Holdrege Area Public Library
- Address: 604 East Avenue
- Phone: (308) 995-6556
- Fax: (308) 995-5732
- Website: www.holdregelibrary.org
- E-mail: info@holdregelibrary.org
- Hours: 10:00 AM – 8:00 PM, Monday-Thursday; 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM, Friday-Saturday
The Holdrege Area Public Library is supported by both the City of Holdrege and Phelps County. With a professional staff and an up-to-date collection of over 66,000 items, the HAPL offers excellent selections of fiction and non-fiction, large print, videos and DVDs, and audio books. Its cake pan collection is regionally famous. Public computers offer high-speed Internet access and a free wireless hotspot is available for laptop users. The library supplements its 120 magazine subscriptions with online access to thousands of additional magazine titles, available through the Website.
The library also has an active program of services for children. The Children’s Library, home to a 21-foot book dragon named “Smilin’ Sam Smoke,” offers twice-weekly story times for toddlers and preschoolers, an annual summer reading program, educational CD-ROM games and filtered Internet access. The Children’s Library also reaches out to the community with collections of books placed in the waiting rooms of area clinics, dentists’ offices, the hospital, the funeral home and other service establishments.
Teens and young adults have their own room at the library where they can check out a Wii or Playstation for onsite use and have access to their own filtered Internet computer. Regular “Gamer Days” are also scheduled for teens.
Among other services, the library Website allows patrons to browse the online catalog, reserve books, access full-text magazines and specialized services such as Chilton’s Automotive Repair Manuals and the Encyclopedia Britannica, and download audio books online.
An active “Friends of the Library” group raises funds and provides volunteer help with special projects.