Snippets from the Shelves

by Patricia Bailey, Librarian

Those of us at the Main Desk have adopted the mantra “change is good.” If you have been to the Library recently you probably have noticed a change in the staffing. Lacey, Lynn, and Jeanne have joined our staff on the Main Floor; Joice has taken over the Fiction Department and is now upstairs. We hope everyone will be patient during the learning process. Also changing will be the layout and look of the Main Floor. The first stage will involve changing the shelves (this means moving all the books) which will happen in the summer. Then the Director’s office will move to the second floor, the wall will be removed, and shelving added to the new space. Throughout all of this we will keep repeating, “change is good.”

Even though it is now spring and many people are anxious to be outside in yards and gardens, I am not going to focus on our gardening collection. I will simply mention that the collection is varied and extensive, so come in and browse. Instead, I want to talk about DVDs we have recently added to our collection.

Our collection contains many older movies and that is primarily what has been added. Classics such as “My Favorite Wife” with Gary Grant and Irene Dunne, “Mr. Deeds Goes to Town” with Gary Cooper, “Teacher’s Pet” with Clark Gable and Doris Day and “Inherit the Wind” with Spencer Tracy and Frederick March never go out of style. Other movies not quite so old are “The Odd Couple” and “The Apartment” both with Jack Lemmon. Historical dramas such as “The Name of the Rose,” “The Lion in Winter,” “The Inn of the Sixth Happiness,” and “The Agony and the Ecstasy” combine exquisite acting with wonderful settings.

Classic musicals are wonderful entertainment. “Damn Yankees,” “Camelot,” “Fiddler on the Roof,” “Finian’s Rainbow,” “The Band Wagon,” “Brigadoon,” and “Bells are Ringing” will have you humming long after the movie is finished. A few science fiction classics have been added. These include a four- disc set of “The Outer Limits,” “Journey to the Center of the Earth,” and “Invasion of the Body Snatchers.”

Television programs have not been neglected. We now have some of the Red Green programs and the PBS series “Island at War” about the German occupation of one of the English Channel islands during WWII. Seasons two and three have been added to the first season of the PBS series “Ballykissangel,” which is about a parish priest and the lives of the residents of the Irish town of Ballykissangel. We also have the HBO movie “Angels in America.” “The Little Rascals” should provide a nostalgia fix.

There are many more not mentioned here. Everyone will be able to find something enjoyable out of this eclectic mix and will then have something to look forward to after a day working in the yard or soaking up the sun.