New Business Model Urged for Gwinnett Library System

Gwinnett leaders think the libraries are necessary, but with a different approach. The county operates 15 library branches, including one in Peachtree Corners.

After another million-dollar budget cut to the Gwinnett County library system, county leaders think it's time for that organization to change its approach. "I would encourage the library to look at a new business model," Gwinnett District 2 Commissioner Lynette Howard said Thursday (January 3) as the county's elected leaders passed the 2013 budget. Amid a still-tight revenue situation, commissioners cut $1 million in materials from the library's budget, the latest of several large reductions to that system. Howard noted that the library branches "need to be a community center," but that current plans of coping with their situation are "not working," and she pledged to do "anything I can do" to help. Gwinnett Commission Chairman Charlotte …

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Gwinnett Tech Plant Sale April 17

Landscaping author Jane Bath will speak as part of the Gwinnett County Public Library's Meet the Author series.

  Peachtree Corners gardeners looking for plants for their flower beds and yards can find them at the annual community plant sale at the Gwinnett Tech greenhouse April 17-19. Sale hours are 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Also, landscape designer and author Jane Bath will be speaking April 17 at 11 a.m. She will discuss gardening and landscape design solutions that are included in her book "The Landscape Design Answer Book." Her book will be available for purchase and signing from 9 a.m. to noon. Her appearance is part of the library's Meet the Author series. Bath's talk is scheduled in Building 600, Room 104, at Gwinnett Tech, 5150 Sugarloaf Parkway in Lawrenceville. "We're very excited about this year's spring plant sale. Our students have been working …

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Support Library While Doing Holiday Shopping

Order from Barnes & Noble, Amazon and Better World Books through Gwinnett Library website.

The Gwinnett County Public Library is offering holiday shoppers two ways to support the library while doing their holiday shopping. First, at no extra cost, shoppers who buy their gifts online from Barnes & Noble, Amazon.com, and Better World Books Inc. will automatically support the library when they access these retailers through the Gwinnett library’s website. By shopping through the library’s website the retailer will give a portion of the sale to the library.  Second, the library is encouraging shoppers to sponsor books for its collection in honor of a friend or family member. A marker will be placed inside the book acknowledging the dedication. Forms for book dedications are available online and at all 15 library branches including …

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Library to Use 'Buddy' System to Keep 7-Day Service

GCPL will start a 'Buddy Branch' schedule to allow patrons access seven days a week.

Starting this Sunday (Oct. 23), the Gwinnett County Public Library will be pairing up branches as part of their new "Buddy Branch" system. This will allow GCPL to maximize resources and to have branches open seven days a week following recent budget cuts.  Here are the "Buddy Branch" pairs: · Peachtree Corners Branch and Duluth Branch · Buford-Sugar Hill Branch and Suwanee Branch · Hamilton Mill Branch and Dacula Branch · Collins Hill Branch and Lawrenceville Branch · Lilburn Branch and Norcross Branch · Five Forks Branch and Mountain Park Branch · Grayson Branch and Elizabeth H. Williams (Snellville) Branch · Centerville Branch and Elizabeth H. Williams (Snellville) Branch Duluth, Suwanee, Dacula, Lawrenceville, Norcross, Mountain Park, …

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Gwinnett Libraries To Reduce Days, Hours Soon

Officials planning five-day, 40-hour week sometime in 4Q.

Get ready for the Peachtree Corners branch of the Gwinnett Public Library branch to be open fewer days and hours this fall. GCPL officials described the changes Monday as part of the budget-review process with county government leaders in Lawrenceville. The plan includes a "non-tax revenue" plan that could raise $4 million annually. GCPL Chairman Philip Saxton said library officials were "shocked" when their funding was reduced 15 percent, to the current level of $16.1 million. With the current reductions and increasing dependence on non-government funds, "we hope you will give some back." The most immediate change will be that all branches will be reduced to a five-day, 40-hour week (from the current seven days, 53 hours). Nancy Stanbury-…

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What's New at the Library

Taking Care of Business

Books to boast your business-savvy, available at your local library branch.

