Greetings, salutations, and welcome back to another non-AI generated, semi-snarky yet thoroughly serious, wickedly weathering the lack of warmth edition of the High Demand Hold Digest - your source for everything old, new, borrowed, and blue that our beloved patrons desire.
Apologies for "missing" last month - and sacred thanks go out to those who whispered sweet prayers for my timely release into random elevator emergency speakers. The show of support got me sprung just in time to write this list, and also convinced me to abandon my 2024 Presidential aspirations to have more time with my family.
We find ourselves in strange days indeed. Never did I think I would have to both disprove the notion that libraires are unused and unimportant relics of the past that are not worth anyone's time, attention, or funding, while also disproving the notion that we are the primary force behind the corruption of today's youth. But if one is going to go down for a false accusation, may as well be the one they charged Socrates with.
As our eyes and ears fill with tales from both near and far of librarians being accused of the crimes of corrupting innocence, of Directors being forced with the decision to censor books or have the book budget slashed, or of workers leaving the field entirely because they could not take the threats and online personal attacks, I have a message for those who are losing their spirit:
We will win.
To summarize a great reaction to a well-known quote I heard somewhere down a deep dark rabbit hole of information, Martin Luther King Jr. famously said, "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice." The corollary to this statement is that the arc of the moral universe is not bent by gravity, but instead by will and determination.
If you are looking for a champion of the moment, look in the mirror. We are it. We are all here and now, engaged in this work in this time and age for a purpose. When the question is asked in fifty years "Where were you when they came for the books?", take pride in your answer - I was on the front line fighting to ensure those books would remain safe of the shelf, available free of charge to anyone and everyone who wishes to explore them. Only in conflict can we see what we are made of. Be proud of your work and honored to be thrust into this moment. It is what we have all been preparing for.
And since quotes are dripping off my fingers this afternoon, there are two that leapt out of the cosmos to me recently that are worth passing along. The first is from the beautiful soul James Baldwin who said, "We can disagree and still love each other unless your disagreement is rooted in my oppression and the denial of my humanity and right to exist," and the last one is from our good friend The Doctor who exclaimed "You want weapons? We're in a library! Books are the best weapon in the world. This room's the greatest arsenal we could have. Arm yourself!"
Now for the fine print - what you hold in your digital hands in the Minerva High Demand Hold Digest - a monthly digest of the most requested items in the Minerva system, as recorded at the stroke of midnight on any given day. To be considered "high demand" the total number of patron requests must be twice the total of the number of copies listed in the system. The list is published on various Maine library list-servs but, if by chance you are one of the lucky ones that found this list through some cosmic twist of coincidence and want more without subscribing to the full list-servs, please send me an email to be added to a direct distribution list.
Be well my brothers and sisters in intellectual freedom. Remember that the darkest part of the night is right before dawn, that the positive impact of our work is more vast than we could collectively comprehend, and all our doors are open today, and I fully expect them to be open tomorrow. Sometimes, knowing the next moment is coming is all you need to get by.
Be well, take care of one another, and I'll see you in the lists next month.
