Highland County Public Library E-Newsletter August 2008

As school begins again I’d like to focus on the achievements of the kids who participated in the library’s summer reading program. Over one-hundred children enrolled in our reading incentive program. Forty-five of those kids completed their voluntary reading and returned their reading logs for a prize. Attendance at our various activity programs reached 223 people. All of these numbers are record numbers and we’re thrilled that so many children chose to participate in our programs this year. There are many people who make the summer reading program possible, and I want to express my thanks to them. Many thanks to the kids who participated with such enthusiasm this summer, to the local merchants who contribute prizes, to the people who present the programs, to the library donors who make it possible for us to hire performers, and to the library volunteers and staff who run it all so smoothly. Not the least of all, I’m thankful to the parents who bring their children to the library and inspire them to read. I fully realize that few children arrive here under their own steam and it’s the parents who deserve praise and thanks.

In less than a month and a half the library will be putting on our Annual Used Book Sale, during the Hand and Harvest Festival. We’re accepting book donations right now. In fact, actually accept them all year long. We have a storage building on our property that was purchased with that purpose in mind. We’re also starting to cast our eyes about for possible volunteers to run the sale. It takes hundreds and hundreds of man hours to put on the sale and we never seem to have quite enough help. Please consider volunteering this year. Those that volunteer to sort and arrange books the week prior to the sale may purchase books early, once they’ve put in four hours of work. We need some people who can help us move books from the storage building to the sale area. This work requires some heavy lifting and this job is where we often run short of volunteers. We’ll need people to help sell the books, a fun job and great of anyone who likes to meet new people. If you’re interested in volunteering for our book sale contact the library at 468-2373 or stop by and talk to us.

I’ve recently expanded our collection of books on farming, to better reflect the importance of farming in our community. Some of our new titles include “Grass-Fed Cattle,” “Storey’s Guide to Raising Beef Cattle,” “Living With Sheep,” “How to Build Animal Housing,” “Barnyard in the Backyard,” and the Future Farmer’s of America’s guide on “How to Raise Cattle.” These books are useful for the large-scale farmer or the small farmer who is just beginning.

Great new books continue to arrive and we’re adding them to our shelves all the time. Come check out James Patterson’s “The Dangerous Days of Daniel X,” Daniel Silva’s “Moscow Rules,” Anne Rivers Siddon’s “Off Season,” Linda Barnes’s “Lie Down With the Devil,” Robin Cook’s “Foreign Body,” Mary Daheim’s “Vi Agra Falls,” Edna Buchanan’s “Legally Dead,” Barry Brunonia’s “The Lace Reader,” Faye Kellerman’s “Mercedes Coffin,” Harlan Coben’s “Fade Away,” and Barbara Taylor Bradford’s “Being Elizabeth.” In new non-fiction we have Tom Vanderbilt’s “Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says About Us),” Evan Wright’s “Generation Kill: Devil Dogs, Iceman, Captain America, and the New Face of American War,” and “Waiter Rant: Thanks for the Tip – Confessions of a Cynical Waiter” by The Waiter.