With the end of daylight savings time for the next several months, lamps by our reader’s chairs are being turned on earlier all over Rapides Parish. Customers visit their local libraries looking for some good books to make the longer evening hours more enjoyable. While browsing for the ever popular new books by best-selling authors, consider some nostalgic reading from our younger days. American classics are still part of the collection available for check-out at our libraries and can offer the reader just as much reading enjoyment as they did when they were a first-time reading adventure.
     Mark Twain, John Steinbeck, and Jack London are only a few of the many authors available whose works carry us back to yesteryear. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and Roughing It by Twain; Of Mice and Men, The Grapes of Wrath and The Pastures of Heaven by Steinbeck; The Stories of the North, The Call of the Wild and White Fang by London are all books that have captured different regions, eras, and thought-provoking issues that are timeless parts of our American heritage. The eye witness accounts found in the settings and plots of these great works are no longer available. However, they are preserved forever within the pages of these great classics.
     With the holidays approaching, what better book choice to place by the bedside in your guest room, whether that holiday guest will be an adult returning home for a few days or a dear friend, than one of these great books. If your guests are of the type that enjoys movies as well as the written word, Rapides Parish Libraries have the following titles in movie format: Huckleberry Finn, Tom Sawyer, Call of the Wild, White Fang, Of Mice and Men, and The Grapes of Wrath, to name only a few.
     While the titles mentioned here are found in the adult sections of our libraries, more authors that will also bring smiles to our faces like old friends are found in our children’s sections.  Titles such as Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott; The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodson Burnett; and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum are waiting for you!
     Happy Holidays and Happy Reading!
     Mrs. Donna Rhames Crawford is Hineston Branch Manager.