Sharon Scanlan
Planning a trip? Thinking about one but not sure where you want to go? The DesertView Library has a wonderful Travel Book Collection, as well as an extensive collection of United States national parks travel books. SaddleBrooke patrons are on the move! To help you decide where and how to go, we have been buying many new books and replacing older travel books. Start your travel planning with a trip to the DesertView Library.
The Travel and National Parks Collections are funded by a grant from the Belle Law Fund. Belle was a longtime library and national parks volunteer and left a bequest that is used to fund special collections. We have more than 150 travel books and over 50 national parks books!
The Travel and National Parks Collections are located near the new books on the west wall of the DesertView Library. They are organized by the Dewey decimal system (yes, we still use it for nonfiction books), which groups them by continent, country, and city. You can easily browse the collection in person or search the online catalog to see if we have the country you’re looking for in our collection. Since the collection is heavily used, remember that what you want may be checked out. Titles can be reserved for pick-up later. Our friendly library volunteers can assist you.
If the library does not own any books on the country that you’re looking for, you can put in a request online using the “Email Library” link or stop in the DesertView Library and fill out a blue request form by the checkout desk. We really want to know what countries we should add to the collection!
Some of the countries and topics that we have added this summer include African Safaris, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, Tahiti and French Polynesia, South Africa, Turkey, Japan, Southeast Asia, China, Greenland, Iceland, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick. We have guides for all of the European countries. Or you can focus on city guides for London, Paris, Berlin, Rome, Florence, Venice, Athens, Hong Kong, Quebec City, Vancouver, and Victoria.
Traveling in the United States, Mexico, or Canada? We have many travel books that include suggested road trips. The National Parks Collection books are also a great resource to plan your road trip. We even have some DVDs about some places to help you plan your journey.
The Travel and National Parks Collections are another great reason to become a library patron so that you can enjoy the many books and DVDs in our three SaddleBrooke Community Libraries, which are a very unique and popular amenity of the SaddleBrooke HOAs. Learn more about the libraries on our website www.sblibraries.com. The website also provides an easy link to the library catalog.
All three of our libraries offer a variety of current books for your reading enjoyment, as well as membership information to join the Friends of SaddleBrooke Libraries (FSL). They provide the funding to purchase new books, DVDs, and audiobooks for the SaddleBrooke Community Libraries. If you are not a member of FSL, learn more at their website www.sbfsl.org. Keep this important amenity truckin’ for you!