Banned Books Week!

September 27-October 4 is the American Library Association's annual, Banned Books Week. Each year at this time, librarians celebrate their devotion to providing uncensored information to America's library patrons.

Despite strenuous efforts to prevent access to popular works by noted authors, it pleases me to write that the Waterloo Public Library contains each title on the ALA list of "Most Banned Books of 2007:"

1. And Tango makes Three, by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell
   


2. The Chocolate War, by Richard Cormier
   


3. Olive's Ocean, Kevin Henke
   


4. The Golden Compass, Phillip Pullman
   


5. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain
   


6. The Color Purple, by Alice Walker
   


7. TTYL, Lauren Myracle
   


8. I know why the Caged Bird Sings, Maya Angelou
   


9. It's Perfectly Normal, by Robie Harris
   


10. The Perks of being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky
    

The Waterloo Public Library is committed to providing its patrons with the materials that they wish to view or read. Check back in early fall of 2009 to see if we keep up the good work!

c 2008 Waterloo Public Library

WPL Closed Friday; Try Cedar Falls!

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The Waterloo Public Library will be closed for in-service training Friday, September 26. If you need Internet access, or wish to take advantage of other library services, consider a visit to our sister library, in Cedar Falls.

The Cedar Falls Public Library has 20 public access computers as well as a wide selection of fiction, non-fiction, and audio-visual materials. Cedar Falls is an Open Access library that will extend borrowing privileges to residents of Waterloo as well as many other locales.

The CFPL is only 20 minutes away, has great parking, and will be open from 9:00-5:00 p.m. Or, if you can stand the wait, the Waterloo Public Library will reopen Saturday, September 27, at 9:00 a.m.

c 2008 Waterloo Public Library

Fugitive File goes Online!

Ever wonder about the Top Ten Floods in Waterloo's history? Or, whatever became of Josh Higgin's Park? Or, how do you submit a petition to the City of Waterloo?

Answers to these head scratchers and more can be found at the Waterloo Public Library's most recent contribution to the Internet: The Waterloo Public Library Wiki! The Wiki, a Hawaiian term for "fast," is rapidly being populated with entries from what we've previously called the Fugitive File, those odd bits of folklore and ephemera that are important to us locals, but not easily accessible via traditional reference sources.

As time goes on, WPL Reference librarians gradually transfer this information from bits of paper to electronic bits, the "new order of order."

c 2008 Waterloo Public Library

Friends Autumn Book Sale!

The Friends of the Waterloo Public Library Used Book & Magazine Sale is nearly upon us. The event kicks off Thursday, September 4, with a "members only" pre-sale from 6:30-8:30 p.m. (For information on becoming a WPL Friend, visit their website.)

The doors reopen Friday & Saturday mornings at 9:00 a.m. and will close each day at 3:00 p.m. The Friends promise that nothing will cost more than a buck, and most items will cost far less.

The Friends' book sale area remains in our basement, which still shows the effects of last June's flooding. The carpetless floors look nasty, but the place is dry as a bone and has been professionally sanitized. With luck, the next sale will see a brand new tile floor.

c 2008 Waterloo Public Library