Jan Bobbett

By now, most newcomers are all moved in and ready for their first winter holiday season. It’s time to think about our own traditions, such as decorating our home. One popular tradition is to curl up with a book that reflects the season.

As Sun Lakers quickly discover, we have an excellent Maricopa County library on Riggs Road, but it’s not our only local library. You can also find a welcoming library close to home—right here at the SLCC clubhouse, and our library is now ready for the season. Yes, we have on display in our very own library quite a selection of Christmas books. Come visit us.

Our librarians are available midday Monday through Friday to help you or to share ideas. If you visit when no librarian is available, we invite you to explore our shelves and borrow your selection on the honor system. No library card is needed.

And take note of our Best Sellers cabinet. These popular, up-to-date books have either been purchased by our library or donated to us so we can share them with you. The Best Sellers cabinet—the only books for which we do have a check-out system—are current best sellers, and almost all are hardbacks. Right now, I see books such as these in the cabinet: Sparring Partners (Grisham), Recovery Agent (Evanovich), The Bourne Sacrifice (Ludlum), Lucy by the Sea (Strout). These are all 2022 publications. I just found out that our book buyer just purchased six more for us. (Thanks, Pat)

Yes, we do accept (and appreciate) donations. We keep most of them that are either current or classics. We even try to find another home for those we don’t have room to display.

Besides our Christmas books, visit us to explore other genres: suspense, romance, westerns—fiction of all sorts. My favorite is historic fiction, and some of us are on the lookout for those.

Also check out a large array of Large Print books and a selection of other types: biography, history, classics, etc. And check out the librarians, too. Seriously, we do like to “talk books.”

In this column I hope to introduce to you some of our librarians—all of whom are volunteers. Let’s begin with Norma Futch. Remember The Thorn Birds? It’s on her list of favorite books. Norma has lived in SLCC for 25 years. Besides a helpful spirit, Norma brings something special to the job. She has experience in a library of her own. Yes, her granddaughter gave her a special birthday present—a small “free library house,” which she shares with her neighbors. These are popping up around the world, probably because they help those in areas where a regular library isn’t available.

Like most people in Sun Lakes, all of us in the library like to share. I hope to see you in our library.