Did you know that with your Juniata County library card you can get over 20,000 free digital books? eBooks are books that you can read on a tablet or smart device. eAudio titles are like books on CD but you can listen to them through your tablet or smart device.

I often say that nothing is more expensive than free. Here is a glimpse into how we get those 20,000 free digital books available to you.

When we pay for a print book, it’s a one-time fee for it and we own it forever. When we pay for a digital book, we get limited access to it and do not keep it forever. A print book can cost between $5 and $50 but a digital book can cost up to $120. A big difference.

Digital books are usually available for a set number of uses or for unlimited uses over a set period of time. For example: we buy an eAudio book for $120 and we either 1) have access to it for two years during which it can be borrowed an unlimited amount of times and then we have to buy it again or 2) we have access to it for an unlimited amount of time but it can only be borrowed 26 times and then we have to buy it again. This means that a digital book could cost us hundreds of dollars over time just to continue to have access to it and we don’t even own it.

Digital books, especially eAudio formats, are really popular today. They are great to have when you are on the go, such as in the car, cleaning the house, or on a walk.

Our digital content is available 24/7. All you need is a library card! If you have one, visit our website and click on the eBooks link on the top of the page. If you do not have a library card, visit our website and click Get a Library Card on the top of the page and we will mail you one. If you are unsure how to get a book on your device or are running into issues, you can message us and we will help.

Passport services

available at the Juniata County Library

We are excited to announce that the Juniata County Library offers passport services! If you would like a passport for the first time, get your current passport renewed, or have your photo taken for either application, stop into the library or visit our website to make an appointment: www.juniatalibrary.org

Book of the week!

If you are going to read one book, give this one a try…

The Quiet Tenant by Clemence Michallon

(New adult fiction: thriller, crime, suspense)

In a nutshell: A gripping psychological suspense novel. Michallon’s riveting tale shows a killer through the eyes of the women in his life

Aidan Thomas doesn’t seem like a bad person: “People loved and trusted him because he was a normal man.” When his wife dies and he needs to move, his hostage, a woman he calls Rachel, convinces him to move her into his new house under the guise of being his tenant rather than killing her in the shed where he’s been hiding her. There, she has more access to his life–she can look through his possessions, hear who comes into the home, and even talk to his daughter. In alternating chapters, she figures out how to stay alive and how best to try to leave. The tight clip of Rachel’s voice–“Any minute now, the tires of his truck will screech outside. He’ll climb up the stairs, the furious tap-tap-tap of his boots a prelude to his anger”–lends urgency. Meanwhile, Aidan is so popular that his community is raising money for him in a 5K race; bartender Emily has volunteered to run a hot-cocoa station to get to know him better. It’s the contrast between the man Aidan appears to be to the outside world–and even to his family–and the man he is in secret that makes Rachel’s job so difficult. The people who love him will protect him because they can’t see him the way that she does. In other chapters, Aidan’s earlier victims chime in to show what’s at stake for Rachel if he isn’t caught. And when Rachel meets the other women in his life–first his daughter and then Emily–she knows she must escape for their sake, too, but will they help or hinder her?

Bottom line: While a widowed man falls for a bartender, the woman he’s held hostage for years plots her escape in this fast-paced thriller.

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Vince Giordano has been the librarian and director of the Juniata County Library since 2015.