We're Listening!
Last year during our patron survey we asked you to offer suggestions for the library. Below you will see links to the most common suggestions as well as our responses. We value your ideas and have put careful thought into how to reach our community's goals. We are Listening to what you have to say!
A Bible study center, a place for in-depth research
The Nonfiction Department has over 2,000 books and media materials in our religion collection. We have inspirational materials, devotionals, and Bible histories and commentaries. The collection is heavily weighted to Christianity due to the nature of the Hoover community, but we also have materials about many world religions. A “Bible Center” is usually located in a church or divinity school collection. Samford’s collection is open to the public should you need more scholarly materials.A business section
The Nonfiction Department has a separate Business and Law collection with a librarian dedicated to that area. The collection is large, current, and focuses on small businesses, investing, and job hunting. A number of programs, such as How to Start a Business in Hoover, resume writing, investing, grant writing and AARP tax preparation for senior citizens are offered each year. The Business and Law collection is located at the end of the corridor on the left in the Nonfiction Department.A way for readers to let others know which books they enjoyed
Response to Suggestion: We have this service – it is called Reader Ratings and Reader Reviews. By using on online catalog, patrons can rate books by giving them 1-5 stars. For more information on how to rate a book, go to http://vulcan.bham.lib.al.us/screens/ratings.htmlA way to track the history of what you have checked out and more information about what a book on the online catalog
The library’s online catalog allows a patron to turn on a feature called Reading History that provides tracking of items that have been checked out. The library card holder conrols access to the reading history information and can delete any or all of the checkout records. For more information go to http://www.jclc.org/aboutjclc/faqs/history_of_checked_out_items.aspx
For more information on the titles in the online catalog, a patron can check out the reviews under the Content Café link or many titles have a link to Amazon for more information. Fiction titles may contain a link to NoveList,, a readers’ advisory resource.
Ability to search on library websites for new books published by category
(i.e. marketing, health, fitness, etc.)
You can search the library catalog by subject and then limit to the year of publication to find the most recent books published.
Ability to watch live internet programs, such as Streaming Faith
This is currently available.Access to ancestry.com
The JCLC has a subscription to Heritage Quest which is similar to Ancestry.com. The Nonfiction Department consulted with a librarian who specializes in genealogy and he suggested that these products were so similar that we would be duplicating resources by purchasing both. Heritage Quest is available at the library and accessible from your home.Better wireless network infrastructure
During the week of the Patron Survey in October 2007, the wireless router was experiencing "technical difficulties." Since then, the Library as worked with our Internet Service Provider to determine the cause of the problem and fix as soon as possible. We have since changed routers and, fingers crossed, have improved the reliability of our wireless network.Coffee Shop and New Republic magazine
We are getting a coffee shop when The Library Plaza is opened! The New Republic subscription was canceled due to lack of patron interest. The Nonfiction Department will consider reordering the magazine when the Plaza opens.Downloadable books, music and movies
The Hoover Library currently offers downloadable audiobooks on our web site, www.hooverlibrary.org. You can download books to a MP3 player and many titles you can burn to CDs. From the library’s home page, select Downloadable Audiobooks from the Services list. The Library has investigated different downloadable music and movie services. These services are becoming more feasible for public libraries, but at this time the services are not yet cost effective for our library to offer. Additionally the content offered through the services is limited.Drive up Book Drop
A drive up book drop is in the future plans for the Hoover Library. Due to our large circulation numbers it is imperative that we have an adequate number of people on staff to help handle a drive up book drop. Without the proper planning and staffing this idea will not be as successful as we all want it to be.Electronic journal databases
: The Hoover Public Library provides access to over 75 electronic journal databases. We also provide access to the Foundation Directory. These databases can be easily accessed at the library or from the convenience of your personal PC that has internet access at http://www.hooverlibrary.org/databases/ .Homework Help
The library has an online Homework Help service that kids can use anytime between the hours of 3-10 p.m., Sunday-Thursday. The service can be accessed from the library or from your home. The website is homeworkalabama.org.Listing of new movies that have been added to the collection
We have started posting signs in the Movie area of the new titles that have been added each month. Also, on the online catalog, under Featured Lists, you can find the titles of new items based on format (DVD, music CDs, fiction titles, books on CD) that have been added recently to the library’s collection. Additionally we have several links to new items that we have added from different collections. You can find these links on the following page. http://www.hooverlibrary.org/newLonger pick up time for reserve books
The system wide rule for picking up reserve materials is three days. If the patron calls and asks for an extension, Hoover will hold the item at the Circulation desk for a few more days if possible.Lots of dictionaries spread around
There are dictionaries in all departments, including the Technology Hub, for public use. The Nonfiction Department also has a number of paperback dictionaries available to check out. If you are on a public computer that has internet, you can always go to Merriam Webster online at http://www.merriam-webster.com/More African-American biographies
The Nonfiction Department has two African-American bookmarks, a large biography collection that contains biographies on African-Americans, and we have added a number of books recently that pertain to African-American history and culture. Please make sure to check with library staff if you cannot find the information for which you are looking.More African-American magazines like Ebony or Jet, HAVA, Arizona Magazine, Arizona Highways
titles were dropped due to lack of interest by the public. Ebony and Jet will be added back to the magazine collection. The Nonfiction Department will be adding new titles for the new Plaza area.more books, more movies, more music, more audio books
We would love to have more books, more movies, more music and more audio books to offer; however, due to limited space and funding we are providing the most we can at the moment! If there is a particular title that you would like for us to consider purchasing for our collection, please let us know by submitting your request at the Fiction desk. We want to hear from you!
Also, for all book materials, you can submit your request for the title and if we don’t have it in our collection or it is currently checked out, if it is available at another library in the Jefferson County Library Cooperative we can request it be delivered to our library for pick-up. Usually requests are delivered within 2-4 working days.