Bellingham Public Library

We really enjoy this library as a family. From the kid-​friendly section (that’s segregated from the rest of the library to encourage kids to be kids without somebody looking down their nose) to the weekly movies in the summer to the free bin, it’s a great place to spend a long Saturday.
The meeting rooms are nice and spacious and host all sorts of activities, and the back lawn is a great place to run and burn off some energy when the 4 walls of the library seem too much for your little one.
Highly recommend and adore.

I love audio books. The library has a good selection of books on CD. They no longer have playaways which I loved for the convenience of placing the small player in your pocked and listening to your book with headphones wherever you went. I do like the «free magazine» bins in the basement. Yesterday I picked up recent editions of Smithsonian, Readers Digest, and some home décor magazines. After I read them I will take them back to the library.

One if the best children’s libraries I have seen. The children’s story and singing time was fantastic. It was free. It was better than most of the pay for private music classes I have been to!

Services are good, location is great and centrally located across the street from other major public institutions like City Hall, County Courthouse & the museum. I wish there were more seating areas so patrons could browse books and sit down to read a little bit. Maybe more seating areas leads to loitering. Maybe there are seating areas in the basement or on the 2^nd floor that I just haven’t found yet.
Regardless…this library has plenty of books, plenty of staff, wifi, online holds & email notifications, plenty of computers and a nice lawn behind it, so I’m a fan.

Decent library. Does very well given their budget (or lack of). Has good book sales. Has a «free book» section downstairs with donations and library discards. Grounds are nice. Kids area looks nice and is not mixed in with adults.
Pros + and Cons —
Books and other materials:
+ Decent selection and quantity for this size library.
+ Tend to be in good shape.
+ They mark various genres on the spine for easy spotting (see below).
— Their discard practices are a bit poor. I’ve pick up the middle book of a series (ie #3 of 7) in their free book section, while the rest of the series is still on the shelves (yes the only copy of #3, in fair condition). If you want to read the series? Too bad.
— The genre marking has been getting hit or miss last few years (budget I suppose). Makes it hard to spot books at a glance.
— New book section is getting smaller and smaller, especially the non «mainstream» books.
Public computers (I don’t use them) and WIFI:
+ Has quite a few and WIFI too.
+ The scheduling system and printing seems to work well (as far as I can tell, folks look happy).
+ Seem to be decent level of computers, I see people doing fairly heavy stuff on them.
+ I haven’t noticed much in the way of «questionable» things on the screens. It may be they were smart enough to put a few back by the «boring» section and the «privacy» seeking types are back there. Not a big deal to me, but good for parents.
— They’re always busy. Since I don’t use them, not a big deal for me. (and I would just as soon they bought more books instead of CPUs)
Building, grounds, layout:
+ I like the building. Decent light, floor space, enough windows, not too many windows.
+ Layout is very good. Staff area in the middle. Almost anywhere can be reached easily.
+ Grounds have decent landscaping, but don’t need a great deal of care.
— Building is older, I suspect harder to maintain.
— Some of the nooks and crannies are both a bit narrow and (though the staff does a good job of «patrolling») attract the occasional nap seeking individual. Some are (I’m pretty sure) college students some are street folks.
— The lawn gets pretty liquid in winter. Not mud, not flooded, but no good to walk on.
Area:
— /​+ Being downtown they do have a bit of a problem with folks who are not exactly what you want around the library. They have stayed on top of the problem (kudos) and it isn’t that bad. Once again, having the kids section away from possible problem areas (main entrance, adult computers, etc.) is a definite plus for parents.
Staff:
+/​-​Seem to come in two flavors:
Wise, calm, knowledgeable, mostly, but not all, older.
Clueless, a bit nervous about dealing with folks (me for example) — I tend to think of them as fast food staff crossed with rabbits.
I’d think perhaps I was scary, but if a 5 foot 45ish year old female can answer one question with a smile on one side of the library; the 20 something pair (1 male, 1 female) should not look like they want me tased answering a question on the other side 10 minutes later. I’ve seen it with other folks too, fairly often. I’m not sure what happens at the library, but Bellingham is not the south Bronx, so get a grip.
All in all a good library. And a decent library system.

IANAB, or, for those who aren’t up on recently-​invented acronyms — I am not a bibliophile. Therefore, I ask this review be taken with a grain of bibliophilic salt.
The library is easy to find, and accessible. The facility is older, though, well-​maintained. The restrooms, on the lowest floor, are clean, and utilize hand dryers, in place of paper towels. Kudos, Bellingham Public Library. :)
The collection’s size is considerable, and diverse. The collection won’t have every book you’ve ever wanted, but, more often than not, I find what I want.
The computers are newer, and, from what I’ve observed, serve a great number of patrons.
The check-​out period is a couple weeks, which I appreciate.
I don’t appreciate being fined $ 0.50, for not picking up holds, before the expiration date.
The long and short — the library’s worth utilizing as a resource, and I recommend a visit.

I love public libraries. In a world of kindle, I love that I can still go and use the good old dewey decimal system to find a book.
Libraries have a certain good old book smell to them, they have a great mix of people and helpful staff.
The Bellingham Library is great. It is everything a library should be.

The Bellingham Public Library is a gem. Free DVD rentals, free public Internet, free CDs, and all the free books you could want to check out! It’s unfortunate that budget cuts have forced them to reduce hours (they are now closed on Sundays), because this place is always packed.