The cover of the book was bumpy and grainy. A closer look revealed grains of sand. I smiled and ran a hand over the surface, imagining the reader laying the book on a beach towel, somewhere warm, while sand gathered at the edges and found its way under the cellophane cover.
When items leave the Hinsdale Public Library, especially in summer, we consider their travel plans. Items collected for car trips will be on a journey to visit family, National Parks or historic sites. Books and movies may cross borders. We know our audiobooks will keep siblings from arguing while others carefully drive. We wonder if the summer reading recommendation from a Hinsdale school list will be read in a hammock, a boat or at the local pool. Was it devoured, or set aside for hiking, biking, or other activity, not to be picked up again until the return trip home? We imagine words being forever linked to the location where they were read.
If the recent checkouts in our travel collection are an indication, there may be an increase in travel excursions planned this summer. When checking out, ask if a vacation loan is possible to double the loan time. Automatic renewals on items are given when possible if no other cardholder is waiting for the title. These notices are sent by email, but you can check your account online at https://www.hinsdalelibrary.info. No fines accrue on our overdue items; however, after an item is three weeks overdue, your account will be blocked. This could prevent you from enjoying digital resources, which are often relied upon while traveling, like Libby, Hoopla and Flipster. Give the library a call at (630) 986.1976 for help with your account.
For those staying closer to home, take a look at our virtual program offerings. Adults can register to armchair travel to Tokyo with the Voyager's Travel Discussion Club on Wednesday, May 26. Place a hold on National Geographic's "America the Beautiful: a Story in Photographs," curated from 20 million archived photographs, to flip through the country. Coming soon are "World Travel" by Laurie Woolever and the late Anthony Bourdain, and "Facing the Mountain: a True Story of Japanese American heroes in World War II" by Daniel James Brown. Request them now and we'll notify you when they are available.
Children can request Fact Packs, a bag of selected informational books, on states or countries near and far at https://www.hinsdalelibrary.info/kids. National Geographic Kids' "Little Kids First Big book of Where" will take young readers to amazing places around the world. Booklists are often popular during the summer months. "Travel the World Through Fiction" booklists for children or teens might have just what readers are seeking. Ask for it at the Children's Desk.
Some items will not return, unwittingly left behind. Who will read these wandering items next? Will this next reader search Hinsdale Public Library and return the item to 20 E. Maple St.? Perhaps it will end up at the nearest library from where it is found, in which case it will come home to us. Libraries are courteous that way and embrace the order that comes from reuniting missing pieces of a collection. We would do the same.
- Martha Kennedy is the
patron services manager at the
Hinsdale Public Library.
