What People Say about the Library

By Roz Giuditta, Marketing and Outreach Manager

If you were to meet me at a street fair, and I asked you to give me a quote about how you use the library, or what the library means to you, you might suddenly become tongue-tied. But if we were just talking about the library at a street fair or in the library’s gallery, you’d probably tell me some pretty great things without any prompting.

Like the young mothers who always say, “We’re at the library all the time! We love the library!” They’re the moms who’ve just had a blast at Friday Funtime watching their babies and toddlers tumble about on the mats or building their own creations with colorful blocks. I recently spoke to a father who mentioned that even on vacation, he takes classes through LinkedIn Learning, the library’s online learning platform. Normally access to LinkedIn Learning is $39.99 a month, but it’s free with a Westfield library card.

Another dad, who said he moved to Westfield 10 years ago, was surprised and pleased to learn he could listen to free music through the library’s digital services Freegal and hoopla. People who come to craft classes for adults say how much fun it is to learn something new and walk away with a piece of jewelry they’ve created themselves, or a holiday platter they’ve painted on their own.

And, of course, the books! Watching people check out and return books all day long, I know that physical books are still exceedingly popular. Of the more than 243,000 items that were borrowed in 2022, almost 88% of the 184,000 books borrowed were print books. Plus, now that the library has joined the Libraries of Middlesex Automation Consortium (LMxAC), patrons are thrilled to find they can easily obtain books from 45 area libraries.

Stop by the library at 550 East Broad Street, or come to the Festifall Street Fair on Sunday, September 10 in downtown Westfield, and we’ll talk about the library!