|
Library Notes
By Tomi Herold Highland County Public Library
• I am pleased to report the annual used book sale on Hands and Harvest weekend was a big success. We were blessed with beautiful weather and many people came to the sale. We raised more than $4,300, which will help the library with operating expenses and collections. While the sale is open for three days it is really a 10-day project. The volunteers stepped up to do a fantastic job for us during that time. I can't rave enough about the people who put in so many hours and did so much heavy lifting for the library. I was reminded that the one thing I should mention when I'm asking for volunteers each year is how much fun we have together. Thank you to all who volunteered, and to all of the avid book shoppers who make the sale worth the effort.
• Despite the success of our sale, fund-raising is a bit behind schedule this year. However, we still hope to meet library goals. Consider a donation to the library if you haven't already done so, to: P.O. Box 519, Monterey,Va.º24465.
• The Highland County Public Library offers many great programs and services, but there is one valuable service we offer that is at risk. Find it Virginia is an online database the Library of Virginia offers to all Virginia public libraries and thereby all citizens of Virginia. This database provides access to over three thousand magazines, newspapers, academic journals and encyclopedias. We're talking about magazines you know and read, like Consumer Reports, Sports Illustrated, Good Housekeeping and most other magazines you could list. This is information that isn't available online for free. Specialized information is available in the areas of business, health and wellness, literary criticism and homework help. The academic journals provide published, scholarly information, as opposed to information you might find online that is from questionable sources. At this library we greatly appreciate Find it Virginia because it evens the playing field and gives us access to information just as good as the larger libraries in big cities. We couldn't afford this access on our own. Funding for Find It Virginia is under threat from the state legislature. It is essential we make our legislators understand how important Find It Virginia is to all libraries, and especially to smaller libraries that can't afford to pay for reference databases on their own. If we lost this database, we couldn't afford to replace it and our reference section in this library is a poor substitute. Please consider writing a letter to let your state legislators know that Find It Virginia is important to you because it helps your small library keep up with the wellfunded larger libraries. If you need help in finding contact information for local representatives you can find the information quickly atwww.highlandcountyvirginia.org.ºIf you haven't taken advantage of Find It Virginia yet you can access it online at www.finditva.org. The library can provide you with your library card number, which you will need to use the database. If you have any questions or need further information please contact me at 468-2373 or mail@highlandlibrary.com.
• We have many new books on our shelves. Come check out Ken Follett's "World Without End," Iris Johansen's "Pandora's Daughter," Alice Sebold's "The Almost Moon," Douglas Preston's "Wheel of Darkness,"DianeMott Davidson's "Sweet Revenge," Ann Patchett's "Run," John Grisham's "Playing for Pizza," Sandra Brown's "Play Dirty," Richard Russo's "Bridge of Sighs," Stephen Hunter's "47thSamurai," and John Sandford's "Dark of the Moon." New in non-fiction we have Time's "America, an Illustrated History" and Reader's Digest's "Merry Christmas Songbook."
|
