Carrollton Public Library at Josey Ranch Lake — Attraction in Carrollton

Ordinarily I love this place, but I cannot use the Carrollton library system during quarantine. The 3 day stretching to week long quarantine on books means you have fines accrue on books you turned in on time, and through they say they backdate them and take the fines off when you turn it in, it is stressful to see - and if you have multiple kids who are voracious readers and frequently have lots of books checked out, like me you may not always remember if you turned a specific book in 5 days ago or not, freak out, and renew the book online, only to be told you shouldn’t have done that and now they can’t remove the fee. If you talk to a supervisor they will help you out and remove those, but it’s frustrating, especially since the likelihood of Covid-19 spreading on books that spent a day outside in a bin (and on objects in general) is extremely low. We unfortunately just can’t use this library until the COVID-19 situation or the fee/overdue situation resolves itself. I have a book that slipped out of my “to return” pile with the pile of books I mentioned that weren’t checked in by the library until 6 days after returning them on-time to the bin, so it accrued the $2.50 fee (at which point I renewed all the books online, freaking out, and then called the library when I realized what was happening... the books were checked in the next day, but the $2.50 fee on each was not removed until I called because I had renewed them online). The next day I realized this specific book didn’t make it into the return bin and drove back to the library to return it, but somehow the book accrued $4.50 in fees. Now that seems like small change, but when you go through as many books as we do in a year, little incidents like that really...

I have been to this library many times over the past 8 years since moving back to Carrollton. I never had a problem until recently when I checked out a book that was copyrighted 12 years ago. The book was stained on multiple pages and the pages were yellow from age. I returned the book only to discover that I was charged $26.50 for the damaged book. I was told that some of the stains were mine and that once paid for, the book would be mine to keep. I was really upset that I checked out a damaged book and was held solely responsible for the condition of the used book. If other people had been held accountable, then the book would not have still been on the shelf for me to check out. I paid the fine and told them that I had no interest in keeping the book. Beware of this unfair practice! I cannot trust their checkout system now without being concerned about this happening again. I would have to check every book and then talk to the library about each and every stain or mark before leaving the facility in the future to ensure my protection from this shady practice. I rather purchase my own books for now on instead of risking being used to help the library to purchase a new book that is in much...

I got the impression that the Carrollton Public Library is a bit different just as I was turning to enter the parking lot. The marker reads “Josey Ranch Lake Complex” and in the development there's a senior center and a sprawling park in addition to the library.  BTW turn right as you enter to reach the library.

Right as you're entering the library you'll find a small coffee shop(!). I must say it put a little smile on my face.

Entering the vestibule I had the extraordinary sensation of entering the lobby of a high end hotel.  Partly the smell of new carpet, partly the recessed lighting, dark woods and hushed atmosphere of affluence.

The library has a huge Children's section and a huge collection of books, CDs, DVDs, and audiobooks.  Also more PCs for Internet access than I could count. But what really makes this library stand out is its designed eagerness to host people: study and reading and meeting rooms everywhere; tons of opulent, handsome, comfortable chairs arranged in a wide variety of patterns.

This is a library to return to...