylvania and part of the Chester County Library System outside of Philadelphia, this was the first library position I had applied for and the first job that I had ever received a rejection letter! In the fall of 2004 I interviewed for the circulation assistant opening, but luckily things did work out just weeks later when I was offered positions at two other branches within the same system.

One of the prettiest branches of CCLS, I wouldn't have minded calling this home!