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Coming June 1st- Longer Loan Periods

Written on: May 27th, 2009 in News

We’ve had a lengthy discussion over the last couple of months about extending the loan period for library material in the Delaware Library Catalog. Taking into account feedback from patrons, statistics on item renewals, and concerns over access to high-demand items, the Delaware Library Catalog is VERY pleased to announce that from June 1st there will be a number of changes to loan periods for various items.

• From June 1st, most library materials will circulate for 3 weeks, instead of the current 2-week loan period.
• Books and Audio books that are not on-hold for other patrons may be renewed for one additional 3-week period
• VHS and DVDs may not be renewed
• Shorter loan periods for certain high-demand items may apply- books and audio books with a substantial number of hold requests will be loaned for 2 weeks only, and VHS/DVDs will only check out for 1 week.

Hopefully this additional reading/listening/watching time will make your library use more relaxing, and you won’t have to rush through a book or keep it overdue in order to finish it! For the most popular books and video, there won’t be any change in terms- so you can still read James Patterson at a somewhat leisurely pace!

“Bonnet Books”

Written on: May 27th, 2009 in News

They’ve been called “bonnet books” (although the term isn’t popular amongst the genre’s writers) and in the Delaware Library Catalog they’ve been a hot property for a long time- particularly in the Georgetown and Greenwood libraries, where they routinely top the lists of most-popular subjects and authors. The media have just started to catch up with the popularity of Amish-themed romance novels, as seen in this story and it’s accompanying feature on “Nightline”.

The ABC News piece focused on Cindy Woodsmall, author of the Sisters of the Quilt trilogy, but at least in Delaware, Wanda Brunstetter is more popular, along with Beverley Lewis. You can see a list of most of our Amish-themed fiction here.

Most of these works fall under the Romance category, but the central conflicts are often between the opposing cultural values and expectations of the Amish and “English” communities, with the protagonists often challenged with finding ways to follow their hearts while remaining true to their beliefs.

For those with an interest in learning more about non-fictional aspects of Amish and Mennonite culture and belief, Donald Kraybill and John Hostetler have each produced many authoritative but accessible books on these subjects- Kraybill’s most recent book on the Nickel Mines School shooting of 2006 is particularly impressive, in its challenge to our mainstream notions about retribution and forgiveness.