Chili Public Library

I remember I used to love going to the Chili library as a kid. At least once a week I would beg to go and get new books or sit in the library and read for a while… or be read to. That lasted until I moved out of the area for a while and spent some time in North Carolina and Tennessee where I had access to university libraries that would let you check books out if you made a small annual fee (for those who didn’t attend the universities). I guess I just got too used to having access to libraries that were three or four levels and had pretty much anything you could imagine whether you were looking for research material or just looking to read for fun. Since I recently moved back to the area (within fairly reasonable walking distance to the library) and started going back to the Chili library on a fairly regular basis again… there selection just seems like a major let down in comparison to other libraries that I’ve been to even of the same size or smaller and a lot of times I can spend and hour or two browsing the shelves and just not find anything at all that really interests me and I can hardly ever find anything specific that I’m looking for (though admittedly I don’t think a couple of my favorites genres are popular enough to be found on many library shelves… at least not in smaller libraries). Often times I feel like I’m just better off going to Barnes and Noble and buying a couple of books (which I do typically end up donating to the library once I finish them). They are also very lacking in LGBT themed books, this despite the fact that I. have donated a number of such books. Interestingly enough looking those books I’ve donated up on their website tells me that they don’t have them… not that they are checked out or anything like that, but rather that they simply do not have them… yet other non LGBT titles, including lesser known indie titles that are difficult to find, that I’ve donated are listed as available or at least checked out. Maybe I’m reading too much into it, but it just seems a little odd to me and it’s also very irritating for somebody who enjoys a lot of lesfic. The only other issue I have is that people like to sit at the computers munching on chips and other noisy foods… which can be irritating if you’re actually trying to sit and read or study or whatever… and I also have a pet peeve about food, especially food that tends to be greasy or oily and creates a lot of crumbs being anywhere near books. You’d think there would be a rule against food (at least some foods if not all) being in the library… if there is, they don’t seem to care to enforce it. Other than that the staff is typically pretty friendly and helpful.

While not it’s own building, the Chili Library compensates it’s small size with a large selection of items. They have a large selection of new and old fiction and nonfiction books and even have something of an «express loan» where you can loan out brand new books but they are only good for a few days, I’d recommend those to serious readers or fast readers.
Their DVD selection isn’t that large compared to other libraries in the area but it’s a nice size and they do get new materials every now and then. The CD selection is rather large and they have music ranging from Country, Pop, Rock, Soundtrack, and Holiday. I do question on how their CD’s are sorted though, I’ve found many jazz CD’s filed under the POP/​ROCK category much to often. Did I mention there’s an Oldies section?
The children’s area is the main highlight of the library. It’s a great size and has newer devices (Apple products) that haven’t even been broken yet. The selection of children’s books will keep your kids occupied for days, I can’t imagine having to count out how many kids books their actually are.
Nice library though, it’s clean and fairly quiet and the staff are polite and courteous. However, it just seems to lack a sot of energy that some of the other libraries in the area have. It just doesn’t have enough going for it to make me a regular visitor, more of just a monthly one.

This is a great local library. It’s a little inconspicuous as Chili lacks a good urban center. However, this library has a great children’s room, complete with a train table and a couple of ipads with games for the youngsters.