The former reference department has been converted into a pleasant reading room with volumes of fiction lining the walls. Walls have been freshly painted, new furnishings installed, and additional equipment provided. Automation has replaced the cumbersome card catalogs, and banks of computers enable patrons to access the collection more rapidly. Videotapes, compact discs and audiocassettes have supplemented books for loan. As an information center, the library has had to enlarge its collection to provide materials in media other than print.
Internet service is also available and anyone is free to surf the Net for business or pleasure.
The Osterhout Free Library has always served as a hub of information through the years. With an ever-expanding range of services, it will continue to do so in the upcoming millennium.