K.S., Narberth

One of the most pleasant and significant changes to affect my life after moving from West Mount Airy in Philadelphia to Penn Valley in Lower Merion Township more than five years ago has been my patronage of the Lower Merion Township Library System.

Every time I visit a branch or log onto its Web site, I am in awe of the vast array of materials available and services provided. Literature, music, film, culture, and ideas converge and open up to me here. I am fulfilled and enriched every time I borrow material, and now, much to my delight, my children are sharing in the same life- changing experience.

On a practical note, technology allows borrowers to reserve books and other material online, and pick up the material at the front desk of any branch. What a tremendous service! This is the ultimate time saver.

From topics ranging from gardening, travel, pregnancy, exercise, nutrition, and healthy eating to classic texts and great music and film, the library has it all and more.

D. L., Ardmore

The Bala-Cynwyd library was a life saver for me. My mother died when I was four years old and my family moved to Merion. After being given the great gift of learning to read in 1st Grade at Merion Elementary School, I joined the local library and was on my way to a lifetime of fun, adventure, comfort and escape. Because I never went to camp, the library in the summer was my entertainment and at the same time I stayed cool. I would dream of becoming a librarian. So I would take 4 or 5 books off the shelves, mix them up and make pretend my job was to re-shelve them. My library was a safe haven and a place to escape a "not so nice step-mother." She used to tell me to "stop reading so much." We weren't given counseling just because we had lost a parent.

They built the Wynnefield Branch of the Philadelphia library in 1964 and because it was closer to my house, I spent a lot of time there. The librarian there turned me on to Georgette Heyer and I have never stopped reading her. One time as a punishment, my step- mother took away my library card. But I grew up and I became a mother and I am so happy my daughter also loves to read. I love to read stories to children and encourage them to love their library as much as I always have. It saved my life.