Diary of a Desk-less Librarian: Day 31

Did you hear about our new book drop?!

Located on the west end of the library’s parking lot, we have installed a new, state-of-the-art book drop! Completely water tight, you can place your library items with confidence inside its shiny silver box.

Library staff will be emptying its contents on a regular basis during the day. You don’t even have to leave the comfort of your vehicle to return your items with ease.  If you drop your items after the library is closed or before it is opened, we will back date the media’s return day to avoid those pesky late fines.

Come, take a look, and return your book (and everything else you’ve borrowed from the library)! It is only the first of many awesome renovations that are coming your way.

Speaking of renovations, they are still on-going.  We’ve reached the stage where the library seems to be coated in a continuous, light layer of plaster and dust.

Don’t worry though- there are still plenty of great reads, movies, CDs, and games available for checkout.  In fact, here are some recommended reads from O’Fallon library users. (Click on the book cover to order it from the online library catalog.)

The Zookeeper’s Wife is a fascinating account of the Zabinskis who resided in Warsaw, Poland during the Nazi bombing and occupation. With the majority of zoo animals killed or ‘relocated’ to German zoos, Jan and his wife, Antonina, used their intelligence, charm, and luck to keep the zoo essential to the German army so that it would remain open and able to secretly shelter Jews and other enemies of the state.

The book paints a vivid portrait of the times, at time waxing a bit too philosophical to be an easy read, but achieves its goal — demonstrating how everyday people risked everything to ‘do the right thing.’ -Jessica G.

The Cinnamon Roll Murder was a decent story. It is part of a series and the book went with the assumption that the reader would have some understanding of the backstory. I spent the first few chapters trying to piece it all together. The murder mystery part was entertaining but they kept going off on random tangents about food. I swear I gained 20 lbs just reading the book. I initially checked the book out but ultimately bought the book because of the recipes I wanted to try. – SF

Still Alice is a wonderful book. Genova wove a story written in first person making you feel like you were a part of her life. Her portrayal of early onset Alzheimer’s Disease opened my eyes to the severity and devastation of this disease. I fell in love with the character (Alice) and carried this book with me wherever I went so I could read it in every spare minute. I highly recommend this book and intend to read more of Genova’s novels. – CE

Stay tuned for an improved and expanded Reader’s Advisory on our website: http://ofpl.info/reading-suggestions  We’ll be including even more reviews from our librarians and library users, book lists, read a-likes, and more!

Until next time, happy reading!