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With Lois Malango, Cheryl Maze, Debra Goldenberg, and Connie Georgiou Each event within the Random Review series features an in-depth exploration of a selected book by a reviewer with expertise on the topic or theme of that book. The Friends of the Corvallis-Benton County Public Library have coordinated this popular series for the past 30 years, with five Friends members taking turns as chair/co-chair: Connie Foulke, Lois Malango, Cheryl Maze, Debra Goldenberg, and Connie Georgiou. Library staff will be the program coordinators starting with this 2022-2023 season, and while the events will remain much the same, we wanted to celebrate the history of this amazing series by asking the former Random Review coordinators a few questions. Unfortunately, we were not able to speak with Connie Foulke, who passed away in 2009. We are so grateful she created this series that has left a lasting impact on our library and community. See the upcoming schedule and find out more about Random Review here, and enjoy the interview with previous coordinators below! What can you tell us about how Random Review began? Who began the series? What was the goal of the series? LOIS MALANGO: [Here’s the timeline:] 1992: Connie Foulke started Random Review 1998: Connie Foulke recruited me 2003: I recruited Cheryl Maze 2006: Cheryl recruited Debra Goldenberg 2009: Connie Georgiou joined 2022: 30 years of Random Review! Connie Foulke started Random Reviews after she retired from teaching English at Crescent Valley. After seeing the reading patterns of her students and their families, her goal was to involve the community of Corvallis and help develop the reading habits and tastes of the non-academic community. Connie was assigned to me as a student teacher at [Read more]

As of July 1, 2020, we are happy to announce that our library is now entirely fine free, meaning we no longer charge overdue fines. Overdue fines are a barrier to library use. In 2019, the American Library Association passed a Resolution on Monetary Library Fines as a Form of Social Inequity. The Urban Libraries Council has written about how eliminating library fees advance racial equity. Increasing access and equity are a core part of our mission and our strategic plan. This decision was reviewed and supported by the Library Advisory Board and City Council. We have waived all fines on patron’s accounts, allowing everyone to have a fresh start. Yes. Patron accounts will continue to be charged for any item checked out but not returned. Please contact Circulation staff if you have been charged a Lost fee. An item is considered Overdue for the first 29 days after the due date. On day 30 the item becomes “Lost” and the system automatically charges the patron the cost of replacing the item. Usually even one “Lost” charge is enough to block a patron from checking out more materials until the issue is resolved. Overdue fines accounted for less than 1% of library revenues. In putting together the budget for the 2020-2021 fiscal year, we were able to put together a balanced budget without the revenues from overdue fines. This budget was adopted by Corvallis City Council. If you are interested in supporting the library financially, a donation to the Friends of the Library or Library Foundation is always appreciated.

We offer delivery service within our service district! If you are interested in starting Delivery service all you need to do is choose the Delivery branch as your pick up location, when placing a hold on an item. If you have questions about Delivery -- please see below for some answers. Or feel free to contact us at 541-766-6448 or 541-766-6793. How it works: After you sign up for Delivery, when placing holds, select Delivery as the holds pickup location. When your holds arrive, they will be on the Corvallis holds shelves for a few days while they wait to be delivered. You are always welcome to pick up your holds in person, but if you do not pick them up within a few days, we will deliver them. If you are an Alsea, Monroe or Philomath patron and would like to pick up your holds at your home branch instead of using Delivery, please contact your Branch Library. Anyone who has a library card and resides or works in the library’s service district, which includes most of Benton County. If you have any questions about your eligibility for delivery, please call us and inquire: 541-766-6448 or 541-766-6793. It depends on the overall number of deliveries and when individual holds arrive! Generally, you can expect one delivery per week. You do not need to be home. Delivery drivers will knock on your door and leave your holds nearby, unless you leave other instructions. We do not send delivery notifications at this time, but you can expect a delivery within 3-7 days of the items being checked out on your account. Delivery is a free service. This [Read more]