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Library Notes
Library needs support to continue services
By Tomi Herold
MONTEREY - It's September and that means the library is fund-raising again. You may be wondering why we do so much fundraising when your tax dollars should be covering us. The fact is that your tax dollars are not covering our most basic needs. This library is a non-profit entity only partially supported by state and local tax dollars. The money we receive from the state pays for library materials only, including books, computers and other items you may check out. The money we receive from the local government is not enough to cover everything else, like it does in larger communities. When we do fund-raising we're not raising money for extras, we're raising money to pay for our most basic needs, like electricity, heat, phone service and money to pay the staff so we can have evening and weekend hours.
We are so fortunate to be in a community that values library services and gives so generously to keep them going. But each new year means a new budget, and the struggle to pay for our needs begins again. If you wonder why we're asking again and whether your support is important, I'm here to tell you that it is. Please consider a donation to the library to keep our library services going for another year. Many of you have received a letter asking for a donation. If you have not received one and would like to send a contribution you may send it to the Highland County Public Library, P. O. Box 519, Monterey, Va. 24465.
Besides asking for donations, another way we raise money is the annual used book sale. This year it will be held Oct. 12, 13 and 14, the same weekend as the Hands and Harvest Festival. This serves two important functions. It raises money for the library and it provides a way of offering extremely low cost books to the community. People are so generous with their donations of books that the sale has grown to tens of thousands of books. It is a massive undertaking to set up the sale and we require a lot of help to do it. We're still seek- ing volunteers to help us with the sale this year. We have several shifts left to fill including sorting on the Wednesday and Thursday afternoons prior to the sale and selling on Saturday and Sunday. If you can help us with this, please let us know. We do need your help.
Now that I've told you all these things you can do for us maybe you'd like to know what we can do for you. We offer a great selection of the latest books from your favorite authors. You can find DVDs, VHS videocassettes, audio books on CD and cassette, music CDs, magazines and copies of local and regional newspapers to read each day.
We offer five public access computers with high speed Internet and WiFiservice you can enjoy using your own laptop. We offer services such as copying, faxing, laminating and printing. We offer valuable internet resources such as the information database Find it Virginia www.finditva.org and access to your library account online. We offer friendly and confidential reference service and reader's advisory. You can take advantage of quiet reading space or you may book the meeting room for your local community group.
We do so much more and we want to do more. We're here to serve you and are open to your suggestions for improved services or materials. All you need to do is ask.
For the latest and greatest book offerings, check out James Patterson's "You've Been Warned," Brian Herbert's "Sandworms of Dune," Tess Gerritsen's "The Bone Garden," Kathy Reich's "Bones to Ashes,' Diana Gabaldon's "Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade," John Saul's 'The Presence," and Karen Robards' "Superstition." In nonfiction we have Dave Barry's "History of the Millennium (So far)," and Miyoko Chu's "Songbird Journey's, Four Seasons in the Lives of Migratory Birds."
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