During the presidential campaign, the library displayed an old voting booth from one of the country schools that served as a former polling site in the county. It was placed across the desk in the children’s area. The booth included a ballot “box” that is far different from the ones used today. It looks like a big round black trunk locked with a padlock. People coming into the library were intrigued with this odd-looking piece. It was an opportunity to talk to our young patrons about the voting process, and the secrecy of your ballot.

We had our own election of sorts, letting young readers vote for their favorite book. Going through the ballots at the end of the election, we were surprised to find that only one book received two votes. The rest of the ballots each had different titles. Some of the favorites included, Dora, Dr. Seuss books, 39 Clues, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, and Junie B. Jones, just to name a few. After all these years, American Girl books are still a favorite read, along with Where the Red Fern Grows, published in 1961. It was a very interesting look at children’s books from the eyes of young readers. Like the election, the library staff had our own ideas of what books would have been voted the favorite, and our young readers surprised us with their picks.

As part of our promise to our patrons, we will continue to search for those new and exciting authors and books, as well as keeping old favorites in their proper places on the shelves. We’ll do this again in 2016 to see where the road to books takes us, because everyone is a reader…..some just haven’t found their favorite books yet.

The following new materials are available at the library:

Adult Fiction

Book of Dreams by T. Davis Bunn, Hidden in Dreams by T. Davis Bunn, Poseidon's Arrow by Clive Cussler, Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver, A Season of Angels by Thomas Kinkade, The Prodigal Son by Colleen McCullough, To Have and To Hold by Tracie Peterson, To Love and Cherish by Tracie Peterson, Valley of Dreams by Lauraine Snelling, Whispers in the Wind by Lauraine Snelling

Adult Nonfiction

Pop-Up Cards & Invitations by Maurice Mathon, Fairy Tales From the Brothers Grimm by Philip Pullman, Southern Living 2012 Annual Recipes