Year End Celebration

Well winter is here and the football season is almost over which means that we here at the library are finishing up one year and getting ready to start a whole new year. Each December the Library System reviews what went right in the past year and what we can do to improve services in the coming year.

2007 was an extremely successful year for the Library System. We are going to end the year with our circulation up around 3%. That makes twelve straight years of circulation increases for the system.

In the past year, we have added a number of new services. We began to offer downloadable audio books. This service will change in the coming year. It should make it easier to download and listen to books on your MP3 player.

Also in the past year, we began to offer streaming video programs which can be viewed on your home computer. These programs are mostly documentaries and educational programs. Beginning any day now, these programs will include major movies and foreign films.

Culturegrams and World Book Encyclopedia were added to the electronic information which the Library System offers from home. Culturegrams provides great overviews of countries around the world. If you are traveling to a foreign country, these articles are great places to start your research.

The World Book Encyclopedia Online is just like having the twenty volume encyclopedia on your home shelves if you have a computer.

The biggest addition to our services this year is the opening the Harbaugh-Thomas Library in Biglerville. This new library expands the System’s ability to provide programs, offer books and computers.

The Library System also added many new books to our collection. We purchased more than 15000 books, DVD’s, Audio Books and Music CD’s.

In 2008, we have big plans to hopefully improve service even more to meet our growing community’s needs. We plan on offering more books, DVD’s, Audio Books and Music CD’s.

We want to make our libraries even friendlier and easier for you to use. We will add more electronic services to allow you access to more quality information on your home computer. We will also have more programs for you take advantage of opportunities for personal growth. We are looking forward to another great year in Adams County.