Trending
Do you have boxes of papers that you need to safely get rid of? The Juniata County Library has an industrial shredder that can handle any kind of document, even including ones with staples, paperclips and rubber bands.
Back in 2019 when we looked to add this new service, I asked around to see if anyone else did this kind of thing. I discovered that there were no places here you could take your documents to be shredded. We knew then that there was a local need that we could meet.
Courtesy of our Friends of the Library, we have a P5 security level shredder that turns your documents into confetti. Shredders are given security levels between P2 and P7 based on how fine they shred the documents. Common shredders turn your documents into strips, which is the least secure and easiest to reassemble. The next level of shredders cross cut and higher-end shredders turn them into confetti or dust.
P5 is capable of safely destroying very confidential, commercial, corporate and personal data. It is sufficient for commercial shredding standards.
Maybe you took time during the pandemic to clear out things in our home, or you recently retired and now need to safely dispose of professional documents, or would like to get rid of old tax documents. The library can help you.
You can bring your papers to the library during our regular hours and we will shred them for you. It costs $20 per box or $1 per pound (we have a scale that weighs them). We put the shredded documents into a big bag; you can take it with you if you prefer. We also provide for your records a certificate stating what we shredded.
The library's hours are Mondays 9 a.m.-7 p.m., Tuesdays 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Wednesdays 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Thursdays 9 a.m.-7 p.m., Fridays 9 a.m.-5 p.m. and Saturdays 9 a.m.-3 p.m. If you have questions, you can reach us at (717) 436-6378 or chat live at www.juniatalibrary.org.
Book of the week!
If you are going to read one book, give this one a try...
Penelope Rex and the Problem with Pets by Ryan T. Higgins
(New kids fiction: animals, humorous stories, dinosaurs, picture book) ~ 48 pages for ages 4-7
In a nutshell: Penelope's parents give her an overzealous pet that just might be too much to handle.
What is an appropriate pet for a young T. rex? A saber-toothed cat, of course. Penelope, a dinosaur, doesn't even want a pet. But she's willing to give Mittens, a cat, a try.
Mittens, however, is a bit energetic and very large. He takes up the entire bed and greets Penelope with excited leaps every time she walks through the door. Plus, he eats everything he's not supposed to (even possibly the neighbor, Mrs. Phillips) and has a habit of burying Penelope's underwear in the backyard.
But when the family puts Mittens outside (he looks in longingly through the sliding glass door with large, sorrowful eyes) and attempts to crate him at night, Penelope's feelings begin to change. With a lot of hard work and training, Mittens becomes a lovable--but still very large--part of the family.
Higgins explores the frustrations of new-pet ownership and the time it takes for all involved to parse out their new roles. Clad in her trademark pink overalls, Penelope experiences a range of emotions (disgust when Mittens uses the bathtub as a litter box, anger over a torn backpack, remorse at losing her temper) in exaggerated, snout-quivering style.
Bottom line: A first-pet tale bursting with personality.
•••
Vince Giordano has been the librarian and director of the Juniata County Library since 2015.