I've been going to the Bethlehem Library, main branch, since I was a kid, and it's always a comforting feeling walking into that historic building.
I'm sad they got rid of the microfilm readers; I guess those were moved to the Allentown Library. Makes sense that these aren't as popular as they used to be, but I'll miss heading down to BAPL and idly scrolling through old newspapers for an hour or two.
Anyway, the selection is basically good here. Lots of new fiction and classics, and a solid collection of DVDs and audiobooks and CDs.
The staff is sometimes friendly, sometimes not as friendly. They're mostly fine.
But the noise level of BAPL main branch . . . I have never been to another library as loud as this one. At any given time, library patrons are talking at normal volume, using noisy phones, or just generally, you know, not being silent, which is what you're supposed to be at a library. Isn't that one of the oldest rules of civilization, that you shut your mouth when you enter the hallowed grounds of the town library?
When I was there a few days ago, a band concert or practice, I couldn't quite tell which, was going on in the "Quiet Study Room" between four and five o'clock. The doors were shut but of course it was extremely loud. I can't imagine them doing this kind of thing at Easton Library or really any other library I've visited in my entire life.
I'll keep going to BAPL, I love a library, and like I said, their selection is good. But this is not a place I'd go and spend a couple hours just enjoying the atmosphere (or microfilm newspapers); when I go to BAPL, it's to grab something I've already researched on my own, and get out. read more