Public libraries really do three major things: they collect recreational and informational materials, house them in an arrangement that is supposed to be easy for the public to figure out, and organize them so they can be retrieved when needed.
Boulder City Library currently owns about 87,800 books and other cataloged items. This past year, the Library added almost 4,500 new items and withdrew a little over 1,000 items from the collection. The net growth of the Library’s collection was 3,442 cataloged items. Cataloged items are books, phonograph records, cassette and CD audiobooks, videos and DVDs and microfilm. The Library also owns thousands of uncataloged paperback books, current and back-issue magazines, maps and government documents. The breakdown between materials intended for adults and children is about 57,000 adult items and about 30,800 items for children and young people. The Library subscribes to 269 magazine and newspaper titles, keeps most magazine titles back for 5 years, has the Boulder City News on microfilm from the 1930’s to the present and an almost 40 year backfile of Las Vegas Review-Journal on microfilm.
The Library contracts with the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District for online computer services for library circulation and online catalog. Our library catalog is combined with that of LV-CCLD; Boulder City library patrons can use their library cards in Las Vegas and Las Vegas library patrons can use their library cards here. Virtually any item a Boulder City Library patron wants can be requested from one or another of the Las Vegas libraries, if Boulder City Library doesn’t own it, or it’s checked out.
The Library lends materials for three weeks and charges a ten cent a day overdue fine per item for items belonging to Boulder City Library, if library materials are brought back late (Las Vegas’ items are late-charged at their rate of 25c/day).
Using the Library can save you a pile of money. Adult nonfiction books are now running from $25 - $40 and more at the bookstore and novels from $22 - $25 each. Every time you borrow a book from the Library, that’s a book you didn’t have to buy! You can save yourself the cost of a subscription to the Wall Street Journal by reading it here in the Library. The last time I checked, the subscription cost $325. If you use Value Line at the Library you’ll save the $249 subscription cost. Last year people borrowed over 143,000 items from the Library and saved a bundle!
If you don’t have a computer at home or your home computer toasted itself, the Library has computers for the public to use. Last year, the Library did over 14,000 one-hour computer sign-ups.
There are lots of things to see and do at the Library! See you there and “so long” till next month.
Contact the Boulder City Library at www.bclibrary.org
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