With the library, good things just click

   I felt like I’d flunked a test. I like to think I’m well-connected with what’s going on in my community, but when I responded to the questionnaire that popped up on the Gwinnett County Public Library Web site surveying customers’ knowledge of their services, I totally tanked.

   I know there are links at the top of the page, but usually all I do is reserve books.

   Little did I know what all I’ve been missing out on. On my last click I saw a tribute to Pope John Paul II with a link to 23 books and several Web sites about him.

   Next there was an announcement that Gwinnett County Public Library now offers downloadable audio books. From the convenience of your home or office, you can download eAudio books to your PC, burn them to a CD, or transfer them to a portable audio device. 

   The Web site provides a link to a practice SAT (I knew a little more on that than I did on the library questionnaire) and links for income tax advice. Since April is National Poetry Month, the site serves as a springboard for surfing verses and an incentive for teens to compete for prizes in the “Whose Lines Are They Anyway?” contest. If you need calculation assistance for homework or purchases, you can click online versions of specialized calculators.

   Going beyond the virtual visits, the library invites customers to meet with real writers. Tim Darnell, author of The Crackers: Early Days of Atlanta Baseball, will speak on April 23, at the Five Forks Branch. Jason Jones will discuss his book Nomad: Letters from a Westward Lap of the World on May 10 at the Duluth Branch. On May 12 Haywood Smith will present her latest book, The Red Hat Club Rides Again at the Lawrenceville Branch and on May 23 at Collins Hill Branch you can meet Michael Connelly, author of The Closers (Little, Brown.) 
The newly formed Library Friends of the Foundation will host their first fundraiser with guest speaker, André Dubus III, author of House of Sand and Fog, this Saturday evening at the Gwinnett Center. In this story of three people from different cultures, all trying to regain their dignity and take control of their lives, Dubus examines the complexities of love, justice and the search for the American dream. 

   In addition to the food for thought offered by Dubus, guests can fill up on heavy hors d’oeuvres from Proof of the Pudding and feed their spirit by bidding on fanciful silent auction items donated by area businesses and individuals. (Info: 770-822-5333 or clmurphy@gwinnettpl.org)

   It’s amazing what you can learn about the library if you just learn how to click with it!

CORRECTION: In my March 31 column about ScreamFree Parenting, the correct statistic is that “Amazon sales rank went from 350,000 to 768” and not “Amazon sales went from 350,000 to 768,000.”


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