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MEET YOUR DIRECTORS
James Adams, D.D.S., is a member of the board of trustees.
What is your term on the board?
June 1998 through June 2000.
By which councilman were you appointed?
Councilman Richard East.
What are you currently reading?
I usually read two books at a time -- one at the office, as I have time between patients, and one at home for evenings and weekends. In truth, right now I have three going, but it taxes my brain.
At the office I'm in Richard E. Rubenstein's When Jesus became God: The Epic Fight Over Christ's Divinity in the Last Days of Rome. At home I'm finishing a very long, two-volume history: Paul Horgan's Great River: The Rio Grande in North American History. Also, I'm about halfway through José Ortega y Gasset's The Revolt of the Masses. Gasset is a Spanish existentialist who wrote in the late 1920s and '30s.
What book do you recommend?
My favorite all-time book would have to be Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov, partly because I really enjoyed studying it as a graduate English major, and partly because one of my most influential professors says it's the best novel ever written.
I love anything by Tom Robbins, especially Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, and anything by Larry McMurtry, especially Lonesome Dove.
As a philosophy minor, I've tried very hard to appreciate Neitzsche, but often find him tedious. But his Twilight of the Idols made my mind spin more than his other stuff.
What do you do in life beside serve on the library board?
I'm a dentist. |
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What web site do you recommend?
Amazon.com -- it has books, videos -- everything!
Why do you serve on the library board?
This is the hardest question of all. I suppose the truest answer is that I like it, and I got appointed.
I love literature and am convinced that writing is indeed the highest art of all. Every library is an art museum. I feel we who have been so fortunate to develop appreciation for good writing should help others to do the same.
It seems to me that the liberal arts aren't getting a fair shake in the public school system. If one isn't into biochemistry or nuclear physics, then he or she just isn't quite with it.
In addition, I enjoy the camaraderie of the board meetings. It is not "all work and no play." We board members genuinely like one another.
What is your "dream wish" for the library?
My dream wish for the library is that it continue to flourish as the vital, dynamic, and energetic institution that it is. To do so means we must grow -- more books, more shelves, more patrons.
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Friends of the Library exists to support the mission of the Jacksonville Public Library, which is to assemble, organize, preserve, and make easily available significant books and other enriching materials that will provide information, stimulation, education, and recreation for every resident of the community.
Information published in Library Now! is offered for the benefit of members of the Friends of the Library, a Texas non-profit corporation. Nothing stated herein is intended to, nor does it, express policy of the Jacksonville Public Library, its board of directors or the City of Jacksonville, Texas. While contributions are welcome, Friends of the Library reserves the right to edit contributions based on space and relevance to activities of the Friends of the Library.
Friends of the Library has applied for recognition as a corporation approved under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code as amended. Upon such recognition, contributions to the corporation may be tax deductible to the donor. Each person should consult his or her tax advisor concerning this issue. |
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LIBRARY STATISTICS
FOR NOVEMBER
Reported to the Board at its
December 7, 1999 meeting
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| Adult nonfiction |
1,600 |
| Adult fiction |
2,224 |
| Total adult |
3,824 |
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| Juvenile nonfiction |
406 |
| Juvenile fiction |
1,449 |
| Total juvenile |
1,855 |
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| Books used in library |
3,705 |
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| Total book circulation |
9,384 |
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| Non-book circulation |
2,604 |
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| Total circulation |
11,988 |
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| Average daily circulation |
500 |
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| Spanish books |
18 |
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| Reference questions |
1,170 |
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| Attendance at juvenile programs |
1,259 |
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| Persons in the library |
5,761 |
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THANKS: YOU'RE A TRUE FRIEND!
(Time, services, and funds donated)
Evelyn Bailes has joined as a patron member.
Dwight Phifer has joined as a patron member.
Doug and Judy Young have joined as family members.
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