Just because the economy is in a slump, doesn't mean you have to sit there and take it. These popular business books will provide information, and inspiration, for the CEO within. Put them on hold at Gwinnettpl.org, then pick them up at the Peachtree Corners branch.  1. The Lean Startup: How Today's Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses 2. How to Start a Home-based Mail Order Business 3. Top 100 Careers Without a Four-Year Degree, 10th Ed: Your Complete Guidebook to Good Jobs in Many Fields 4. All I Know About Management I Learned From my Dog 5. A Basic Guide to Exporting: The official government resource for small- and medium-sized businesses 6. Capital and its Discontents: Conversations with …

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What's New at the Library

Uncommon Reads: Unique Books at the Library

These literary and debut authors--hand-selected by the Gwinnett Libraries circulation department--make for interesting page-turning.

Can't stand to read one more predictable thriller? The Gwinnett Public Libraries circulations department has "bookmarked" these completely unique reads from debut or literary writers. Check them out at gwinnettpl.org, then have them sent to the library's Peachtree Corners branch for pick up. 1. The Barbarian Nurseries By Hector Tobar 2. Bent Road By Lori Roy 3. Warm Bodies: A novel By Isaac Marion 4. I Knew You'd Be Lovely: Stories By Alethea Black 5. Farishta By Patricia McArdle 6. Rules of Civility By Amor Towles 7. Turn of Mind By Alice Laplante 8. Death at the Château Bremont: A Verlaque and Bonnet mystery By M.L. Longworth 9. The Hypnotist By Lars Kepler; translated from the Swedish By Ann Long 10. No Rest for the Dead: A novel By …

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What's New at the Library

Want to Know How the World Works? Check Out These Books

The Gwinnett Public Libraries have books for the secret science nerd inside of all of us.

I'm sure I'm not the first one to tell you that science is really cool. These books, which you can put on hold at gwinnettpl.org and pick up at the Peachtree Corners branch, help make a little more sense of the world.  1. Backyard Birding: Using natural gardening to attract birds 2. Math for Grownups By Laura Laing 3. Feathers: The evolution of a natural miracle By Thor Hanson 4. Everyday Math Tricks for Grown-Ups: Shortcuts and Simple Solutions for the Not-So-Math Minded 5. Annoying: The science of what bugs us By Joe Palca and Flora Lichtman 6. The Book of Fungi: A life-size guide to six hundred species from around the world By Peter Roberts and Shelley Evans 7. How the Hippies Saved Physics: Science, counterculture and the quantum …

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What's New at the Library

Lives Well Lived: Biographies at the Library

Because every great story is a story about people.

Go to gwinnettpl.org to check out these books that offer incredible stories about some well known people and some you may never have heard of. Then have them sent to the Peachtree Corners library to pick up and enjoy. 1. What a Wonderful World: The Magic of Louis Armstrong's Later Years By Ricky Riccardi  2. The House in France: A Memoir By Gully Wells 3. There Are Things I Want You to Know about Stieg Larsson and Me By Eva Gabrielsson  4. Sean Connery: A Biography By Christopher Bray 5. A Man from Another Land : How finding my roots changed my life By Isaiah Washington 6. Innocent Spouse : A memoir By Carol Ross Joynt 7. License to Pawn: Deals, Steals, and My Life at the Gold & Silver By Rick Harrison 8.  All in : From refugee camp to …

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Inquiring Minds: Cool Books for the Curious

Non-fiction titles at the Peachtree Corners branch of the Gwinnett County Public Library.

The whole point of reading is to inform, amuse and delight. Our friends at the Gwinnett County Public Library have put together this list of non-fiction titles that do just that. Reserve the book on gwinnettpl.org and have it sent to your local branch.  1. The Secret History of Balls : The stories behind the things we love to catch, whack, throw, kick, bounce and bat By Josh Chetwynd 2. Moby-Duck : The true story of 28,800 bath toys lost at sea and of the beachcombers, oceanographers, environmentalists, and fools, including the author, who went in search of them By Donovan Hohn 3. You Can Have an Amazing Memory : Learn life-changing techniques and tips from the memory maestro By Dominic O'Brien 4. A Bee in a Cathedral: And 99 Other …

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