The Life of a Book
I was published and put on the market. Eventually I made it to the New York Times Bestseller List and Booklist. And then I was listed in the Otis Observer as a new release purchased by the Otis Library! What a wonderful place! Personable, quaint and so comfortable! Everybody liked me. I was always going in and out. Sometimes I would even travel to distant places, other libraries as part of the CWMARS delivery system funded by Mass Library System. Finally, my travels slowed down. It was nice to take a rest at first, but then I got bored. Now and then I would go out, but not too often. It has been quite some time since I left this shelf. I was just listed on the not circulated in three years list. Now I have been taken from the shelf and I have been reprocessed. I have a nice new sticker on me and I have been put on display in a different room. Oh, I see some of my old friends, they are here too. I am here to be given away to someone who would like me, someone who may have missed me before, a patron from the Otis Library who would like to take me for free. That is because it is those nice patrons and wonderful people who have supported me all these years through their kind and generous donations, and the town’s stipend to the library, through the people’s taxes. Hopefully someone will take me during this month of November, the Library give away month. After November if I am still here I will be moved again. I will go to the back porch where there is a book sale room. I have been told that I can stay there about 12 months. If no one wants me, then I will be boxed up and donated to the book drives that will take me to needy communities, maybe I will be sent to the soldiers who are serving our country, maybe funds will be raised to collect books and sent to Ukraine for their reconstruction needs. While that sounds exciting, I hope I get to stay here in this nice area a while longer. I hope someone will take me. I hope I live forever. I really am a great read.
NOVEMBER IS OTIS LIBRARY GIVE AWAY TO PATRON MONTH! Free Books, DVD’s, Audiobooks to anyone with an Otis Library Card.
The library will spend considerable time weeding the collection not because we want to but because we have no space. This means that items that have not circulated during the past few years, items that have become worn and damaged and items that are out of date have been removed from the collection. This is done to make room for new materials and to keep up to date. We offer these materials to our patrons for free during the month of November, so please come in and get what you might have missed. Or collect some materials to give away to others. A recycled book is always a great gift, especially during the holidays.
There is a dichotomy that the library is facing. Many patrons want the actual physical book to read. An item that you hold and develop a relationship with. You treasure the design and color of the cover, the pages. And then there are those that reserve the book online either through CWMARS catalog system app Libby, or using an ecard from the Boston Public Library and Commonwealth Catalog. When the request is available you will be notified and download it on to your device to read it electronically. Classes and demonstrations are available through the Otis Library. We strive to accommodate both modes of reading. However, sometime the costs and the space restrict our ability to provide the most comprehensive service.
Also, part of this book recycling system is the number of items we are receiving from patrons as donations. This year we have received more donations than we can accommodate at this time. Please understand that we have had dealt with this by weeding and discarding some donations, shortening the time we keep donations for sale, and boxing some donations to display at a later time this year when we have space. Please do not leave donations outside unattended as the weather prevails and damages them beyond use.
There are fewer and fewer places to donate books and other items for Good Will Circulation. I am hoping that some social service agencies will start to collect items for distribution to needy places here and abroad. If you hear of any such efforts please let the library know.
September is the month that new words are added to the Webster Dictionary. Here are a few of the 350 reflecting changing times and keeping you current.
Supply Chain, laggy, surface wave,
Covid relalted terms: booster dose, subvariant, emergency use authorization, covid booster,
New areas and realms: space force, plant based
New activity: Magnet fishing, to catch metal objects underwater
New term "sus" meaning short for suspicious and suspect.
Now if I were your teacher sand you were the student, your homework would be to go and write a sentence using each one of these new terms!!
OTIS LIBRARY is the place to be……. Come and see!