Plenty of services are packed into the Otsego County Library, which provides award-winning services to all residents from the central library in Gaylord and branches in Johannesburg and Vanderbilt. The library was recipient of the State Librarian’s Excellence Award for exemplary public service in 2003.
Residents can access a collection of more than 81,000 books, videos, music CDs, audio books, large-print titles, government documents, newspapers and popular magazines, as well as a wide range of research materials. Through the library’s resource-sharing network, items available at patrons’ fingertips are countless. And it’s all free with a local library card.
The main library is open seven days a week, but beyond regular hours, information is available any time, day or night, at www.otsego.lib.mi.us. From home, school or office, users may view their account; renew or reserve titles; and use databases that cannot be found free on the Internet, such as USA Business Data, Auto Repair Reference Center, Heritage Quest and eBooks from NetLibrary.
Research assistance, preschool story hours, summer reading clubs, class tours, computer classes and informational programs are among the many services the library staff offers. Faxing, laminating and copy services also are available for a small fee.
Library patrons may access more than 26 million items from libraries around the state through the Michigan Electronic Library Catalog. With an Otsego County Library card, the community resident may order anything owned at participating public and university libraries and have it delivered at no cost to their hometown library.

Otsego County Library:

Headquarters: 700 S. Otsego Ave., Gaylord, 732-5841, fax 732-9401; Maureen Derenzy, director; hours: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, 9 a.m.-8 p.m.; Thursday and Friday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.; Saturday, 9 a.m.-1 p.m.; Sunday, 1 p.m.-5 p.m.; e-mail: ocl@otsego.org

Vanderbilt Branch Library:

Corwith Township Hall, Vanderbilt; 983-3600; Tiann Jones, branch manager; hours: Monday, 3-7 p.m.; Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, 1-5 p.m.; Friday, 9 a.m.-1 p.m.

Johannesburg Branch Library:

Charlton Township Office Building, M-32, Johannesburg; 732-3928; Vickie Hoecherl, branch manager; hours: Monday and Wednesday, 2-6 p.m.; Tuesday, 9 a.m.-1 p.m.; Thursday and Friday, 1-5 p.m.