Asheville Buncombe Library

We love the Asheville Buncombe Library! And you will, too.

Wherever you end up moving in the area, you'll probably be well served by an Asheville Buncombe library. There are branches all over - some new, some old - and they have more to offer than books.

I've been to most of them. Probably the newest of the ones I've been to is the North Asheville branch. It's a lovely timberframe building on the left as you go north on Merrimon, before you get to Beaver Lake.

Many, if not all, of these facilities have public rooms that can be used for meetings at little or no cost. I've been to all kinds of meetings at different Asheville-Buncombe Library branches.

Some of the Asheville Buncombe Library branches function as community centers, too. The East Asheville branch has one adjacent to it. You can learn to contra dance there!

There are book clubs, knitters groups, special exhibits, hula hoop events, parties, family fun times, children's story hours, and more.

Once you have your membership card, you can use the number to download books, music and movies, too.

The downtown main library, Pack Memorial Library, is by far the largest and houses many helpful resources, including a great collection for nonprofit organizations. There are also works of art that can be checked out. This main library was recently closed for a number of months for major updating.

I think all the branches have public computers, but the downtown Asheville-Buncombe library has quite a few computers available for public use. If you need to check your email, that's one place you can go. It's located right on Haywood Street downtown, between the Civic Center and Malaprops Bookstore, on the same side of the street...

...And if you park at the fourth level of the Civic Center Garage - my favorite place to park - you can get to the library by walking to the door next to the elevator. This leads down a corridor directly to the library, or if you continue straight ahead, you'll come out in front of the library on Haywood Street - a shortcut!

If you enjoy watching movies on video and DVD, all the branches have collections that rotate among them. You can check out up to seven at a time for free for at least a week. Some are available for two weeks. They may not have the latest, but they have a lot of old classics, independent films, international and documentaries, and some new ones.

So, enjoy the library!

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