"Thirty years ago, we lent you 'Curious George,' hoping you'd be done by now." — billboard sign posted by the Boston Public Library during a 2001 amnesty drive.
Nov. 27, 2002 — Libraries, long proud collectors of books for everyone to have a chance to read whatever they wish without cost, have trouble keeping the books on their shelves. No, they don't want them there all the time, but they do want them to come and go: go out for a good read, come back, go out for the next good read …
The Florence Williams Public Library might well have lent your now-grown children "Curious George," for it's been a staple picture book for the very young for more than half a century. Of course, Crucians remember when the Christiansted Library was in another location and Ena Henderson was head librarian; but when the new library on King Street was built, staff moved all the books from the former crowded quarters, added a lot of new books, and welcomed the public.
Library books cost taxpayer dollars, and it costs staff time and knowledge to prepare them so "Curious George" isn't stuck on a shelf among encyclopedias or World War II books, and so the paper jacket doesn't get ruined the first time the book gets checked out on a rainy day. And the library needs back all those overdue books that have been forgotten and are sitting in someone's home, so the V.I. Division of Libraries doesn't have to buy another copy for the next new reader.
The Williams Public Library is holding Amnesty Month at the Library for December, in hopes that the season's spirit of giving might help stray books find their way back to the shelves. And those persons returning strays will receive the gift of no fines.
Patrons are urged to assist the library in recovering books for its collection, said a release from the Williams Public Library.
And – as long as you are visiting the library with an armload of books – bring a friend. The Friends of the Florence Williams Public Library, a nonprofit community organization, is initiating a membership drive for December month. December 2 is a special day when the Friends will begin offering individual, junior, senior citizen, family, organizational and corporate memberships. A library card is a free pass to enough books to read for a lifetime and all the information the Internet can offer.
For more information call 773-5715, log on to library.gov.vi and click on "Florence Williams Public Library" for a library card application form.
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