Update from the HCLS

Greetings from Biloxi!! I’ve (Sharon Davis) attached a picture of some of the items we’ve just received from the book drive.

As you can see from our faces, we’re a very happy group of librarians! We now keep a steady supply of cookies, muffins, and assorted goodies for the USPS, FedEx, and UPS drivers that are delivering the much-anticipated smiley-face boxes. Our friendly UPS driver, who left today with a large piece of peanut butter pie.

We can’t tell you how wonderful this book drive is for our community. Rebuilding entire library collections is a massive undertaking. In addition to helping start the new collections, your donations are ensuring that our community has access to items that would otherwise be unavailable. You’ve brought smiles to a lot of faces, and will continue to help further the public library’s role of providing free access to information for a long time to come.

Speaking smiling faces… here’s a picture from weekly storytime at the Margaret Sherry branch. Last Thursday the program attracted almost 100 children, ranging in age from 9 months to twelve years. Several teen volunteers also help with preparing and running the children’s programs.

Amazon Shipping Addresses

Shipping addresses are set on Amazon so that items will go to the right location, and we do double-check items with the wish lists before they’re processed.

Can the HCLS Accept Used Books?

When purchasing books, we do prefer to receive new items. They’re becoming a permanent part of the collections, and we expect them to receive heavy use. If you have used items in your personal collection you’d like to donate, please email me a list of the titles, along with the ISBN and their condition, and I’ll let you know if they are currently needed. There is very little climate controlled storage space available right now, so we’re trying to limit used items to titles that are needed on the shelves immediately. When our larger library buildings are close to reopening we’ll have plenty of space, and will be able to accept more used titles.

Going to the ALA Convention? Drop by and Say Hi!

Several of the library system staff will be at the ALA convention in New Orleans, (that’s an American Library Association convention — imagine thousands of librarians flocking together in one spot — most non-librarians think it’s a pretty scary thing). Let me plug ALA here and give a big thanks for the free registrations they gave to Katrina affected librarians, otherwise we wouldn’t be able to go. Our local historian/genealogist will be presenting a poster session on Saturday, June 24th, from 11:00 to 12:30, session 1, table 11. We’d love to thank you in person, so please stop by if you’re there. Or, if you’d like to try to meet up with us somewhere, drop me an email.

Don’t hesitate to email me if you have any questions — I’ll respond as quickly as possible.

Thanks,
Sharon