Bear in Mind

that the Library is now following the Slusser Center's policy of closing if the schools close.  We'll see what tomorrow brings.

We will also be closed the day after Thanksgiving, as Slusser and other town offices are, as well as the week between Christmas and New Years.  Once we are back "home" we will go back to our policy of being open during those times, but for now, it makes most sense to stay consistent with Slusser policies.  We are not quite the destination for visiting families here on the lower level of Slusser (as cozy as it is!) as we were back in the main library, but we'll be back soon!  I feel a bit more positive about this decision since you have the option of visiting neighboring libraries over the holidays.

And now a note on miscalculation.  As a rule we can't keep new Jodi Picoult books on the shelf, so I bought extra copies of her newest "A Spark of Light."  Two copies are languishing here if you're interested.  I've tried offering it to a number of library visitors who haven't been interested, noting quietly "I really don't like her books...", guilty perhaps since she's a "local author" and certainly wildly popular.  So, if you're interested--this is from the book's book cover.  Certainly timely subject matter.
"The warm fall day starts like any other at the Center--a women's reproductive health services clinic--its staff offering care to anyone who passes through its doors. Then, in late morning, a desperate and distraught gunman bursts in and opens fire, taking all inside hostage. After rushing to the scene, Hugh McElroy, a police hostage negotiator, sets up a perimeter and begins making a plan to communicate with the gunman. As his phone vibrates with incoming text messages he glances at it and, to his horror, finds out that his fifteen-year-old daughter, Wren, is inside the clinic. But Wren is not alone. She will share the next and tensest few hours of her young life with a cast of unforgettable characters: A nurse who calms her own panic in order save the life of a wounded woman. A doctor who does his work not in spite of his faith but because of it, and who will find that faith tested as never before. A pro-life protester disguised as a patient, who now stands in the cross hairs of the same rage she herself has felt. A young woman who has come to terminate her pregnancy. And the disturbed individual himself, vowing to be heard. Told in a daring and enthralling narrative structure that counts backward through the hours of the standoff, this is a story that traces its way back to what brought each of these very different individuals to the same place on this fateful day. Jodi Picoult--one of the most fearless writers of our time--tackles a complicated issue in this gripping and nuanced novel. How do we balance the rights of pregnant women with the rights of the unborn they carry? What does it mean to be a good parent? A Spark of Light is a story that will inspire debate, conversation . . . and, hopefully, understanding"--