Frequently Asked Questions

No library card is required. The Excellence Library operates on a trust-based lending system designed to eliminate all barriers to access. Simply visit our State Street reading room or any of our 18 bookmobile stops, select the materials you would like to borrow, and provide your name and a phone number or email so we can follow up if needed. We ask that books be returned within four weeks at any bookmobile stop or at our reading room. There are no overdue fines, late fees, or penalties of any kind. Our mission is to get books into the hands of readers, and we trust our community to return materials when they are finished.

All Excellence Library programs are free and open to residents of the Columbus, Ohio metropolitan area regardless of age, income, citizenship status, or prior education level. Specific age ranges apply to individual programs: the After-School Reading Club serves children ages 5 through 12, STEM Story Hour is designed for ages 5 through 10, and the Senior Digital Skills workshop is intended for adults age 60 and older. The Adult ESL and Literacy program, Creative Writing Workshop, and Summer Reading Challenge are open to participants of all ages (with parental consent required for minors under 18). No advance registration is required for most programs, though we recommend calling ahead for ESL classes and Senior Digital Skills due to limited capacity.

Our bookmobile operates on a fixed weekly route, visiting 18 neighborhood stops across Columbus Monday through Saturday. Each stop lasts approximately 90 minutes to two hours. The full schedule with addresses and times is available on our Bookmobile page. In the event of severe weather (ice storms, extreme heat above 100 degrees Fahrenheit, tornado warnings), bookmobile service may be suspended for the safety of our staff and volunteers. Cancellations are posted on our website by 7:00 AM the morning of the affected route day. We do not operate on six major holidays: New Year’s Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas Day. Missed stops are not rescheduled but resume at the next regularly scheduled visit.

We accept gently used books in good condition across all genres and age groups, including children’s picture books, chapter books, young adult and adult fiction and nonfiction, textbooks published within the past five years, bilingual and ESL materials, audiobooks on CD, and large print editions. We cannot accept encyclopedias, magazines, VHS tapes, water-damaged or mold-affected materials, books with missing pages, or outdated medical and legal texts. Donations can be dropped off at our State Street reading room (275 East State Street, Suite 310) during business hours, Monday through Friday, 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM. For donations exceeding three boxes, please call (614) 555-0218 to arrange a scheduled drop-off so our volunteer sorting team can be prepared. All book donations are tax-deductible, and we provide a receipt upon request.

Our Adult ESL and Literacy program offers four structured curriculum levels. Level 1 (Foundations) covers alphabet recognition, basic greetings, and essential vocabulary for daily activities such as grocery shopping, transportation, and medical visits. Level 2 (Conversational) builds sentence construction skills, workplace communication, reading signs and forms, and telephone skills. Level 3 (Intermediate) focuses on paragraph writing, reading comprehension, citizenship test preparation, and parent-teacher conference communication. Level 4 (Advanced) includes academic essay writing, professional resume and email composition, GED preparation, and college application support. New learners complete a brief placement assessment during their first visit, conducted one-on-one with an instructor, to determine the appropriate starting level. Assessments are informal and conversational; there is no written test. Learners may advance levels at any time based on instructor evaluation and self-assessment.

Prospective volunteers begin by completing our interest form or contacting our volunteer coordinator at (614) 555-0218. All volunteers must be at least 18 years of age and pass a background check (provided at no cost to the volunteer). Before working with program participants, volunteers complete a 12-hour training certification conducted over two consecutive Saturdays. Training covers reading pedagogy fundamentals, age-appropriate engagement strategies, cultural sensitivity, trauma-informed communication, and Ohio child safeguarding protocols. Training sessions are offered three times per year: in September, January, and June. We ask volunteers to commit to a minimum of two hours per week for at least one academic semester. We provide community service hour documentation for college students earning service-learning credit.

Yes. Our State Street reading room is fully ADA-compliant with wheelchair-accessible entrances, elevators, adjustable-height tables, and accessible restrooms. Large print books, audiobooks, and magnifying reading aids are available for visitors with visual impairments. Our bookmobile is equipped with a wheelchair lift and has designated space for mobility devices. For programs involving digital devices (Senior Digital Skills), we offer tablets with adjustable font sizes, screen readers, and high-contrast display modes. If you have specific accessibility needs not addressed here, please contact us at (614) 555-0218 and we will work with you to ensure full participation.

The Excellence Library Foundation is an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and is not a branch or department of the Columbus Metropolitan Library (CML). However, we maintain a strong collaborative partnership with CML. Our advisory board includes a regional manager from CML who facilitates inter-library loan services, co-branded programming, and shared outreach at community events. Books borrowed from the Excellence Library bookmobile or reading room are not part of the CML catalog system and vice versa. We encourage community members to hold both an Excellence Library borrower registration and a CML library card to maximize their access to resources.

The Excellence Library Foundation is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt nonprofit organization registered with the IRS under Employer Identification Number (EIN) 31-2839401 and with the Ohio Secretary of State under registration number 2847130. Our annual operating budget of approximately $482,000 is funded through individual donations (38%), foundation grants (32%), corporate sponsorships (18%), and government grants (12%). Eighty-four percent of all revenue goes directly to program delivery. Our financial statements are audited annually by an independent CPA firm and are available upon request. You can verify our nonprofit status through the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search tool at irs.gov or GuideStar (Candid) at guidestar.org.

Yes. Community organizations, apartment complexes, places of worship, and community centers can request a regular bookmobile stop by completing the request form on our Bookmobile page or calling (614) 555-0218. We evaluate new stop requests based on demonstrated community need, geographic accessibility (particularly in areas underserved by existing library services), availability of a paved parking area that can accommodate a 32-foot vehicle, access to restroom facilities for staff, and a minimum of 10 anticipated regular visitors per stop. Our outreach coordinator reviews all requests and responds within five business days. Adding new stops may require adjusting existing routes, which typically happens during our semi-annual route review in January and July.