The JTPL Blog

This is a question we often hear in the library when a book someone is requesting is not available.

Now, you will be able to answer this question yourself.  In the web catalog, the number of “holds” for each title will be displayed above the “Place a Hold” button on the “Find a Copy/Details” screen.

You can use this information to estimate wait time by comparing the number of holds for each edition of a title, and choose an edition with fewer holds.

Try it on the web catalog and see for yourself. If you need help, ask a librarian!

One of the first books that hooked me on reading as a kid was The Lou Gehrig Story. I found it when I was about 10 years old, in the biographies for kids section of my local library.  I loved that book, read it again and again, and always cried at the ending. 

I love books, and I love baseball, probably because my father was a big reader and also a big baseball fan, having played minor league ball in the years following WWII. Throughout the years, as I’ve continued following and rooting for the NY Yankees, I’ve also read many baseball books. A couple of favorites are the novels Bang the Drum Slowly by Mark Harris, and Shoeless Joe by W.P. Kinsella, and the memoirs Ball Four by Jim Bouton and The Bronx Zoo by Sparky Lyle. And I can’t forget A Hero All His Life, by Merlyn Mantle and family, a very touching and honest book about Mickey Mantle and his place in American culture.

I’m currently reading The Complete Game: Reflections on Baseball, Pitching and Life on the Mound, by ex-Met Ron Darling, a graduate of Yale, who could do the NY Times crossword puzzle in one sitting!

As the playoffs approach, there may not be much time to read about baseball, but in the long winter months that follow, check out some of the wonderful baseball novels and memoirs at the library if you need a baseball fix!

Oprah Winfrey has recently selected Say You’re One of Them, a novel by author Uwem Akpan, for her next book discussion.

All I know about the book is that it is the author’s first,  and that it is a collection of five stories, each set in a different country in Africa.

I’ll read it — I just hope it’s not depressing as most of her other choices.

It seems that people want their books and other items instantaneously, and with a minimum of effort.

At the Houston Public Library you can now ask to have your books delivered to you at curbside. You call the library, tell them what books you want, and when you pull into the parking lot a librarian brings your books out to the car and you’re set to go.

If you prefer not leave home you can take advantage of Barnes and Noble, or Amazon’s new e-books. With a device similar to a computer, you can instantly purchase a book, download it, and begin reading without ever getting out of your chair.

If you are seeking instant video you can now go to the red box which the Princeton Public Library installed this summer. Like an old fashioned juke box the red box guarantees that it will provide instantaneous copies of the latest movies – no more going home empty handed because all the new releases are checked out. If you’d rather listen than read, you can log on to the library website, select a downloadable audio book, download it to your computer, and begin listening within minutes. Some libraries have gone so far as to install drive-up windows for the fast pick up of books.

While I am sympathetic to the desire for fast and timely service, I believe we are missing something by encouraging people to spend less time at the library.

For me one of the great things about a library is the opportunity to explore and unleash your curiosity. Consider this – Tom Clancy, John Grisham, and Dan Brown might still be undiscovered authors had it not been for curious readers. Each of these authors initially met with limited success. Their first books were obscure publications that languished on shelves unread. It was only after being discovered by readers browsing the shelves that these authors became successful.

Often a book’s success is determined by word of mouth. You see a neighbor returning a book and they recommend it to you, or a book with a particularly interesting cover grabs your attention.

We are doing the library and ourselves a great disservice if the library is seen as just an instrument for fast and efficient delivery of materials. Libraries and books are meant to be shared and experienced with other people. Drive through windows at the library are a great idea, but taking time to enjoy your book and share it with someone else is an even better one.