by Beth Cronk
Do you check out movies and audiobooks at the library? Now you can keep them longer! Pioneerland Library System has lengthened
checkout times on these materials.
Videos are now due back one week after they are checked out
instead of five days. This will allow
people who only come to town once a week, or those who come to storyhour at the
library once a week, to make use of our movies.
It also makes sense now that we offer many seasons of television shows
on DVD; most people need a little more time to watch those.
You may still have six DVDs checked out on a library card at
one time. To check out more, you’ll need
to return some. Fines for late movies
are $1 per day with no grace period, up to a maximum late fee of $3 per
movie.
Audiobooks are now due back 4 weeks after they’re checked
out, the same as print books. Most
people don’t get through a book any faster by listening to it than by picking
it up and reading it, so I think many of our audiobook users will like this
change. People who are going on road
trips often use our audiobooks, and many times they need longer than our
previous 2-week checkout period. We
thought about how people use this format and the library system made this
change to better serve your needs.
So what will you check out with these new longer checkout
times? Here are a few ideas from among
our new audiovisual offerings:
The Book of Negroes is a new miniseries from the Canadian
Broadcasting Corporation. It tells the story of a woman kidnapped from Africa
and sold into slavery in South Carolina.
She escapes during the American Revolution and makes her way to New York
and other places in pursuit of freedom.
Reviews say it’s difficult but extremely compelling to watch. The series is based on the book “Someone
Knows My Name” by Lawrence Hill, also published under the title “The Book of
Negroes.”
Grantchester is the new BBC miniseries that was broadcast
on PBS after Downton Abbey this year. This
gentle mystery series features young vicar Sidney Chambers and an overworked
inspector solving crimes in an English village.
It features a diverse group of characters and the high quality writing
and cinematography we’ve come to expect from British television. This series is based on the mystery book
series by James Runcie.
On the audiobook front, we have T.D. Jakes’ Instinct: The Power to Unleash Your Inborn Drive. The
author focuses on discovering one’s natural aptitudes and applying lessons
learned from past experiences. Jakes is the senior pastor of the
nondenominational megachurch The Potter’s House in Dallas, and a producer of
the movie “Heaven is for Real.”
We also have the audio version of Station Eleven by Emily
St. John Mandel. This post-apocalyptic
novel was a finalist for the 2014 National Book Award. Rather than focusing only on crisis like most
novels of this genre, this one follows a troupe of actors and musicians who
travel between communities after a pandemic, living by the Star Trek quote,
“Because survival is insufficient.”
Libraries are full of stories. You can find them on the pages of books, but
you can also find them on CDs and DVDs. Come in and explore all of our different kinds
of materials and bring home a story you’ll enjoy.
