Orange branch, green building

The res­i­dents of Delaware County are cer­tainly find­ing the Delaware County Dis­trict Library’s new Orange Branch! Since it opened in May, the Orange Branch has reg­is­tered an astound­ing 5,700 new cus­tomers through June. Thank you, Delaware, for your sup­port and for embrac­ing this new branch facil­ity and all it has to offer.

Con­struct­ing a “green” build­ing with low energy costs and sus­tain­abil­ity was of pri­mary impor­tance to the Board of Trustees, and the building’s design and imple­men­ta­tion respected and embraced their wishes. Evi­dence of the “green­ness” of the Orange Branch can be found inside and out­side, and some­times in sur­pris­ing places.

The heat­ing and cool­ing sys­tem within the build­ing uti­lizes chilled beam tech­nol­ogy, the win­dows have been treated with spe­cial coat­ings to min­i­mize UV pen­e­tra­tion, the posi­tion of the win­dows har­vests day­light and many fur­ni­ture pieces are built from recy­cled mate­ri­als to name of few of the envi­ron­men­tally friendly aspects inside the branch.

Out­side, there is an intri­cate sys­tem of pipes, basins and ponds to cap­ture rain­wa­ter that is used to sus­tain the many plant­i­ngs of indige­nous plants, bushes and trees. Rain chains were used instead of down­spouts to help in direct­ing and recy­cling rain and snow, too.

Another fea­ture of the Orange Branch that is rec­om­mended by the U.S. Green Build­ing Coun­cil is the des­ig­na­tion of park­ing spots for low emis­sion and fuel effi­cient vehi­cles. You have prob­a­bly noticed these des­ig­nated park­ing spots on most newly con­structed build­ings, includ­ing the new Colum­bus State Com­mu­nity Col­lege, our neigh­bor to the north.

Using your tax dol­lars wisely is always a pri­mary con­cern to the board, and the Orange Branch is a vis­i­ble (and beau­ti­ful) exam­ple of fol­low­ing through on their com­mit­ment to being good stew­ards of the funds you have entrusted to them. When you visit the Orange Branch or any DCDL loca­tion this month, look for these titles on the New Book Shelves.

1105 Yakima St. by Deb­bie Macomber. When his wife Rachel, who is preg­nant, leaves him, Bruce Pey­ton, while deal­ing with his spoiled 13-year-old daugh­ter Jolene, is deter­mined to get her back with a lit­tle help from his Cedar Cove friends.

Cristina Ferrare’s Big Bowl of Love: Delight Fam­ily and Friends With More Than 150 Sim­ple, Fab­u­lous Recipes by Cristini Fer­rare. Pro­vides 150 recipes for every­day meals and cel­e­bra­tions, from appe­tiz­ers and sal­ads to prepa­ra­tions of dif­fer­ent meats, veg­eta­bles, desserts and sta­ple sauces.

Deer in the Head­lights: My Life in Sarah Palin’s Crosshairs by Levi John­ston. The father of Bris­tol Palin’s child shares his side of the story about their ill-fated rela­tion­ship, reveal­ing how Sarah Palin’s polit­i­cal ambi­tions com­pro­mised his career goals, how he has been pre­vented from forg­ing a rela­tion­ship with his son and the ways in which the for­mer vice-presidential can­di­date con­tra­dicts her pub­lic views with her per­sonal actions.

Life Itself: A Mem­oir by Roger Ebert. The film critic best known for his Chicago Sun-Times reviews and his 30 years as co-host of “Siskel & Ebert at the Movies” describes his life and career, includ­ing his recov­ery from alco­holism and the com­pli­ca­tions from thy­roid can­cer treatment.

Jag­ger: Rebel, Rock Star, Ram­bler, Rogue by Marc Spitz. Draw­ing on rec­ol­lec­tions from artists who have been inspired by Mick Jagger’s work, an exam­i­na­tion of the life of the Rolling Stones’ enig­matic front man is pre­sented in an episodic for­mat that com­bines bio­graph­i­cal infor­ma­tion with cul­tural history.

Only Time Will Tell by Jef­frey Archer. The epic tale of Harry Clifton’s life begins in 1920, with the words “I was told that my father was killed in the war.” A dock worker in Bris­tol, Harry never knew his father, but he learns about life on the docks from his uncle, who expects Harry to join him at the ship­yard once he’s left school. But then an unex­pected gift wins him a schol­ar­ship to an exclu­sive boys’ school, and his life will never be the same again.

The Race by Clive Cus­sler. Pro­tect­ing a woman avi­a­tor whose violent-tempered hus­band has already com­mit­ted one mur­der, Isaac Bell of the Van Dorn Detec­tive Agency over­sees the woman’s par­tic­i­pa­tion in a dar­ing 1910 cross-country race, which is being spon­sored by a wealthy news­pa­per publisher.

Sec­ond Nature: A Love Story by Jacque­lyn Mitchard. Los­ing her father in a school fire that dis­fig­ures her face, Sicily is raised by a dynamic aunt who urges her to pur­sue a nor­mal life, an effort that is influ­enced by her fiancé, a ter­ri­ble drunken rev­e­la­tion and an oppor­tu­nity for a risky full-face transplant.

Three Cups of Deceit: How Greg Mortensen, Human­i­tar­ian Hero, Lost His Way by Jon Krakauer. Argues that author and human­i­tar­ian Greg Morten­son, noted for his cam­paign to open schools for girls in Pak­istan and Afghanistan, has not been truth­ful about his past, his rea­sons for open­ing schools, or his abduc­tion by the Taliban.

The Tow­ers: A Dan Lenson Novel of 9/11 by David Poyer. Sur­viv­ing the Sept. 11 attack on the Pen­ta­gon only to lose his wife at the World Trade Cen­ter, Com­man­der Dan Lenson joins a SEAL team assigned to track down Osama bin Laden and other senior Tal­iban mem­bers, in a high-action tale inspired by the author’s true mil­i­tary experiences.

If you have a ques­tion that you would like to see answered in this col­umn, mail it to Mary Jane San­tos, Delaware County Dis­trict Library, 84 E. Win­ter St., Delaware, OH 43015, or call us at 740–362-3861. You can also email your ques­tions by vis­it­ing the library’s web­site at delawarelibrary.org or directly to Mary Jane at mjsantos@delawarelibrary.org. No mat­ter how you con­tact us, we’re always glad you asked!