The Alachua County Library District http://www.aclib.us/ provides public library

Public library

A public library is a library that is accessible by the public and is generally funded from public sources and operated by civil servants. There are five fundamental characteristics shared by public libraries...

 service to more than 230,000 people in the city of Gainesville, Florida

Gainesville, Florida

Gainesville is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Alachua County, Florida, United States as well as the principal city of the Gainesville, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area . The preliminary 2010 Census population count for Gainesville is 124,354. Gainesville is home to the sixth...

 and also serves eight municipalities of Alachua County

Alachua County, Florida

Alachua County is a county located in the U.S. state of Florida. The U.S. Census Bureau 2006 estimate for the county is 227,120. Its county seat is Gainesville, Florida. Alachua County is the home of the University of Florida and is also known for its diverse culture, local music, and artisans...

. It is made up of a Headquarters Library http://www.aclib.us/headquarters located in downtown Gainesville, nine branch locations http://www.aclib.us/locations distributed throughout the county and two bookmobiles. http://www.aclib.us/locations/bookmobiles-branch

The Alachua County Library District is an independent special taxing district and the sole provider of public library services in Alachua County.

Library cards

A library card allows the possessor to borrow media from any library in the system. There are books, DVD

DVD

A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....

s, and CDs.

A user may search a wide variety of online

ONLINE

ONLINE is a magazine for information systems first published in 1977. The publisher Online, Inc. was founded the year before. In May 2002, Information Today, Inc. acquired the assets of Online Inc....

 databases; check out and download e-books and e-audio books; review or update their library account and renew items they have checked out; place holds on library materials and request delivery to a specific branch; suggest that the library purchase a title not in the collection; and reserve time on a Library Internet computer

Computer

A computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...

.

Library cards are free to any resident of the State of Florida. Out of state residents may get a card by paying a fee. A potential user must register in person with proper identification and proof of residency.http://www.aclib.us/my-account/get-a-library-card

Library collection

A wide range of materials is available in a variety of formats for all ages and abilities. Electronic databases provide online access to a collection of helpful resources. Access to materials is offered equally to all users, regardless of age.

Checkouts and returns

The Library District does not have late fees. Five or more overdue items or $50.00 worth of overdue materials will block borrowing privileges until the items are returned.

Library support

The Library District is supported by the Friends of the Library http://folacld.org/ with a bi-annual book sale, the largest of its kind in the state of Florida and the ACLD Foundation http://www.acldfound.org/, which raises money through Katherine’s Tree and author galas.