Book purchase benefits entire community

The Christmas Book Tree at the Cameron-J. Jarvis Troup Municipal Library features an assortment of books on the library’s wish list. The books range in price from $12 to $75, and feature all genres and age levels.

Books make perfect gifts for friends and family – and for the Troup Municipal Library, too. The library’s wish list of 50 books the library most needs to update, replace, or fill out its collections is now on display in the library, and the Friends of the Troup Library invites everyone to purchase books for the library and to honor or memorialize special people in their lives with book gifts.

A miniature of each of the 50 book choices now hangs as an ornament on a festive Christmas tree at the entrance to the Library. Patrons can find the title, author, and price of each book on its own ornament, or they can browse through the “Christmas Wish List” booklet at the check-out desk for information about all the books.

The Christmas Book Tree offers a convenient way to shop for holiday gifts. Patrons do not have to buck the crowds to seek out the requested books in stores. Rather, they donate the cost of the book to the Friends of the Library right at the checkout desk. The library will purchase all of the books at one time right after the holiday. Prices for the desired books range from $12 to $75 each.

As patrons pay for their books with checks or cash, they can take home the wooden book ornaments representing their choices to hang on their own family trees. When the new books are purchased and shelved in early 2007, each will display a Christmas 2006 nameplate identifying the patron who played Santa’s helper by purchasing the book for the Troup Library and the name of the person honored by the gift as appropriate.

“We hope families will make purchasing a book for the library a holiday tradition and proudly display their ornaments year after year,” says Dee Brock, president of the Friends group. “Patrons purchased over $1200 worth of books for the Cameron-J. Jarvis Troup Municipal Library in 2005, the first year the Friends of the Troup Library offered the Christmas Book Tree, and we are hoping to build on this success this year.”

For more information about the Troup Library, the Christmas Book Tree, and the Friends of the Troup Library, call 903-842-3101.