Library funding nationwide is not guaranteed. We would hate to lose something that truly cannot be replaced. Your tax-deductible gift to the Juniata County Library will express your values and your life purpose, and make the best care available for yourself, your family and your neighbors.

Your kind giving makes all this possible. You are giving to a cause that you experience and are a part of, whether you know it or not. The library fuels your community by enhancing property and business value, improving graduation rates, increasing education levels and boosting overall life satisfaction. Your donation can actually make a tangible difference.

Donations are tax-deductible and make an immediate impact in your community. All donations made go directly to support the Juniata County Library. Take advantage of this end-of-year opportunity to make a donation to the library, either by mail (498 Jefferson St., Mifflintown, PA 17059), in person or securely online at www.juniatalibrary.org.

Your donation can support any aspect of our operations, including books for all ages, programming, technology or simply to help keep the lights on.

A popular form of donating to the library is In Memory of (IMO) and In Honor of (IHO) gifts. We have someone who donates to the library each year in memory of their mother, who loved Amish fiction books. Her donation goes towards purchasing new Amish fiction books. We place a label on the inside of the book, listing the donor’s name and the specific text they wish. We also add the mother’s name to our online book record. You can then search our catalog by Digital Bookplate and see all of the books donated in her name.

Finally, we recently enrolled in Pennian Bank’s Local First Program. Use your qualifying account at Pennian Bank and fill out the Supporter Form. Our reference number is 53037. Once the Juniata County Library has 20 supporters, we will start receiving quarterly donations from Pennian Bank. The best part? It’s of no cost to you. Donations are calculated based on a percentage of the average daily balances in the supporters’ accounts. The higher the account balances, the higher the donation. It’s just another way Pennian Bank is supporting the wonderful organizations in our community, and an easy way for you to show your support of the library. You can reach Pennian Bank by visiting pennian.bank/about/local-first-program or calling (717) 436-2144.

Book of the week!

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

Book of Lives: A Memoir of Sorts by Margaret Atwood

(New adult nonfiction book: autobiography, memoir) ~ 624 pages

In a nutshell: The long-awaited memoir from the author of “The Handmaid’s Tale,” Atwood recounts her journey to becoming one of the leading voices in modern literature.

“How often have I heard, at book signings,” Atwood writes, “‘But your writing is so dark. I wasn’t expecting you to be funny.’ A good question to ponder. Which one of these personae is real? And why can’t it be both?” In this penetrating memoir, which explores multiple dimensions of her complex persona, it’s Atwood’s irrepressible wit, not darkness, that enlivens both mundane domestic moments and life’s pivotal events, creating a fully engaging chronicle.

Indeed, Atwood’s humor permeates the recounting of her early years, from exploring northern Quebec’s backwoods with science-minded parents, her father an entomologist, her mother a dietician, through family moves between Ottawa, Sault Ste. Marie and Toronto, and her journey through college, graduate school and her evolving writing career, including formative travels to Cambridge and Britain.

Beyond a mere chronology of events leading to writing success, Atwood’s narrative is particularly notable in its focus on the genesis of her observations, revealing how writing itself perpetually unfolds alongside life. Writing becomes life’s reflection: “I move through time, and, when I write, time moves through me. It’s the same for everyone. You can’t stop time, nor can you seize it; it slips away.”

She explores craft in vivid, instructive terms: “This has been an experience I’ve often had: poetry breaks a subject open, fiction grows from the break.” Such insightful analysis extends to more personal observations, as Atwood examines her relationships within the writing and publishing communities, including fellow Canadians Margaret Laurence and Alice Munro, her early marriage to writer Jim Polk and most significantly, her enduring partnership with novelist Graeme Gibson and their daughter, Jess.

Woven throughout the later chapters are considerations of the acclaimed novels that would define her legacy, “The Handmaid’s Tale” and “Alias Grace” among them, alongside prestigious honors, awards and celebrated adaptations that cemented her position as one of literature’s most influential voices.

Bottom line: As we travel with her along the course of her life, more and more is revealed about her writing, the connections between real life and art, and the workings of one of our greatest imaginations.

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