Authors and Ebooks

A movement is afoot with authors on the side of libraries in the current struggle to find a happy medium in the ebook world.

Give the site a look: Authors for Library Ebooks

We want to provide as many digitally accessible books as we can, but at current prices to libraries we have to be VERY selective. Plus the variety that are offered to libraries for "purchase" is severely limited compared to what can be obtained by consumers individually. I think the four bullet points in the link cited above pretty much cover what I and many other librarians know to be true. I think many patrons know them to be true as well.

2013 Summer Celebration Awesomeness!

I am still recovering from being one of the moles in the Whack-a-Mole game, but I can't believe how many people turned out for the big kick-off to our Summer Reading Program this past Friday (June 7)!

Congratulations to our fantastic Hutchinson Public Library staff for their dedication and effort in pulling this off! If you were there, you saw staff from all departments pitching in to help for the morning. And, of course, we had massive support from a small army of volunteers and could never have run all the games and programs without them. Thank you!

We easily surpassed last years' numbers as far as I could tell, there was a non-stop line at our booth. We will have pictures of the event posted on the library's Facebook page and I'll post some here soon.

In the meantime, "Dig in to Reading", pick up a "Groundbreaking Read", or join the "Quest for Readalot" at the Hutchinson Public Library this summer. These are the reading programs for children, adults, and young adults respectively. There's fun and rewards to go along with each and each one gives you the excitement of discovering new worlds through reading!

Book Review: Frederik Pohl's Gateway

The SF Book discussion group met again to discuss Pohl's 1976 novel Gateway. This is the first in a trilogy that includes Beyond the Blue Event Horizon and Heechee Rendezvous. In Gateway, we meet Robinet (Bob) Broadhead, a man made wealthy by prospecting the ancient space lanes blazed by a long-dead and forgotten species called the "Heechee".

Through a stroke of luck, bob wins enough money in a lottery to purchase a ticket to Gateway, an intergalactic hub of sorts where prospectors can "ship out" on pre-programmed (by the Heechee) routes and return to Gateway automatically. The catch is that no one knows where the ships go until someone tries them out. Some end up in ... let's just say that some trips are no longer "round trips". Basically, the prospectors take a gamble and may strike it rich finding a treasure trove of ancient alien artifacts at their destinations or they may find nothing or they may perish in the process.

The appeal of this book is the unfolding of Bob's tale. We learn early that he is clearly wealthy and gained his wealth through prospecting from Gateway. We also learn that he is wracked by neuroses of various sorts as he frequently visits his digital shrink that he has dubbed "Sigfrid".

Various mysteries unfold as the book progresses and we follow, in a back-and-forth manner, the developments that form the Bob Broadhead we meet at the beginning of the book.

The general consensus of our group was that the book was a good one, despite dating itself in a few minor ways. I have mentioned before that the HPL SF group is a pretty tough crowd and this book was not treated as roughly as some of our previous selections. Personally, I highly recommend the book. Despite having read it many years ago and knowing where Bob's tale would lead, I enjoyed Pohl's story-telling again this time through.