Darlene's Digest

Castaway Dreams is now in the catalog at the Alachua County (FL) Library District, which means it's available through ILL (Interlibrary Loan). If you have a library card but you haven't used ILL, ask your librarian to show you how you can access books from any library. I find ILL invaluable when I'm doing research, but I also use it to obtain novels my library may not have. Of course, Castaway Dreams , like all my books, is still available in print and ebook so you can have it for your very own. You can read reviews and excerpts at the link.

MORE LIBRARY LOVE I attended a Foundation meeting yesterday and heard some great things about awards our library is winning, ones we're nominated for, and perhaps most importantly, the work we're doing at the county jail. We believe our public library may be the only one in the nation with a full branch of the library housed in the jail. It has much of the material you'd find at any library branch, with a few differences. For example, all the books are paperbacks so they cannot be used as weapons. Only the librarians have internet access on the branch computers, though the patrons can use CDs such as the Florida Statutes to do research. But here's the surprising part. The sheriff's office pays half of the expense to maintain the library, and has for years through administrations of sherriffs both Republican and Democrat. I've known all the sherriffs in the 30 years since the jail library opened, and none of those men and women were bleeding-heart libe...

Image via Wikipedia Love your library--and the people who fund it. I was at a meeting today of the ACLD Trustees, thanking our local legislative delegation for their work in keeping state library funding alive this year. The Representatives there, Democrat and Republican, got an earful about what our Library District is doing in tough times. It's way more than books. In some communities, the public library is the only place where people can get free broadband and access to computers. Librarians are trained to help people fill out their government forms online to receive state and federal assistance. At our Partnership branch library, which is located in one of the poorest zip codes in the county, children can pick up rolling backpacks on Thursday and Fridays so they have food to eat over the weekend when they're not getting free student lunches. So if your lawmakers have worked to keep your public library going, thank them. They need the feedback. They need to know how i...

Image via Wikipedia Had a library foundation meeting this afternoon, and the news is encouraging. Our library use is at an all time high and our endowment fund portfolio is starting to recover from its swan dive last year. I'm not surprised the library usage is up. In tough times people depend on their public libraries more than in good times. All the more reason to work hard at ensuring public libraries stay open, vibrant and available to the people. We also heard who our author is going to be for our next Gala. Can't say who it is yet, but it's another NYT bestselling author who I know will be a crowd pleaser. Stay tuned!

Image via Wikipedia "Thinking Outside the Book" That quote is the slogan of the Alachua County Library District, and yesterday I got to see that kind of thinking in action. We now have a Library Partnership, not quite a branch, but something new. The Library Partnership is a storefront facility in an underserved and socioeconomically at-risk part of town. In addition to all the library services--books, Internet access, other media, the partnership works with over 20 social service agencies to help people. This is a very exciting concept, and part of what I love about 21st C. public libraries. People who need library services the most will get them, but they'll also be able to work with agencies that provide job training, educational opportunities, wellness programs, all at the same one-stop site. This could be a whole new trend for public libraries, and I'm watching it with a great deal of interest.