MORRRISVILLE LIBRARY NEWS January 26, 2001
by Mary Brown

The library is getting ready for our next holiday, Valentine's Day, with a nice display of "valentine" books in the front lobby. Also, a little Valentine "work station", complete with supplies, has been set up for children to come in and make their own valentines whenever they visit the library between now and February 14th.


There are three things to mark on your calendar right now (that is, if you don't automatically remember things too well anymore!). Don't forget that at noon on Saturday, February 10th, John Taibi, author of A Hill, a Branch, and the Pecksport Loop, will be in the program room to discuss and show slides of the O & W Railway in Madison and Oneida counties. Remember that Pre-school Story Hour with Grandma B continues every Tuesday morning at 10:30 a.m. through February 27th. Finally, remind yourself to come in for the Science Fiction Mini Book Sale; the sale shelves in the front lobby are packed with science fiction books, unbelievably priced at forty cents each or three for a dollar!
The library is currently taking a survey of patrons' opinions of a proposed change in the hours the library will be open. One of the major changes would provide open hours on Thursdays from 10-1. In order to do this, a few evening hours would be cut as well as an hour on Tuesday and Saturday afternoons. The proposed changes are based on library statistics, dropping hours of lowest patronage, and adding service during people's lunch hours. Please stop in to take a look at the proposal and express your opinion on a survey form available at the circulation desk.


Motherkind by Jayne Anne Phillips heads the list of new arrivals this week. It is a touching novel of a woman expecting a new baby and caring for her dying mother at the same time. The maternal strength of the two women makes this a touching story emphasizing the continuity of life. John LeCarre's The Constant Gardener is an international thriller in which British diplomat, Justin Quayle, goes on a global chase to avenge the death of his wife, Tessa, and solve her murder. Jonathan Kellerman's Dr. Death will be a "must read" for all the fans of his psychological thrillers. In this one, someone has murdered euthanasia champion Dr. Eldon Mate--a self-styled Dr. Death responsible for scores of assisted suicides. Milo Sturgis, a Los Angeles homicide detective, and his good friend, child psychologist and LAPD consultant Dr. Alex Delaware, team up to solve the case with many twists and turns. Dean Koontz's
From the Corner of His Eye is a suspenseful thriller in which Junior Cain throws his wife off a fire tower. However, a series of tragedies occurs that convince Junior that someone or something named Bartholomew is out to exact vengeance for that crime and the series of other murders that follow. White-Out by James Vance Marshall is a fictional psychological study of an ordinary man's struggle for survival through an Antarctic winter in 1942.


On the non-fiction side, you might want to take a look at The Criminal Law Handbook by Paul Bergman and Sarah Berman-Barrett. It gives a straightforward look at arraignments and voir dire, habeas corpus, and the bail process, at police questioning and the law of search and seizure, criminal defense options and common defense strategies, acceptable courtroom behavior, basic criminal trial rules, and a walk through the trial process to parole. Landscaping Indoors, edited by Scott Appel, explains how to create indoor gardens and includes basic information on growing, such as how to use artificial lighting, water, mix soil, fertilize, and control pests. Santanoni by Engle/Kirschenbaum/Malo tells the interesting architectural and social history of an Adirondack Great Camp, as well as treats readers with more than 160 illustrations.


For our older teenage readers, The Rose and the Beast by Francesca Block creates some very different imaginings of Snow White, Thumbelina, Cinderella, Rose Red and Rose White, and other tales told as very original poetic allegories of adolescence. For our 9-12 year old readers, Richard Peck's A Year Down Yonder relates the adventures of 15-year-old Mary Alice who has to go stay with Grandma Dowdell alone--for a whole year, and finds herself being an accomplice in Grandma's outrageous schemes to run the town her own way--and do good while nobody's looking. Laura Dower's The Powderpuff Girls Save Valentine's Day should entertain the 4-6 year olds as the Powerpuff Girls, excited about exchanging valentines with all their friends, try to stop a jealous Princess Morebucks from ruining Valentine's Day for everyone.


Love is in the air, with Valentine's Day coming up. Come on into the library and find a book to "love" this week.