The Delaware County District Library will officially extend its operating hours beginning Monday, September 15. We hope you’ll join us at your favorite DCDL location for a special Grand Re-Opening Celebration!

“With the passage of the Library’s levy, our first promise fulfilled to the community is to extend our operating hours,” said DCDL Director Bryan Howard. “The community overwhelmingly let us know they wanted more hours across the board at all Library locations. We are extraordinarily pleased to deliver on that promise in just four months.”

New Hours

The new hours will be uniform across all five branches of the system – Delaware, Liberty, Orange, Ostrander and Powell. They will include Mondays at the Powell and Ostrander branches, and all branches will add Sunday hours.

The new DCDL hours will be:

• Monday – Thursday: 9:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m.
• Friday: 9:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.
• Saturday: 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
• Sunday: 1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.

The new hours reflect a 51% increase in open hours, or 117 additional operational hours, across all five branches.

“This will be the first time in DCDL’s history that our Ostrander Branch will be open on Sundays and Mondays,” said Ostrander Branch Manager Mandy Henning. “We are thrilled to open our doors to our growing community for an extra two days!”

In early June, the Library began hiring for the 26 new staff members needed to support the extended hours.

“When we open our doors on September 15th, patrons can expect the same exceptional level of customer service from all our staff — both current and new — that they have come to know and trust,” said Human Resources Coordinator Amanda Sheterom.

Grand Re-Opening Celebration

On Monday, September 15, five simultaneous grand re-opening celebrations will take place at each branch to thank the community for their support and welcome a new era of library services. Remarks will begin at 8:50 a.m. with local dignitaries and library staff, followed by a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 9:00 a.m. Patrons are invited to join at any branch to celebrate.

Giveaways will be provided at each location by DCDL and the Friends of the Delaware County District Library. Other celebrations throughout the day will include a photo op with Percy Unicorn at the Delaware Branch Library (9:00 – 9:30 a.m.) and open shopping hours in the Friends book sale room at the Liberty Branch Library (9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.).

Library Trustees will be at each branch to celebrate and welcome the public. Current Trustees are President Scott Tiede, Vice President Reginald Ike, Secretary Connie Skinner, Lori Kipfer, Lisa Kraft and Holly Quaine. In addition, leaders from the Delaware Area Chamber of Commerce, Lewis Center Business Connect, Powell Area Chamber of Commerce, and Ostrander Civic Association will help cut each location’s ribbon.

Other Promises Fulfilled

With the Library closing later, family storytimes at the Delaware Branch on Thursday and Orange Branch on Wednesday will be pushed back thirty minutes to begin at 6:30 p.m., adding convenience for families with busy schedules.

“We understand the difficulty working parents face when it comes to evenings and children’s activities,” said Youth Services and Programming Coordinator Kelly Cochran. “We’re happy to make it just a little easier for families to have time to gather at home, then choose to join us after dinner for an evening storytime.”

All study rooms and community rooms will match the Library’s new hours, meaning increased access for cardholders to these high-demand spaces.

Online resources have also seen some updates and growth. Earlier this summer, additional funds were added to the monthly budget for Hoopla, an on-demand digital download catalog, allowing patrons more opportunities for digital downloads of their favorite titles. These additional funds were made available in part thanks to a grant from SourcePoint.

As we prepare for the back-to-school season, patrons will gain access to two new digital learning platforms – Mango Languages and Scholastic Teachables. Patrons identified language learning resources as one of their top needs during the Library’s 2024 strategic planning process. Mango Languages provides interactive language learning courses for over 70 world languages, as well as English courses for speakers of other languages, in one easy-to-use app or website. Scholastic Teachables supports teachers, tutors, homeschool families, and other educators by offering free printable worksheets, activities and resources for every grade, subject, and skill level.

Maker Studio services at the Delaware and Liberty branch libraries will expand in late 2025.

“The first three words of our library’s mission statement are ‘We open doors.’ I couldn’t be prouder of all the hard work that our entire staff has put into preparing our branches to open our doors to the public on September 15,” said Howard. “That day will be the product of years of preparation. Starting with the earliest days of our strategic planning process in the fall of 2023, to the community conversations in early 2024, and through the levy campaign and our patron-centered promises just this year. We’re thrilled to welcome the public back to the Delaware County District Library with the access they deserve.”

To learn more about the Library’s levy promises, visit www.delawarelibrary.org/levy.

The Delaware County District Library currently has 106,000 cardholders and serves the greater population of Delaware County, including those living in the Delaware City, Buckeye Valley, and Olentangy Local school districts.

Delaware Library Mission Statement: We open doors to imagination, knowledge, connection, and discovery.