My Recent Comments

I think I'm about caught up now, actually. Now if I can just stay that way! You know what they say: so many books...

Ya know, I really want to see John Matthew's story. That oughta be interesting.

I've got the date marked on my calendar. Sad, huh?

Well, duh. Shoot, I'm actively recruiting patrons. XD

Talk about motivation!

I work at a library, so maybe I can help a little with the outrage that some readers experience over having to pay for checking out certain items. First, I live in Georgia (USA), and most of the public libraries (over 260) within the state are members of the PINES system, with certain borrowing privileges available from the state university library system for a small fee. Everyone who uses their public library should take the time to see if their local library is part of a larger system, because the benefits of such systems are amazing! Now, as to libraries charging for services: policies differ from library to library, and a lot of this has to do with how much local and state funding a library has. Our library charges only for certain services that require a cash outlay on our part (like copies, faxes and loans from libraries that require a fee for borrowing items) and for lost/damaged items; holds are free, borrowing from within the PINES system is free (for the moment; we're in negotiation with our courier service, who wants more money for less work), Internet/wireless usage is free, and (as far as I know) there is no fee to borrow any item within our collection. We are, however, one of the better funded and managed libraries. It is a sad fact that most libraries are losing funding, or are in danger of doing so. Many are just poorly run. Some have no choice but to ask patrons to pay for the privilege of using certain items or services, because the money to run the library just isn't there. Chances are that if a library charges a patron to borrow certain items, the money is used either to purchase new items or to pay for staffing or overhead. Educate yourself about these issues! Publicly-funded libraries are required to keep their books open, so ASK why you must pay fees for borrowing privileges when you already pay taxes to keep the library open (only, I wouldn't put it that way). If there is a funding shortage in your area, join the friends of the library, start a letter-writing campaign or do SOMEthing that will help your library obtain more funding so that as many services as possible are free.

I see some author names here I'll have to try!! I didn't do last year's challenge (didn't know about it until late, late last year), but I have read/bought books by authors I've seen around the various forums. Or that were recommended by other readers. Who ever mentioned Kelley Armstrong...you might like the paranormals by Donna Boyd (aka Donna Ball).

I agree with your comment that the person who reads the audiobook can make or break the experience. After listening to Jim Dale reading the first couple of Harry Potter books, we tried one of the Mark Twain stories on audio, and returned it to the library almost immediately because we didn't like the reader. So far, that's been our only bad experience. By the way, Jim Dale is awesome! Another good reader is Nathaniel Parker, who does the Artemis Fowl series. We're listening to Eldest (written by Christopher Paolini) right now (the reader's not bad, but I don't know who he is, right off the top of my head).