Services
Among PLCH's collections are books, audiobooks, downloadable digital audio and e-books, magazines, newspapers, CDs, videos, DVDs, CD-ROMs, sheet music, slides, microfilm, microfiche, and Braille. It offers free internet and free Wi-Fi, in addition to over 15,500 free programs each year for patrons. In 2005, its staff answered 1.7 million reference questions by phone, fax, e-mail, post, and in person. The Main Branch is a selective federal depository library.
The library's website provides access to the library catalog, the KnowItNow24x7 online chat reference service, nearly 150 commercial research databases, bestseller lists, staff reading recommendations, and other information resources.
Special needs services provided by PLCH include "talking books" and Braille to the visually impaired, blind, and physically handicapped in 33 Ohio counties; its outreach services include books-by-mail, foreign language materials and bilingual programs, and passport application; its literacy services include GED classes and GED practice testing.
PLCH holds one of the largest genealogical collections in the United States. Online postings include Cincinnati and Norwood, Ohio city directories, Sanborn maps, and yearbooks as well as books relating to local history.
Read more about this topic: Public Library Of Cincinnati And Hamilton County
Famous quotes containing the word services:
“True love ennobles and dignifies the material labors of life; and homely services rendered for love’s sake have in them a poetry that is immortal.”
—Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811–1896)
“The community and family networks which helped sustain earlier generations have become scarcer for growing numbers of young parents. Those who lack links to these traditional sources of support are hard-pressed to find other resources, given the emphasis in our society on providing treatment services, rather than preventive services and support for health maintenance and well-being.”
—Bernice Weissbourd (20th century)
“Those services which the community will most readily pay for, it is most disagreeable to render.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)