Wide reach, drive-thru help Washington County Public Library thrive
Photo by Michael Kelly Carole Courtwright checks out books for, from left, Shawna Brooks, Ethan Hall and Melissa Styles at the Washington County Public Library in Marietta.
Photo by Michael Kelly Carole Courtwright helps load the daily shipment of interbranch books that are sent between the Washington County Public Library and other public libraries in the state.
Photo by Michael Kelly Richard and Susan Feil look through movies available at the Washington County Public Library main branch on Fifth Street. Above them on the wall hangs a picture donated to the library that their daughter, who is now in the Naval Academy, helped paint while at Marietta High School.
Photo by Michael Kelly Rachel Marshall helps her daughters, Kinley, 3, and Zaylee, 2, hunt for a movie in the children’s section of the Washington county Public Library.
Photo by Michael Kelly The Washington County Public Library is a century old this year, one of many Carnegie Libraries built around the country by the steel magnate’s foundation but one of the few still operating as a library.
Photo by Michael Kelly Biographies stand on the shelves, inviting readers, on the mezzanine floor at the main branch of the Washington County Public Library on Fifth Street in Marietta. The library building is 100 years old this year.
Photo by Michael Kelly Carole Courtwright checks out books for, from left, Shawna Brooks, Ethan Hall and Melissa Styles at the Washington County Public Library in Marietta.
Photo by Michael Kelly Carole Courtwright helps load the daily shipment of interbranch books that are sent between the Washington County Public Library and other public libraries in the state.
Photo by Michael Kelly Richard and Susan Feil look through movies available at the Washington County Public Library main branch on Fifth Street. Above them on the wall hangs a picture donated to the library that their daughter, who is now in the Naval Academy, helped paint while at Marietta High School.
Photo by Michael Kelly Rachel Marshall helps her daughters, Kinley, 3, and Zaylee, 2, hunt for a movie in the children’s section of the Washington county Public Library.
Photo by Michael Kelly The Washington County Public Library is a century old this year, one of many Carnegie Libraries built around the country by the steel magnate’s foundation but one of the few still operating as a library.
Photo by Michael Kelly Biographies stand on the shelves, inviting readers, on the mezzanine floor at the main branch of the Washington County Public Library on Fifth Street in Marietta. The library building is 100 years old this year.
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MARIETTA -- Built a century ago in Marietta, the Washington County Public Library is doing well.
Circulation of print materials is up 9 percent from 2016 to 2017, digital material circulation has gone up 12.3 percent, use of the computers available at the library's six branches increased 3.6 percent.
The Lafayette Plaza is about to mark its first anniversary, and the number of bookmobile stops is 46 on a three-week rotating schedule.
Library director Justin Mayo -- who thought he wanted to study law before he got hooked on books -- oversees 63 full- and part-time employees and a $2.8 million annual budget. He nearly doesn't know where to start when asked how the library is doing.
"We're right on par with the bigger metro libraries," he said.
In addition to books, movies on DVD and music on CD, the library offers e-book downloads, audio book files that you can play on your phone, online magazines, computers and free wi-fi access. On a tour of the library, Mayo pulls an object wrapped in a clear bag out of a bin -- soon to be offered, a hand-held computer that will analyze your car by being plugged in under the dashboard and displaying the codes that made the check-engine light come on.
People over the decades have developed the expectation that libraries offer a generous range of periodicals. Now library card holders can read them online.
"Have you seen Flipster?" Mayo asks. "You want to get a library card."
And cards can be had online by filling out a form.
Susan and Richard Feil live within walking distance of the big building, which is a century old this year, originally one of the Carnegie libraries and now one of the few still operating as a library. They come by several days a week to use the computers -- they don't have internet at home -- to check e-mail and Facebook posts from their family, and sometimes check out materials.
"We pick up books and movies, read magazines, a little bit of everything," Susan said and picks out a DVD of "The Big Sick. "
Richard said his taste runs more to documentaries, and he spends a lot of time at another nearby library branch, the Local History and Genealogy Archives. The couple traced the history of their house and found it was built in 1884.
They also use the library's wi-fi system to tune into livestreamed college soccer games -- their grandson plays for Centerville College in Danville, Ky.
A massive picture hanging on the south side of the main floor, they said, is an extra connection for them -- their daughter, now in the Naval Academy, helped paint it when she was at Marietta High School.
Mayo said one problem with the old building -- the county considered rebuilding a few years ago but decided to keep it-- is access. It's built atop a burial mound made by the indigenous people and has two long flights of stairs that are challenging for anyone with age or disabilities working against them.
That problem was solved in part by the newest addition to the library's infrastructure: The Lafayette Plaza branch on Pike Street.
"It is not your ordinary library," Mayo said.
The Lafayette Plaza branch, formerly a bank, is about the size and configuration of a fast-food restaurant, complete with a drive-up window. Patrons can come in and browse the relatively small collection there or request any book in the library system and come pick it up at the window. Parking is generous and the approach to the door is flat and easy.
Rich Evans, 55, of Marietta, had knee surgery last year just about the time the Lafayette Plaza branch opened, and that meant he could still access library services. The steps at the main branch would have kept him out, he said.
The branch is close to home for him, and he borrows CDs, uses the computers and donates magazines.
"Sometimes I just stop in to say hi," he said. "The staff here is great."
Melissa Reed, who has worked in the Washington County system for 20 years and moved to the Lafayette branch because it was closer to home and the schedule fit her parenting needs, said traffic was slow at first but it's picking up.
"Word is getting around," she said. Most patrons live in the southeastern part of town, and some find it handy to get to off I-77.
The branch has several computer stations, free wi-fi and a color printer.
Jo Goodwill, 37, of Marietta, was one of three patrons using computers on a recent afternoon.
"I live in the neighborhood and come in to check my e-mail, do internet stuff. I read books online and in print, but it seems like I don't have the time to read that I used to," she said.
In a county this size, Mayo said, there is a lot of ground to cover. The library has branches in Barlow, Beverly, Belpre and New Matamoras, which are more than libraries, he said -- they serve as community centers.
"In Barlow and New Mat, there's no place else to gather," he said.
The bookmobile service is also covering an increasing number of stops.
"We try to meet the needs of the community, and this community really does support the library," he said.
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Washington County Public Library Branches
* Main Branch, 615 Fifth St., Marietta, 740-373-1057
* Barlow, 45 White Oak Professional Center, 740-678-0103
* Belpre, 2012 Washington Blvd., 740-423-8381
* Beverly, 300 McIntosh St., 740-984-4060
* Lafayette Plaza, 478 Pike St., Marietta, 740-236-4201
* Local History and Genealogy Archives, 418 Washington St., 740-376-2172
* New Matamoras, 100 Merchant St., 740-865-3386