There are many things I love about living in my small New Jersey town. With just over 8,000 residents, it’s got the charm of small-town living. We have our own tiny police department (seventeen officers), an itty-bitty city hall in what looks like a converted house and a whole lot of concerned citizens that create things like art committees and non-profits that bring spark and originality to our town. We are also two miles from the George Washington Bridge into Manhattan and world-class culture and entertainment. Even better, instead of just a tiny town library, we are part of what’s called the Bergen County Cooperative Library Services (which actually covers 74 towns in Bergen, Essex, Hudson and Passaic Counties), giving us access to a great big collection of books, DVDs and all the yumminess that libraries provide. If something is not immediately available in our own town library (walking distance from everyone in town), all we need to do is search the vast database of the BCCLS and it gets to us shortly. Truly the best of small town living and big city access.
That’s why it was particularly sweet to connect with the wonderful BCCLS Library Services Director, Arlene Sahraie, who was cool enough to feature me and THE SECRET SIDE OF EMPTY on the BCCLS website. Since this has been my “hometown” library system for my entire life (first as a Hudson County resident and now as a Bergen County resident for the last two decades), it is surreal and magical and they named me their “Ms. March” and said such great things about my book.
Click on over to the BCCLS website to see the write-up (scroll all the way down to see where Ms. Sahraie calls me “a rising star.” What! Pinch me! Click here.
Thanks to all the amazing people who bring the love of books to communities. It’s people like you who first turned me on to the magic of the written word.
