Goblins and ghosties and gremlins. . . oh my!

The Abbeville Library was overrun this morning with firefighters, walking pumpkins, witches, superheroes, and even a princess or two. It was time once again for the annual Halloween Party! We read fun, spooky stories, made a Halloween craft, and even Trick-or-Treated around the library. Happy Halloween!

The Abbeville Woman's Club supports the library system

There was laughter, there was conversation, there were cupcakes. Why? Because the Abbeville Woman's Club held its October meeting last night at the Abbeville Library.

The club, which has a long history of service to the library system, is adding a new twist: Members of the club will now be "adopting a shelf" at the libraries, helping to ensure that materials are where they should be. In the same way that groups adopt a highway, these club members will be checking their assigned areas, on the lookout for stray or misplaced materials.

This will be a big help to our library staff. Another plus: I bet the volunteers will find books they themselves will want to check out!

Thanks to the Abbeville Woman's Club for, once again, making time to help our organization!

Popular authors on the new bookshelf

Many of you have been awaiting the new novels by Danielle Steel and/or Nicholas Sparks. Well, wait no more: Steel's HRH and Sparks' Dear John are both now available! Prefer the new novel by Anna Quindlen? or Perri O'Shaughnessy? No problem -- we've got those, too!

See you soon at the new book display . . .

--Mary Elizabeth

Sharon Draper visits Abbeville

Today's visit by teen author Sharon Draper was definitely a success. 450 teens and adults filled the Opera House to hear Draper, a well-known author and educator. Many Abbeville High School students had read her books in class, so they were particularly excited to hear the author speak.

Draper's books include Tears of a Tiger, Forged by Fire, and Darkness before Dawn (yes, all available from the library system!)

Photos to follow soon!

New this week . . .

What's new?

The new Stephen King novel, Lisey's Story, is "perhaps King's most personal and powerful novel: What begins as a widow's effort to sort through the papers of her celebrated husband becomes a nearly fatal journey into the darkness he inhabited"

Joyce Carol Oates has just published Black Girl/White Girl, a novel in which the protagonist recounts the "mysterious, violent, terrible death" suffered by her college roommate in 1975. Black Girl/White Girl is "a searing double portrait of 'black' and 'white', of race and civil rights in post-Vietnam America, captured by one of the most important literary voices of our time."

Come on in -- and check 'em out!

Numbers to make you say "WOW"

I spent some time yesterday afternoon pulling together some statistics. We all know that use at the libraries is way up -- you've seen it every time you come in and see the computers full, the new books being checked out, the children at storytime. But, of course, beyond the anecdotal "we're so much busier than we used to be" approach, I need the numbers that back it up. And boy oh boy, have we got numbers!!

Check this out:

In fiscal year 2003, we circulated 26,952 items (an average of 73 items per day).

This has increased each year, and

In fiscal year 2006, we circulated 62,391 items (an average of 171 items per day).

Yes, circulation has more than doubled in the past three years! We are now circulating more items out of the Abbeville branch than we did three years ago in all three libraries combined!

But wait -- there's more . . .

This is the data I had to check, then double-check, then triple-check because, well, WOW --

In fiscal year 2004, there were 1,872 computer sessions by patrons

In fiscal year 2006, there were 11,998 sessions.

Yeah, you read that right -- in two years, our computer use is up 600 percent!! The technology explosion is not a myth.

I'm thrilled to know that you are using our services, and I know those numbers will keep going up and up --

--Mary Elizabeth

Expanded Hours in Donalds and Calhoun Falls!

This week, I'm most excited about our new hours at the branch libraries.

The new hours in Calhoun Falls are:

10-2 and 3-6 on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays

3-8 on Tuesdays

10-2 and 3-5 on Fridays

and 2-5 on Sundays

This will allow for after-school use of the library every day, and I know that this will be a real boon to patrons!

In Donalds, the new hours are:

10-1 and 2-8 on Mondays

10-1 and 2-5 on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays

and 2-5 on Fridays and Saturdays.

This new schedule adds more a.m hours in Donalds.

And what will our next improvement be? Coming later this month, look for new computers at both Donalds and Calhoun Falls!

Come see what your library can do for you!

The cure for the common bookshelf

Shelves overcrowded? Books falling on your head? Think you need to move to a bigger house? Instead, why not donate your gently used books (those you can stand to part with) to the library book sale? Bring them by the headquarters library in Abbeville anytime we're open. Then you'll have space for the new ones you're going to get at the next Bag-of-Books Sale on Saturday, December 2 (Olde South Christmas weekend).

Curious about last week's sale? We sold more than 100 bags of books, bringing the Friends a total of $520.

Thanks to all who came out!

What's new?

What's new? The long-awaited new novel by Charles Frazier! It's Thirteen Moons, "the story of one man's remarkable life, spanning a century of relentless change." Loved Cold Mountain? Give Thirteen Moons a try!

Also new this week:

Stuart Woods' new novel, Short Straw: "Set in the shimmering heat of the desert Southwest, Short Straw marks the return of the six-foot-seven-inch take-no-prisoners Santa Fe lawyer Ed Eagle, in a complex thriller that delivers the kind of sexy, fast-paced suspense that readers have come to expect from Stuart Woods."

We've got lots of new audio books, on both cassette and CD. New children's books and videos in this week, too.

Come check it out!