The Westfield Memorial Library is located at 550 East Broad Street, in Westfield, New Jersey

Westfield, New Jersey

Westfield is a town in Union County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the town population was 30,316. The old village area, now the downtown district, was settled in 1720 as part of the Elizabethtown Tract....

. It is the only public library

Public library

A public library is a library that is accessible by the public and is generally funded from public sources and operated by civil servants. There are five fundamental characteristics shared by public libraries...

 in Westfield.

Renovations

This library

Library

In a traditional sense, a library is a large collection of books, and can refer to the place in which the collection is housed. Today, the term can refer to any collection, including digital sources, resources, and services...

 was renovated two years ago to become more modern, comfortable, and technologically savvy. It features a comfortable seating lounge on the first floor with two large flat screen tvs, and a DVD section with rentals for only 1 dollar a day. The first floor has a large children's section and also an area just for teens. The second floor is aimed more for adults. There is a magazine section, with a comfortable seating area, there are many computers that can be used by anyone, and there are tables and chairs set up for quiet studying. The complete non-fiction

Non-fiction

Non-fiction is the form of any narrative, account, or other communicative work whose assertions and descriptions are understood to be fact...

 section is on the second floor, as well as newspaper

Newspaper

A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...

s and yearbook

Yearbook

A yearbook, also known as an annual, is a book to record, highlight, and commemorate the past year of a school or a book published annually. Virtually all American, Australian and Canadian high schools, most colleges and many elementary and middle schools publish yearbooks...

s from past years in Westfield. There are also community rooms set up which are available for a small fee for groups who may need a space. There are computers set up frequently around the campus, as well as free wireless internet.

Features of the Website

The Westfield Memorial Library website has a lot of features that would be helpful to a reader. Some features that may be helpful to someone that can't make it to the library would be they can talk to a librarian live on the web, via a chatroom, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. There are audio and e-books available to be downloaded, as well as free music to download. There is a link on the website to connect the unemployed to career resources, and there is also a Flickr

Flickr

Flickr is an image hosting and video hosting website, web services suite, and online community that was created by Ludicorp in 2004 and acquired by Yahoo! in 2005. In addition to being a popular website for users to share and embed personal photographs, the service is widely used by bloggers to...

 photostream with pictures from past events at the library. On the website you can also renew books quickly and easily, and view the schedule of events at the library. There is an online newsletter, which shows upcoming events, meetings, movies playing, bands performing, and library hours. There is a link to click on which will help you borrow books from other libraries if the Westfield Memorial Library does not have it. A person can access this special program if they have a library card.

Museum Pass

At this library, they offer something called a "museum pass". Museum pass is a program that allows members to have access to over 17 local museums for no cost to them. To obtain a museum pass, you just need to be a member of the Westfield Memorial Library, and you may borrow the passes. Some of the museums that are available to go to are the American Folk Art Museum

American Folk Art Museum

The American Folk Art Museum is a museum devoted to American folk art, as well as the work of international self-taught artists. It has branches at 45 West 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues, in Midtown Manhattan .In May 2011 the Museum of Modern Art bought its 53rd Street location...

, the American Museum of Natural History

American Museum of Natural History

The American Museum of Natural History , located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, United States, is one of the largest and most celebrated museums in the world...

, and the Children's Museum of Manhattan

Children's Museum of Manhattan

The Children’s Museum of Manhattan was founded by Bette Korman, under the name GAME , in 1973. With New York City in a deep fiscal crisis, and school art, music, and cultural programs eliminated, a loosely organized, group of artists and educators set up a basement storefront to serve Harlem and...

.

Funding

The Westfield Memorial Library also has a board of people called the "Friends of the Westfield Memorial Library" who spread news about the library, and fund money for the library. The "friends" were founded over 30 years ago, and since then, have donated more than 850,000 dollars to the library. The money is raised through the annual booksale that is held at the library, and from the generous donations of the members of the board and the library itself.

External links

• http://www.nj.com/events/index.ssf/venue/westfield-memorial-library/160