Delaware County Library System (DCLS) is a decent system as far as suburban community libraries go…read more Is it Ludington Library in Bryn Mawr? No. Is it Montgomery County-Norristown Public Library? No again. But I would say those are outstanding examples of non-urban public libraries. Newtown Public Library serves its purpose, & is one of the newer, "nicer" libraries in the DCLS system.
The building is clean, artfully designed, & full of cheerful light from large windows. This makes for a pleasant atmosphere.
It is rarely quiet as a library should be. I don't know why none of the patrons understand how to behave in a library, but they don't, & no one working there cares. It is not designed with places for privacy either. Wish they cared about that.
I have never been able to use them for academic study. Over the years I've searched the online catalog (pooling inventory in all DCLS libraries) by book /author /research topic, for various needs, but I never find much. I guess this is not the intended use of a civic library anyway, but a set of TCLCs in Reference would benefit even high school students.
For other general interests, i-net research at home usually does the trick. As for more pop lit, we don't devour novels or bestsellers, & we do our periodical reading, again, online. We also buy a lot of used books on Amazon to meet most of our reading needs. So the library has been of use to us for other purposes...
*If you are trying to do local academic study, I recommend getting a student membership to Swathmore College's library (which allows access to Haverford & Bryn Mawr Colleges as well), & allows you to check things out. U-Penn has a fabulous library, but you can't check anything out unless you have a Penn Pass.
Back to DCLS...
During our 84-hour power outage a couple years back, we were very grateful for the free computer/i-net usage. There are a few terminals right up front, & there is usually no one there, which is great. They allow you to print in black & white for a small fee ($0.05/page last we used it), or color ($0.15/page). Aside from power outages, we have had a printer malfunction, or have run out of color toner, & have needed to rely on Newtown Library in a pinch, which is much appreciated.
We more recently went through a classic movie DVD binge, & found a lot of great titles in the DCLS catalog. We were able to easily order online from all over Delco, & pick up at Newtown Library when they arrived through inter-library loan.
The snag was, the first two times we picked up our movies, they were free. The librarians on duty (two different ones) both told us that Newtown doesn't charge for movies, therefore there was no fee if it came from elsewhere (even if a fee was charged at other libraries). My understanding has always been that this is a free library system, so naturally we hadn't expected a fee in the first place. Also, this was never disclosed online when we ordered the films, so if they are going to apply unexpected fees, it would be appropriate to disclose this when you order.
With all due respect, anyone who has NetFlix or Amazon Prime, etc. is able to access movies on their computer for free with subscription. The reason we would borrow library movies would be to view them on the larger TV instead. Some people are high-tech enough to wire their computer or device to their TV, but we try not to watch that much TV in the first place, so we have no such system. Therefore, the point of utilizing the library would be for the convenience of DVDs to view on our TV, & this would only be worth the week-long wait, the drive to/from the library, & the hustle to watch before return due date, if the movies were lent for free. If I am going to be charged for movies I can watch free online, AND I have a week-long wait, AND a drive to and from the library, AND have to hustle to watch before return due date, it is really not worth it.
On the 3rd movie trip to Newtown Library, we were asked to pay for the movies. I explained what I had been told twice in prior visits about no fee. The manager was there that time & was surprised to hear that. One of the women present, who had told me this "no fee" information, was honest about what she had said. Unfortunately, her manager didn't seem to appreciate the woman's honesty, & kind of gave her a look for it. I offered to just pay to be done with the argument, & the manager told me to "Just pay when you return them," as if that were some kind of gratuitous prize, instead of further inconvenience for me (I would rather pay & be done with it than have to remember tedious bs for a week). They require cash too, so add a trip to the ATM to your long list of hassles.
So the movie RENTAL business they have going on there is worthless to us, and, I would venture to say, anyone else with a computer. I would rather be asked to pay a yearly fee with my library card than have to nickel & dime with them over movies, & fuss with cash that I never use, each time.
