Friends Book Club
by Bobbi Tower
 
The selection of books made by the club is certainly varied. The first quarter of 2004 we read To Kill a Mockingbird, then The Red Tent and One Hundred Years of Solitude. April's selection was The Passion of Artemisia and May's Eyewitness to Power. The next two are equally diverse: The First Ladies and Snow in August. The group takes turns selecting a book and leading the discussion. We have stimulating discussions regardless of the topic, perhaps because of the diversity of our members. We have flat-landers, half-backs, Georgians, northerners, and others, ages 50s to 80s, homemakers to professionals and everything in between. Probably the only thing consistent is that we're all women. We didn't plan it that way. It just happened.
 
You might want to take our reading list for the year and make it your own. They all make good reading and give lots of food for thought. Or, you may want to join us at our monthly meetings in the library's multi-purpose room. We meet the second Wednesday of the month at 1:00 PM, except in July when we will meet on July 21 at 12:30 PM. You would be most welcome!
Save the libraries - a nation's great equalizers
byline: Carla Hayden, Christian Science Monitor
Date: 04/19/2004 - Excerpt
 
(BALTIMORE) What would America be without its public libraries? We may get a chance to find out because libraries are facing unprecedented economic challenges. Budget cuts have weakened or closed libraries in more than 40 states in the past year. Some examples:
 
* The Los Angeles County Public Library will need to close 16 libraries and reduce hours if the proposed state budget is passed.
 
* Binghamton, N.Y., has permanently shut all of its branch libraries, leaving only its main library open.
 
* Seattle's system just reopened after its third one-week closure in a year and a half.
 
* The public libraries in San Bernardino, Calif., were unable to buy new books for most of the 2003 fiscal year.
 
* Denver has cut 50 jobs and closes all 22 of its libraries one day a week.
 
* Hawaii's libraries lost 10 percent of their operating hours.
 
* Proposed budget cuts for New York City's three public library systems will mean a cumulative $50 million cut over several years.
 
Yet despite all of this, more people are using public libraries than ever, and the bleak outlook means much more to them than just not being able to check out the latest John Grisham novel.
 
As in other times of economic uncertainty, more Americans are depending on the libraries' free resources. Beyond books, periodicals, CDs, tapes, and videos, libraries provide free Internet and e-mail service, which are valuable resources for people looking for college loans, jobs, vital medical knowledge, or small-business opportunities.
 
With big budget cuts, however, fewer of us find these services readily available when we need them, especially Internet resources found on libraries' shrinking computer facilities.
 
 
 
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