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Summertime is on its way. For me summertime has always conjured thoughts of travel, and getting away from the normal everyday grind. But this year, I have heard many complaints of high travel costs, and how they are affecting summer travel plans.

Do not fret. The La Crosse County Library System has a low-cost option for you travelers at heart. With our convenient locations in Onalaska, Holmen, West Salem, Bangor and Campbell, we are able to supply you with reading material for all your stay-at-home travels.

And don’t forget that anyone with a library card can request books online from their own computers at www.lacrossecountylibrary.com. It has never been so easy to travel before, and just think — no lines at the airport.

A very popular choice this season is “Eat, Pray, Love” by Elizabeth Gilbert. This readable, funny memoir relates Elizabeth’s year-long travels around the world in search of happiness and balance in her life. The West Salem Library Book Club is going to be discussing the book at its July meeting.

The Onalaska Public Library and the Holmen Area Library also have book clubs that meet monthly. Check the library Web page for more information about meeting times. The public is always welcome.

Other suggestions include genre classics, and some of my personal favorites, such as “Blue Highways: A Journey into America” by William Least Heat-Moon, “On the Road” by Jack Kerouac, “McCarthy’s Bar: A Journey of Discovery in Ireland” by Pete McCarthy, and “Looking for Alaska” by Peter Jenkins, as well as anything by the very funny Bill Bryson or Tony Horowitz.

If you consider all those wonderful novels with a strong sense of place and a feel for the culture, then your opportunities to travel through reading are limitless.

Our upcoming summer reading program theme is “Go Global: Read.” Children of all ages can experience the excitement of travel-through-reading at the county libraries this summer. So whether you are young or just young at heart, come visit the library soon. We have an “armchair adventure” waiting for you.

All media are available through any branch with the exception of reference material, which must be used in the library. If any items you want are not at your favorite branch, they can be requested from another.

Ask at the checkout desk, or go online to the WRLSWeb catalog, in the library or from your own computer, to place your own request on this or any other item.  On the La Crosse County Library Web site, www.lacrossecountylibrary.com, click on the book spine at the top of any page. 

Kirsten Harris is a La Crosse County Library System staff member at the Hazel Brown Leicht Memorial Library in West Salem.

WARMING UP TO READING: Registration starts May 27 for the activities offered thorugh the La Crosse County Library System’s youth summer reading program, which this year has as its theme, “Go Global: Read.” Activities include storytimes, teen nights, a teen reading raffle and more. See the online version of this story for a link to the reading program information on the county library Web site or stop by your local library.

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