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Take us with you

AT THE LIBRARY

You’ve rented the beach house. The hotel reservations have been made and the flight booked. Maybe you filled the tank, packed the tent, or hitched up the camper. Perhaps you packed a suitcase, bought the groceries, and are headed for the cabin. It could be you are just taking a few days from your normal schedule and hanging out at home with friends/family,

Ah yes, it’s vacation time and it’s supposed to be relaxing, taking a break from the daily grind, altering your routine, taking a nap, learning a new hobby, seeing spectacular sights, immersing yourself in nature, did I say taking a nap, or a release from duty, business or activity.

Wait a minute! Where is the library in your vacation plans? What part do we play in making your trip more enjoyable, helping you get to your destination, or aiding in your relaxation? You simply can’t go on vacation or have a stay-cation unless you take us along!

The first step to include us in your travel plans is to make sure your library card is valid and up-to-date. Call or email us to be certain your card isn’t expired. We will be able to check that you don’t have fines, which would block your ability to check out and download materials.

Next, if you choose, you can create an account on our card catalog, which allows you to place holds and renew materials. If you have a list of books you’ve been saving to read when you have time you can check the card catalog at your leisure to see if the titles are available and in what formats (print, audio, ebook).

If you don’t have a list, come in and browse the shelves. You can also ask us to recommend books for your consideration. Just remember, if you ask Miss Susan, she is going to suggest vampire, werewolf, creep-and-gore fiction. If you use Goodreads, you can browse by subject in their “Listopia” section and then check if we own the books.

Many of you want to take ebooks on vacation because real books take up too much space in your suitcase or are too heavy to carry. You can download ebooks and eaudiobooks for FREE from the library. Need a refresher course on how to download? Just call us and make an appointment for a little one-on-one tutoring. We also have written instructions on our website.

If you are driving several hours to a vacation destination counteract the “Are we there yet?” and “I’m bored” laments with some interactive children’s books from TumbleBooks, available on the Children’s page of the website.

Those of you with portable DVD players might consider renting a movie. Depending on the length of your vacation you may want to select older titles that circulate for seven days to avoid overdue fines. You can also check out a Playaway or audio book for your listening pleasure. Listening counts as reading when you are in the car/plane/train.

For those of us who vacation at home, stay-cationers, all of the above suggestions apply, but you have several other advantages, too. We have several books about sight-seeing and day trips right here in Pennsylvania. Check out the Chamber of Commerce display in the lobby area, which has all different kinds of activities, places, businesses and things to do right here in the Juniata River Valley.

For less than $20, you can have a 10+ hour marathon of the latest movie releases. All you need is some popcorn. If you’re someone who doesn’t like/can’t “veg-out” on vacation, check out the library’s adult programs and life-long learning classes. We have everything from a book arts camp to learning tech lingo. As for me, I just stay in my PJs all day and read a book. You should try that sometime. It’s a great vacation.

No matter where you go or what you do, have a great vacation and be sure you take us with you. Send us a post card or bring us some salt water taffy and remember, a vacation should be just long enough that your boss misses you, and not long enough for him to discover how well he can get along without you.

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Molly S. Kinney is the library director at the Mifflin County Library. This week she is dreaming about taking a vacation and reading “Nittany Lion’s Journey through the Keystone State,” by Aimee Aryal, (a children’s picture book) and “Weird Pennsylvania: Your Travel Guide to Pennsylvania’s Local Legends and Best Kept Secrets,” by Matthew Lake.

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