Library Hours - November Holiday

The Library hours during the Thanksgiving holiday are:

Regular hours resume Monday morning, December 1st.

Have a wonderful holiday!

Penny for your Thoughts...

As a piece of currency, the penny is considered by most people to be inconsequential. According to the New York Times, since it's inception in 1909 over 444,039,035,418 pennies have been created. For the upcoming Lincoln Bicentennial the U.S. Mint will be releasing four new coin designs to celebrate President Abraham Lincoln's birth and the 100th anniversary of the production of the Lincoln penny.

But do we still need the penny as part of our currency system? According to the Americans for Common Cents, we do. They say that:

Eliminating the penny is a losing proposition because it will result in rounding to the nearest nickel and higher prices for America’s working families. This increased cost to consumers will be felt in everything from the grocery store to the gas pump. Pennies add up to millions of dollars every year for charities across the country. Simply put, the penny plays an important role in our everyday lives and in our nation’s economy.

The opposing viewpoint? Citizens for Retiring the Penny:

Inflation has eaten away at the value of the penny to such a degree that it no longer facilitates commerce. The fact that the penny is still in circulation does not mean that it is useful. If the half penny were minted then it too would be in circulation, even though it would be nothing but a nuisance. The half penny was eliminated in 1858, when it was worth over ten times what the penny is worth today. Assuming that the timing was correct before, this means that we should have eliminated the penny fifty years ago. The penny is now worth so little that nobody even picks it up off the ground, despite the old "lucky penny" adage.

What do you think? Does a nickel for your thoughts sound the same?

New in November:

These are just some of the new books processed this week in the Library. These are just a few items, if you'd like to see more new items OR need a particular title, stop by the Reference Desk and the staff will be happy to help you!

• The Activist : John Marshall, Marbury v. Madison, and the Myth of Judicial Review, by Lawrence Goldstone. 347.012 G624a
• Age curve : how to profit from the coming Demographic Storm, by Kenneth Gronbach. 658.8343 G876a
• Kentucky Clay : Eleven Generations of a Southern Dynasty, by Katherine Bateman. 975.03 B328k
• Milk : the Surprising Story of Milk through the Ages : with 120 adventurous recipes that explore the riches of our first food, by Anne Mendelson. 641.371 M537m
• Plugged In : the Generation Y guide to Thriving at Work, by Tamara Erickson. 650.1 685p
• Poison Pills : the Untold story of the Vioxx drug scandal, by Tom Nesi. 362.1782 N459p
• The Civility Solution : What to do when People are Rude, by P.M. Forni. 395 F727c
• Swindled : the dark history of food fraud, from poisoned candy to counterfeit coffee / Bee Wilson. 641.01 W746s
• Swing! By Rufus Butler Seder. J S
• Under Pressure : cooking Sous Vide, by Thomas Keller. R 641.587 K29u

More information on each title can be found in the catalog.