Letter from the Library Director
May 14, 2024
Dear Community Members,
We've received questions from our patrons about accessing library materials, and I want to address these concerns. Our library serves patrons from nearby municipalities, including residents from Berks, Chester, and Lancaster counties. We are part of the Berks County Public Libraries System, which provides additional resources and support services to our patrons.
In 2020, the Berks County Public Libraries Advisory Board approved a revision to the countywide Borrowing Policy to expand borrowing access to physical materials at all member libraries, including ours. With this change, any Pennsylvania resident would have access to books, DVDs, and other physical items from our collection. However, the policy also stated that access to the shared countywide digital collection would only be available to individuals who live, work, or attend school in Berks County.
This change in digital borrowing access was made to reduce wait times for digital materials for Berks County residents. Provisions were included to extend digital borrowing services to those who work or attend school within the county.
The revised policy went into effect January 1, 2020, but was not applied until recently. As our library serves patrons from Chester and Lancaster counties in addition to Berks, we understand that some of you have experienced recent changes to your borrowing ability.
Our library will continue to serve patrons from neighboring counties by providing access to our physical collection of materials, computer /Internet connection, and participation in all library programming. The ability to borrow electronic media and connect with digital databases will be available to patrons who live, work, or attend school in Berks County as noted in the Berks County Public Libraries Borrowing Policy.
If you are affected by the policy changes but belong to one of the aforementioned categories, I encourage you to reach out to library staff with work or school verification so that we may reinstate your borrowing access. Call us at 610-286-1022 or email smolibrary@gmail.com.
On behalf of the library, I apologize for any confusion related to this recent policy enforcement.
Sincerely,
Carol Donahue
Director, Village Library of Morgantown
