No, we are not asking you to buy anything this time, nor are we asking for donations — although they are always appreciated, of course! This time, all we want is for you to follow the link below and sign a petition to the major publishers, asking them to make their e-books available for a reasonable price to us. Right now, only two of the major publishers will even sell to libraries: HarperCollins, which limits us to only 26 uses of the book before we have to rebuy it (remember that we can loan out a paper copy dozens of times before it wears out!) and Random House, which literally charges three times the hard-cover price for the popular books — they average $40-75 each.
This happens because the publishers are afraid that if we loan e-books out, then people won’t buy them. They honestly think that. Yet, look at your own borrowing and buying behavior. Do you refuse to buy a book just because you can borrow it from us? Or do you read a book you borrowed from us, become enamored of the author/series, then buy it for yourself? Our current problem is that a number of publishers WON’T LET US LEND E-BOOKS TO YOU.
Please consider signing an online petition coordinated in Kansas. This will go to the publishers, and hopefully make an impression on them!
–> http://ebooksforlibraries.com/ <–
Next Friday is going to be a very happy and very sad day. We will be saying goodbye to 20 year Library veteran, Susan Gianniny. Susan remembers being hired to work when the Library was still in the Jackson Building! She has seen many area children grow up and bring in their own children back to the Library. We all wish her every happiness, but we are going to MISS her!
Of course, an occasion like this is perfect for a Hamner Library Party, so please come by and give her a hug and farewell. We begin the festivities on March 30 at 3:00 pm. Hope you can make it!!
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Amelia will soon have its own U. S. Chess Federation approved Chess Club! We will have our first meeting on Wednesday evening, March 28, at 6 pm. This will be a general interest meeting, but we will have our boards available for people to play, if they wish. Temporary officers will be elected at this meeting, and the regular meeting time and schedule will be decided. If you are interested, but unavailable on March 28, please call Dora (561-4559) and let her know what days/times you are available.
This is a program intended for: ADULTS
Interested teens and tweens are welcome to attend, too!
BUT, you say, I don’t know how to play chess!
WE’LL TEACH YOU, we answer. Just come and play with us.
So I recently finished reading The Body in the Library by Agatha Christie, which is the first Christie book I’ve read. I read it for a class and really enjoyed it. I never read a Christie book because I thought that it would be boring and drawn out, but it is actually a quick, easy read. My only disappointment was the location of the crime. I read the title and thought that it would be amusing if the body was found in a public library, given my job. The body is found in an ex-Colonel’s private library.
When Dolly Bantry told her husband that a body was found in the library, he told her she was dreaming and reading too many mysteries. After Colonel Arthur Bantry found out that she’d been telling the truth, he called the police, while Dolly called her friend, Miss Jane Marple. They quickly learn that the body is of professional dancer, Ruby Keene, who works at the Majestic Hotel. But why was her body in the Bantry’s library? Although Mr. Bantry had been to the Majestic Hotel, he did not recognize the strangled girl. An investigation ensues, taking the police and Miss Marple to the Majestic Hotel, where they meet more than one person with a motive to kill the dancer.
Conway Jefferson, an elderly wheelchair bound, rich man had taken an interest in Ruby and was the person who the disappearance. Adelaide Jefferson, Conway’s widowed daughter-in-law, believed that Ruby was a gold digger and Marc Gaskell, Conway’s widowed son-in-law, admitted to being happy the dancer was murdered. Josie, Ruby’s cousin, seemed more angry than sorrowful when she identified her relative’s body. When a second body is found in a burned out car, Miss Marple is sure that the murders are connected. And if the murderer has killed twice, what would stop him/her from killing again?
The Body in the Library is an interesting read because the story never stops moving. There’s always something going on to hold the reader’s attention just a little longer. The crimes are not graphic in detail but still help to move the plot along. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in murder mysteries.