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When Glenn Beck's book "An Inconvenient Book" made the number 1 book on the New York Times best seller list, I requested the library to purchase it. This happened about two or three months ago. I made a trip to the library yesterday hoping to check out the book (which is still in the top 10, I believe). They still didn't have the book. I couldn't believe that they didn't have it but left without saying a word. After I left the library I decided to call and ask them since I could have been mistaken . The lady I spoke with said that they do not have the book and they are not planning to purchase it. Why would the library NOT purchase a book that has been on the NYT best seller list for over 15 weeks and had a request made for it? I have to believe that it is because it is a very conservative book. In the past I have frequented the friends bookstore and given donations for the friends bookstore, but no more. Muscle Shoals Library is just across the river.
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I have stopped bothering with the Florence library, too. The prices in the bookstore have grown steadily to the point where it's just laughable now. It seems that if the ladies doing the pricing have heard of the book, it is suddenly worth $5, even if it is ex-library or has water damage.

I have a friend who gave some new children's books to the library. One of the books was about Creation. She found it for sale in the bookstore right after she donated it. Censorship, maybe?

Try donating the Glenn Beck book and see if it turns up in the bookstore. Or maybe you could give it in honor of Sam Pendleton and see what happens!

The Killen Library has a bookstore that is open on Fridays and Saturdays. Their prices are reasonable, the people are nice, and the selection is good. There's no need to even mess with Florence.
Library funding has been cut over the past couple years making this a very difficult time for the library. Its especially hard to keep up with all the new books coming. You have to get several copies of the Grisham and Patterson books that come out because they are in such high demand. As far as donations go, there is a screening process that the library uses to determine which books are brought into the collection and which ones are not. Anything not added to the collection is given to the bookstore and the money in turn comes back to the library. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the library and its services you should contact the Director.
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Originally posted by GoFish:
Could it possibly be that the library simply cannot afford to purchase every book that is ever published?



I'll probably just buy the book myself. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/09/books/bestseller/0309...k&st=nyt&oref=slogin

If you put in that url it is the NYT best seller list for non-fiction. The book has been #1 and is still #7. The only other book that the library did not have in the top 8 was Liberal Fascism which is now #1 and is heavily promoted by Glenn Beck. Now granted they do have the Colbert book and he is "tongue in cheek" ultra conservative. I never would have given it two thoughts had I not put in a request for it when it was at #1 (which I had never done before). I would be curious to know how many non-fiction books they have purchased since Christmas....that's about when I put in the request...since it has been in the top 7 since that time.
Ironically, I got this in my inbox today about the attack on Christians in this country.

silencingchristians.com
You`re having a PBA moment too GF. Big Grin
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Originally posted by GoFish:
quote:
Originally posted by HomesickGirl:
I have a friend who gave some new children's books to the library. One of the books was about Creation. She found it for sale in the bookstore right after she donated it. Censorship, maybe?


No, just really bad fiction.
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Originally posted by geddon97:
Thats the open minded,enlightened left for you.They love free speech and thought as long as they agree with it.


I am as liberal as it gets and I still enjoy watching Glenn Beck. Thats the part about being an open minded. I disagree with him - Alot. I agree with him, at times. I still respect his opinion and would not feel confident in my stance on issues if I didnt know what the issues were and where conservatives were coming from.

I beleive there might be something else going on with the library not purchasing the book.
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Originally posted by _Joy_:
If the library doesn't have a book I want & I buy it, I donate it. I later see it on the shelf. You should donate the book if you want to see it there. I think it's funny that I feel offended at this thread. I love Florence Public Library. Wink

I am thinking I might do just that. If you had asked me two days ago my opinion of FPL It would have been extremely positive. I am 40 now and my earliest and fondest memories are of going to storytime and then taking my own kids when it was their time. We have always been huge fans of the library. Most of my personal library books on my own shelves were bought at their bookstore. Honestly, just last week I had a discussion with my teenage daughter about careers and what she would want to do in life if money didn't matter. She then turned the table on me and asked(I am a stay-at-home mom) me the same question. I told her that my dream job would be at the Florence Library. Maybe that is why this has hit such a nerve for me. My expectations were that the lady who chooses books to buy for the public to read was unbiased. and from my conversation with the librarian I understandd that there is one lady that had that power. Is it too much to think that the books the library would buy would be the most popular books of the time?
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Originally posted by thehippiegirl:
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The Killen Library has a bookstore that is open on Fridays and Saturdays. Their prices are reasonable, the people are nice, and the selection is good. There's no need to even mess with Florence.


thanks for the info! Cool


So does Rogersville, Lexington, and a small one in Muscle Shoals. There are also stores in the Russellville and Tuscumbia libraries. All their prices are much more reasonable than Florence's. Russellville even has a free section, in which I recently found a great civil war book.
As a librarian who makes decisions about what to buy, and who also happens to be very liberal, I have to say that I think it's strange that they haven't bought that book and I can understand why you want a better explanation. For comparison's sake, we have multiple copies of that book at the Nashville Public Library and it has dozens of holds on it. I'm surprised they didn't offer to interlibrary loan it for you if they're not planning to buy it.
Marian hit on a great solution - inter-library loan. I have had to do this in Madison. While the Huntsville-Madison County Library system is very large, every branch does not have every book.

Also, "An Inconvenient Book" is 20% off for Millionaire Club members at Books A Million right now (about $16.50), if you were looking to buy it. It is about the same price at B&N if you have a membership card there as well. Amazon.com has it for $15.45, but it might be a "book club" version.
quote:
Originally posted by _Joy_:
If the library doesn't have a book I want & I buy it, I donate it. I later see it on the shelf. You should donate the book if you want to see it there. I think it's funny that I feel offended at this thread. I love Florence Public Library. Wink


i love it too, such a relaxing atmosphere..get a book, find a chair, and settle in to another place and time for a while... Cool
I no longer live in the Shoals, but when I did, I used the libraries a lot. Are the libraries there no longer connected like they were in the 70's and 80's? I used to get all sorts of books on interlibrary loans. There was also some book service that loaned books to libraries without the libraries having to buy them. Those were often the books on the best seller lists.

I personally think public libraries are wonderful! Where else can you borrow books for free, read all sorts of newspapers and magazines without paying for them (or fighting for a place to sit to look at them as in a Barnes and Noble)? There are all sorts of reference books (with properly documented research unlike some Internet sites). I check out movies from my library and I can request those as well as books online and the staff contacts me when they are in. I go online and download audio books also.

I don't know why some of those used books in the sales area are so expensive, but it helps fund our libraries. I will buy sales table books to take on vacation and return them to the library to be resold after I finish them. I know several people who do the same thing.
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There was also some book service that loaned books to libraries without the libraries having to buy them. Those were often the books on the best seller lists.


Yes, libraries can rent books from companies like McNaughton. This Glenn Beck book seems like a good candidate for rental, because while interest in it is high right now, it probably won't be in a year or so.

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