PHILIPSBURG:--- As of November 1, 2019, Philipsburg Jubilee Library will return to its pre-Hurricane Irma opening hours. This return is to accommodate, in particular, students who need to access the library’s myriad of services. The time change will also benefit readers who have fixed working hours.
Opening hours as of next month are: Mondays and Fridays: 9:00 am-5:00 pm, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays: 9:00 am-8:00 pm, and Saturdays 10:00 am-1:00 pm. The library is closed on Sundays.
Members and potential members are encouraged to visit the library at its current location in the Adolphus Richardson Building on W.J.A. Nisbeth Road to renew or sign up for membership and to learn about the digital library. Due to space constraints, the library has fewer physical books available than offered pre-Irma. That number, however, is boosted by the consistently growing number of digital books. A valid library card grants free access to all titles in the digital library across member’s devices.
Aside from traditional books and e-Books, the library also has a range of magazines and newspapers and offers internet access.
Library membership options cover everyone in the community and are cost-effective. Children, up to age 13, pay no membership fee. High school students pay NAf. 10 per year and adults (including seniors) pay NAf. 25 per year.
Needed to sign up for a library card are a valid form of identification, a passport-size photo, the registration fee of NAf. 25 (except for children) and the annual membership fee.
The Philipsburg Jubilee Library Board is working to improve the services the institution offers to the public. The board is supported by two taskforces in its quest to formulate plans to improve and enhance the library and its services. They are working not only on a new building but on a new concept for the library as public information, heritage and resource center. The first step to this goal was recently taken with co-financing of a new building possible through the Dutch government-financed, World Bank-administered St. Maarten Recovery and Resilience Trust Fund.
