Download Audio Books at Home!

As a patron of the Alliance Public Library, you can use the digital audio book service, OverDrive, absolutely Free!

OverDrive audio books are available online the same way they would be available in the Library, the only difference is that instead of coming into the Library and checking out the book, you download the item directly to your home computer or personal storage device, such as your IPod or MP3 player. You are even able to burn some titles to CD.

To access the virtual catalog, go to http://nebraska.lib.overdrive.com

Each title is available to one patron at a time, and the check out period is 7 days. Some of the files even expire on their own after the check out time has passed, depending on what type of device you use. If an book you wish to check out is already spoken for, you can even place a hold on the item, the same as you would in the Library.

To check out titles, you simply set up an account using your Alliance Public Library patron number, which can be found below the barcode on the back of your card, and download the free software to your computer. Don't have your card? No problem. Simply give us a call and we can look the number up for you.

Using the OverDrive service is a great way for you to access Library materials anytime at your convenience. You don't have to worry about a scratched CD or old cassette keeping you from hearing the entire story, and digital audio books are perfect for those long car rides or evening walks. So give OverDrive a try, and if you have any questions or need help, just give us a call at the Library and we'll be glad to help.

Vote and Be Heard!

Make sure to vote November 4th and let your voice be heard, but before heading to the polls, educate yourself by reading up on the issues and the candidates.

Storytime!

Celebrate National Peanutbutter Month!

November 4th at 7:30 p.m.

&

November 6th at 10:00 a.m.

Please register your child at the front desk before attending storytime.

William Kloefkorn to Speak at Library

On Tuesday, October 28th at 6:00pm, Alliance Public Library, the Alliance Public Library Foundation and the Nebraska Humanities Council is proud to provide residents the opportunity to see Nebraska Author William Kloefkorn speak

Kloefkorn has published numerous volumes of poetry and fiction as well as three memoirs depicting life in rural America, including Restoring the Burnt Child, the selected book for the 2008 One Book, One Nebraska program.

Growing up in mid-twentieth century rural America has shaped and inspired Kloefkorn’s many works. The son of a Kansas county employee, Kloefkorn has never abandoned his small town roots. His most recent work, a four part memoir (of which three have been published to date) intimately reveals his love for humanity, humor, and language.

William Kloefkorn was named the Nebraska State Poet, a lifetime appointment, in 1982 by the Nebraska Unicameral. He has published over 30 books, mostly poetry, and his works have appeared in distinguished literary journals including The Prairie Schooner, Midwest Quarterly, Calliope, and the South Dakota Review. He is emeritus professor of English at Nebraska Wesleyan University, and in 2004, Restoring the Burnt Child won the Nebraska Book Award for Non-Fiction.

Established in 2005, One Book, One Nebraska is a state-wide reading program designed to encourage Nebraska residents to collectively read and enjoy the works of Nebraska authors, both contemporary and classic, and includes state-wide community events, author visits and discussions. Previous selections have included Crazy Horse by Mari Sandoz, One False Move by Alex Kava and My Antonia by Willa Cather.

Storytime

Banned Books Presentation this Friday!

Mr. Wally Seiler of Alliance, a member of the Intellectual Freedom Section of the Nebraska Library Association, will present a Banned Books Program at noon in the Alliance Learning Center Community Rooms.

In 2007 the Office of Intellectual Freedom (OIF) reported 420 attempts to remove books from public or school libraries with sixty-one percent of the complains being made by parents, fifteen percent by library patrons and 9 percent by administrators. Though more than one request per day has been reported to the OIF, it is believed that only one out of every four or five complaints is documented.

A wide variety of books has been challenged throughout the years and includes popular and historical authors such as Stephen King, Dr. Seuss, Dean Koontz and Shakespeare. Examples include The Lorax by Dr. Seuss, challenged for criminalizing the forest industry; Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder, challenged and banned for racist statements against Native Americans; and The Color Purple by Alice Walker, challenged for sexuality and racism. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, a book frequently found in High School curriculum, has been challenged or banned in over 53 districts for reasons such as racism and profanity.
Challenges on books are not simply an expression or point of view. They are, in fact, an attempt to remove books from the public use and restrict access for others. Censorship denies our freedom as individuals to choose and think for ourselves. Being able to make the personal decision of what book to read is firmly rooted in The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

Celebrate your freedom to read and learn more about banned books and the Office of Intellectual Freedom during Wally Seiler’s Banned Books presentation, sponsored by the Alliance Public Library Foundation and the Nebraska Library Association.

A light desert will be provided. Please bring an hors d'oeuvre to share.

Library Bestsellers

See what the buzz is all about - Check out a Library Bestseller today!
All of the below Fiction and most of the Non-Fiction titles are available in our collection.


The Books Most Borrowed in U.S. Libraries*
October 15, 2008

Fiction

1. Sail, James Patterson
2. Fearless Fourteen: a Stephanie Plum Novel, Janet Evanovich
3. Tribute, Nora Roberts
4. Sundays at Tiffany's, James Patterson
5. The Appeal, John Grisham
6. Smoke Screen, Sandra Brown
7. The Whole Truth, David Baldacci
8. Moscow Rules, Daniel Silva
9. 7th Heaven, James Patterson
10. TailSpin: an FBI Thriller, Catherine Coulter
11. Rogue, Danielle Steel
12. Where Are You Now? Mary Higgins Clark
13. The Front, Patricia Cornweffreyll
14. Nothing to Lose: a Jack Reacher Novel, Lee Child
15. Phantom Prey, John Sandford

Non-Fiction

1. Auditions: a Memoir, Barbra Walters
2. When You are Engulfed in Flames, David Sedaris
3. The Last Lecture, Randy Pausch with Jeffrey Zaslow
4. Three Cups of Tea: one Man's Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time, Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin
5. sTORI Telling, Tori Spelling
6. Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia
7. A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Pupose
8. Are You There Vodka? It's Me Chelsea, Chelsea Handler
9. The Secret, Rhonda Byrne
10. The Glass Castle: A Memoir
11. The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream
12. The Post-American World, Fareed Zakaria
13. Fleeced: How Barack Obama, Media Mockery of Terrorist Threats, Liberals Who Want to Kill talk Radio, the Do-Nothing, Companies That Help Iran, and Washington Lobbyists for Foreign Governments Are Scamming Us . . . and What To Do About It, Dick Morris & Eileen McGann
14. Dreams From My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance, Barack Obama
15. In Defense of Doos, An Eater's Manifesto, Michael Pollan

*Library Journal's Best Sellers is compiled from data on from public libraries throughout the U.S. and appears in the October 15, 2008 print edition.

Halloween Party!

William Kloefkorn Special Event

Storytime

Banned Books Presentation

"Restriction of free throught and free speech is the most dangerous of all subversions. It is the one un-American act that could most easily defeat us."

~Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas

Alliance Public Library Special Event!

Wally Seiler Discusses
Banned Books
Friday, October 24th at Noon
Alliance Learning Center
Community Rooms

October Display

Stop in this October to see the Halloween Village collection of Valerie Keenan. It features numerous houses and figurines, some of which were handpainted by Valerie and her family, and includes a haunted mansion complete with monsters, a pumpkin train and a Halloween Town! Pieces will be showcased through the end of October.

Storytime

November