Palm Beach County Library System
The Palm Beach County Library System is the public library system of Palm Beach County, Florida. Its headquarters, the Main Library, is located in an unincorporated area near West Palm Beach, the county seat. The system was established in 1967 and serves Palm Beach County through the Main Library and 17 branch libraries. Its first library branch opened in Tequesta on September 25, 1969 and its first bookmobile five days later. Unlike neighboring Broward and Miami-Dade counties, where most municipalities have joined their county's library system, most municipalities in Palm Beach County continue  to operate their own city libraries, leading the county system to focus on the more suburban communities. Instead, a cooperative system model is in place to allow interoperation between county and municipal libraries. Services. The Palm Beach County Library System provides a number of services to area patrons. The Adult Literacy Project provides those learning English as a second language with free, informal conversation sessions. Project members encourage community participation in the program, including educational materials, sponsors, tutors, student workshops and cultural events. The Palm Beach County Library System provides on- and off-site story time service to local child  centers, as well as workshops to assist teachers in storytelling techniques. The libraries within the Palm Beach County Library System also offer a social gathering venue and educational and craft programs for children and teens of various ages. These programs provide opportunities for individuals to discover new interests in a safe environment. These activities cover a large array of subjects such as Dungeons and Dragons, Teen Trivia, Anime classes and discussion groups, Teen Gaming, Poetry, and Harry Potter classes. The education-based programs are also meant to offer new skills, tutoring opportunities and teach safety skills. They also offer many  online and technology-related classes for all ages. All the classes are focused towards specific age groups. Adults are also offered an array of programs for socializing, education, and entertaining. These classes focus on subjects such as practice of the English language, Stress, Meditation, Yoga, crocheting, poetry, music, and movie viewing. Some of these classes are focused on professional tasks such as taxes, résumé updates, new computer skills, online learning, and Medicare. Each class is designed to meet the needs of local citizens within their area. Palm Beach County is large and there are many libraries with different local demographics , so each one chooses the necessary programs to meet their patrons' needs. The library also offers Books-By-Mail, Deaf Resource Center, and Talking Books services to those in special populations. Book Club in a Bag is another service offered which facilitates the selection of titles (English and Spanish) for local book club meetings. Multiple copies of the title and discussion notes are included, making it simple to start and maintain a book club. The Palm Beach County Library System also will help suggest reading materials. Through their "What to read next" page, a patron can access a variety of  different websites and blogs, such as Novelist Plus, Library Reads, LibraryThing, and Goodreads, which will supply them with the information needed to find their new book. The library system also offers a Speakers Bureau, where library staff will visit civic organizations, homeowners associations, and volunteer groups to give presentations on the services and opportunities available at the library. Each library offers many different forms of media such as books, comics, DVDs, CDs, magazines, newspapers, digital eBooks, audiobooks and many other options. Physical media items can be requested from neighboring libraries and then delivered at a later date for pick up . Electronic and digital items can be located and downloaded from associated programs such as CloudLibrary and hoopla. These library items have the ability to be downloaded onto the patron's personal electronic devices for a preset amount of time. When their download has expired it will delete from their device. Branches. The library system has seventeen branches located throughout Palm Beach County: The Palm Beach County Bookmobile offers a selection of over 3,000 books, including fiction, nonfiction, and regular and large-print. Bookmobile staff help patrons find books and with research questions. The Bookmobile stops at various Palm Beach County  locations each week. Funding. The Palm Beach County Library System takes a large percentage of its funding, roughly 85.2% as of 2016, from "ad valorem" property taxes collected by the county. This renders it less dependent upon outside grants (2.3% of funding as of 2016). It also receives support from a Friends of the Library organization, founded by Ingrid A. Eckler. An annual scholarship named after Eckler assists county library staff pursuing education in Library and Information Science. The Palm Beach County Library Association is a professional organization that advocates for and supports libraries, librarians, and their advancement. It hosts  a variety of events and fundraisers and supports the professional development of librarians and library science students with Professional Development Awards. Membership is not exclusive; it is open to students, librarians at all levels and areas, and supporters of libraries.