Your humble servant,
Joshua R. Tiffany
Librarian, author, poet, dream weaver, underground cult figure / failed cult leader... and sometimes actor
Fiction
1. The Covenant of Water (Verghese) - 243 holds on 55 items
2. Hello, Beautiful (Napolitano) - 181 holds on 75 items
3. Happy Place (Henry) - 175 holds on 57 items
4. Small Mercies (Lehane) - 113 holds on 48 items
5. The Secret Book of Flora lea (Henry) - 66 holds on 26 items
6. Cross Down (Patterson) - 63 holds on 14 items
7. Good Night, Irene (Urrea) - 61 holds on 13 items
8. Meet Me at the Lake (Fortune) - 51 holds on 25 items
9. Lady Tan's Circle of Women (See) - 48 holds on 12 items
10. The Celebrants (Rowley) - 38 holds on 17 items
11. All The Sinners Bleed (Cosby) - 38 holds on 12 items
12. Near Miss (Woods) - 37 holds on 15 items
13. Fourth Wing (Yarros) - 36 holds on 12 items
14. The Postcard (Berest) - 35 holds on 10 items
15. The Senator's Wife (Constantine) - 30 holds on 13 items
16. Did You Hear About Kitty Karr? (Smith Paul) - 29 holds on 13 items
17. Central Park West (Comey) - 29 holds on 8 items
18. Time Shelver (Gospodinov) - 24 holds on 6 items
19. The Echo of Old Books (Davis) - 23 holds on 7 items
20. The Perfect Marriage (Rose) - 22 holds on 10 items
Non-Fiction
1. Look For Me There: Grieving My Father, Finding Myself (Russert) - 51 holds on 25 items
2. The Book of Charlie: Wisdom from he Remarkable America Life of a 109-year-old Man (Von Drehle) - 25 holds on 2 items
3. Becoming Free Indeed: My Story of Disentangling Faith from Fear (Vuolo) - 18 holds on 1 item
4. Glucose Revolution: The Life-Changing Power of Balancing Your Blood Sugar (Inchauspe) - 15 holds on 5 items
5. The Best Minds: A Story of Friendship, Madness, and the Tragedy of Good Intentions (Rosen) - 14 holds on 7 items
6. Pageboy: A Memoir (Page) - 13 holds on 4 items
7. Fast Like a Girl: A Woman's Guide to Using the Healing Power of Fasting to Burn Fat, Boost Energy, and Balance Hormones (13 holds on 4 items)
8. Soil: The Story of a Black Mother's Garden (Dungy) - 12 holds on 4 items
9. The Daddy Diaries: The Year I Grew Up (Cohen) - 12 holds on 4 items
10. A Maine Garden Almanac: Seasonal Wisdom for Making the Most of Your Garden (King) - 10 holds on 5 items
Large Print
1. Hello, Beautiful (Napolitano) - 61 holds on 28 items
2. The 23rd Midnight (Patterson) - 41 holds on 13 items
3. Happy Place (Henry) - 29 holds on 14 items
4. Small Mercies (Lehane) - 28 holds on 11 items
5. Cross Down (Patterson) - 26 holds on 5 items
6. The Wager: A Take of Shipwreck, Mutiny, and Murder (Grann) - 24 holds on 8 items
7. Pineapple Street (Jackson) - 20 holds on 10 items
8. All the Days of Summer (Thayer) - 17 holds on 4 items
9. Romantic Comedy (Sittenfeld) - 11 holds on 5 items
10. Loyalty (Scottoline) - 10 holds on 4 items
Pre-order
1. Dead Man's Wake (Doiron) - 193 holds
2. The Five-Star Weekend (Hilderbrand) - 126 holds
3. The Collector (Silva) - 47 holds
4. The Five Star Weekend (Hilderbrand) LARGE PRINT - 47 holds
5. Obsessed (Patterson) - 35 holds
6. Tom Lake (Patchett) - 32 holds
7. Palazo (Steel) - 29 holds
8. Dead Man's Wake (Doiron) LARGE PRINT - 27 holds
9. The Paris Daughter (Harmel) - 27 holds
10. An Evil Heart (Castillo) - 27 holds
Graphic Novels
1. Toilet-Bound Hanako-kin 17 (Aidairo) - 3 holds on 1 item
2. Adventure Time Comics Volume 2 - 3 holds on 1 item
3. Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons (DeConick) - 2 holds on 1 item
4. Trigun Maximum: Deep Space Planet Future Gun Action 1 - 2 holds on 1 item
5. The Savior's Book Café Story in Another World vol. 1 - 2 holds on 1 item
6. Beserk: Deluxe Edition vol. 2 (Miura) - 2 holds on 1 item
Audiobooks
1. The Covenant of Water (Verghese) - 14 holds on 5 items
2. Unraveling: What I Learned About Life While Shearing Sheep, Dyeing Wool, and Making the World's Ugliest Sweater(Orenstein) - 2 holds on 1 item
3. The True Love Experiment (Lauren) - 2 holds on 1 item
4. So Shall You Reap (Leon)- 2 holds on 1 item
5. Rouge Justice (Abrams) - 2 holds on 1 item
