By DALE BRAKHAGE / Community Columnist

Indian Springs households recently opened their mail to find a 2012-2013 North Shelby Library Annual District Fee.

The fee can vary, but ours was $15. Fifteen dollars! For what?

Some may not be aware of the incredible value that fee represents, so here are some examples.

Do you enjoy movies? Our library lends DVD movies: Classics, new releases, TV series collections, documentaries, exercise videos, music and more.

You can check out 10 movies a week, for free, and you can keep them seven days.

Compare that to renting a movie from a commercial movie dispenser.

You pay them about a dollar a day.

Add it up: 10 movies in one day would cost $10. Keep them 7 days and you have to pay $70!

That makes the $15 library fee a great value, but movies are only the beginning. Remember the books!

The library’s beautiful two-story building is filled with thousands of interesting books.

You pay nothing to borrow a book for 14 days.

If you bought that same book at a bookstore, you would pay $10 to $40.

No time to read? The library also offers books you can listen to in your car as you commute to work.

The North Shelby Library has a huge selection of books on tape and compact discs.

The friendly library staff, led by Director Katie Guerin, are always ready to help you find what you need.

They also made our library first in Alabama to offer many online services.

You don’t have to drive to our library to use it.

Without leaving home, you can download books and music from the library’s website to your electronic device.

Visit the library’s website to learn more about these services. It is Northshelbylibrary.org.

The library also offers online learning classes, fun events for children, programs for adults, public computers and much more.

They even offer free notary services (call 439-5555 for an appointment.)

The more you learn about our library, you more you see what a great value it is for each of us. Check it out!

 

Dale Brakhage writes a weekly column about Indian Springs and its residents. You can reach him at dale@dalebrakhage.com.