The library system

Honestly, the thing I get the most use out of in this town is by far the library. From the time my son was an infant, they had activities for us to do on a regular basis--FREE OF CHARGE!

As my son grew, the activities changed... but there were always activities. He's now 5-1/2 years old and it continues. We've had foster children of varying ages (up to 12) and they have also found lots of great things to do at the library. One of them came home with a little clock made out of an old CD.

I can search the entire library system's collection online and if it's in ONE of the branches, I can place a hold on the book and have it sent to my local branch (which will call my house when it's ready to pick up, and will tell me how long they'll hold it for). I can't even begin to tell you how much money that has saved me (and taken away from Amazon and Borders :D ). I can renew books online, too. As I understand it, you can renew over the phone, too--but I'm a computer person.

The North Plainfield branch has the children's library in the basement, but it's actually very bright as they have windows to the outside. There are some toys there to occupy kids while you seek out books that you might want to read to them at home (or find books for yourself--since there's a parent section down in the children's library to help you help your children in a variety of ways). They also have DVDs and books with CDs and these other little storybox things that I haven't delved into yet--but you listen to the story.

They run a reading program over the summer with prizes--for all ages. They also run reading help programs for the younger grades during the school year. This spring they also had some caterpillars turn into butterflies--and the lifecycle was on display in the children's library. It was great to follow that week by week.

And for the adults/young adults, there's a book club and so many magazines to peruse (and plenty of room to sit and review them). DVDs, CDs... lots of great stuff. And there is access to a variety of online databases--many that can be used from your home by entering your library ID number. Genealogy, auto reference, science articles, etc. Currently there are 13 different categories of databases available. If you go to the "General Reference & World News" you'll find a free online program for learning another language called Mango--which you can also use online.

Both sections of the library offer old books or magazines to buy for close to nothing (near the entrance to either of them) and there are plenty of free magazines, sheets and flyers available to learn more about what the area has to offer--be it businesses, classes, gov't resources, you name it.

Oh... and the Woodland Room (upstairs) is a gem for local history and genealogy research. It's also a nice, quiet spot for small meetings or tutoring.

The adult AND children's libraries have computers connected to the internet. Children's library cards have to have a special mark on them that is checked when they sign up for use to ensure there is a parental permission slip on file saying they're allowed to use the internet. But there are also terminals without internet access that allow you to browse the library system holdings and calendars.

Last, we are free to attend events at other branches of the library system. I noticed that some of the more popular programs require you to enter your library card number to register, but it's a rare occasion. :)