6. Never Too Late (Carr) - 2 holds on 1 item
7. The Confessor (Silva) - 2 holds on 1 item
Blu-ray
1. A Man Called Otto - 10 holds on 5 items
2. The Whale - 8 holds on 4 items
3. Women Talking (Blu-ray + DVD combo) - 8 holds on 1 item
4. 65 - 5 holds on 1 item
5. Shazam! Fury of the Gods - 4 holds on 1 item
6. Triangle of Sadness - 2 holds on 1 item
7. Inland Empire - 2 holds on 1 item
8. Anne of Green Gables - 2 holds on 1 item
DVD
1. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves - 12 holds on 5 items
2. Supercell - 6 holds on 1 item
3. The Quiet Girl - 5 holds on 2 items
4. Devil's Peak - 5 holds on 2 items
5. 65 - 4 holds on 1 item
6. Merry Go Round / Wedding of a Lifetime - 3 holds on 1 item
7. Walking and Talking - 2 holds on 1 item
8. A Thousand and One - 2 holds on 1 item
9. Rambling Rose - 2 holds on 1 item
10. Petite Maman - 2 holds on 1 item
TV Series
1. Heartland: The Complete 15th Season - 4 holds on 1 item
2. Under the Vines: Season 2 - 3 holds on 1 item
3. Magnum PI: Season 1 - 2 holds on 1 item
4. Inspector Morse: The Complete Case Files - 2 holds on 1 item
5. Empire Falls - 2 holds on 1 item
6. Detectorists: Complete Collection - 2 holds on 1 item
7. Big Little Lies, Seasons 1 & 2 - 2 holds on 1 item
8. City on a Hill Season 2 (Blu-ray) - 2 holds on 1 item
NOTE: No music CDs nor video games made the list. Both happy and sad about that.
BLAST from the past! - The High Demand List published June 12, 2018.
Books
1. The Fallen (Baldacci) - 118 holds on 51 items * (+6)
2. Educated (Westover) - 109 holds on 49 items * (-1)
3. Shelter in Place (Roberts) - 102 holds on 31 items
4. 17th Suspect (Patterson) - 95 holds on 38 items * (+2)
5. The Outsider (King) -89 holds on 39 items
6. Twisted Prey (Sanford) - 84 holds on 37 items * (-3)
7. The Death of Mrs. Westaway (Ware) - 74 holds on 17 items * (+54)
8. How to Change Your Mind (Pollan) - 61 holds on 20 items
9. The Soul of America (Meacham) - 55 holds on 17 items
10. The Overstory (Powers) - 49 holds on 22 items
DVDs
1. The Post - 105 holds on 40 items * (-28)
2. Black Panther - 82 holds on 19 items
3. Lady Bird - 71 holds on 32 items * (-48)
4. Game Night - 36 holds on 7 items
5. Red Sparrow - 29 holds on 12 items
6. Annihilation - 22 holds on 5 items
7. Fifty Shades Freed - 17 holds on 5 items
8. Insidious: The Last Key - 12 holds on 4 items * (+2)
9. The Handmaid's Tale (1990) - 9 holds on 1 item * (-2)
10. Den of Thieves - 8 holds on 3 items * (-1)
TV Series
1. Outlander: Season 3 - 68 holds on 27 items * (-6)
2. Unforgotten: Season 1 - 27 holds on 11 items
3. A Place to Call Home: Season 5 - 26 holds on 8 items * (+8)
4. Heartland: Season 10 - 11 holds on 4 items * (+3)
5. Outlander: Season 3 (Blu-ray) - 10 holds on 1 item * (+3)
6. Outlander: Season 3 - 68 holds on 27 items * (-6)
7. Unforgotten: Season 1 - 27 holds on 11 items
8. A Place to Call Home: Season 5 - 26 holds on 8 items * (+8)
9. Heartland: Season 10 - 11 holds on 4 items * (+3)
10. Outlander: Season 3 (Blu-ray) - 10 holds on 1 item * (+3)
Joshua Tiffany, MLIS (he/him)
Town of Gray - Director of Communications, Libraries, and Information Technology
(207) 657-4110
[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
www.graypubliclibrary.com<http://www.graypubliclibrary.com/>
"Scratch and cynic and you will find a disappointed idealist." - George Carlin
________________________________
This electronic mail message and any attachments hereto, as well as any electronic mail message(s) that may be sent in response to it, may be considered public records, and may therefore be subject to public record requests for review and copying under Maine's Right to Know Law (Title 1, 401-521 of the Maine Revised Statutes).
This electronic mail message and any attachments hereto, as well as any electronic mail message(s) that may be sent in response to it, may be considered public records, and may therefore be subject to public record requests for review and copying under Maine's Right to Know Law (Title 1, 401-521 of the Maine Revised Statutes).
|
