Longview Public Library

The small, but mighty paperback…

Here’s a little history tidbit since today is Paperback Book Day.

Mass produced, commercialized paperbacks rose to popularity in the 20th century (around 1935) when Penguin Books publishing house released ten novels from popular authors (“A Farewell to Arms” by Ernest Hemingway being notable).

The idea was influenced by soft cover productions of magazines, and low-quality print or pulp fiction materials (forms of paperback publishing had been around since the 17th century).

Allowing people access to attractive, high quality, easily bought books sparked a paperback revolution, saving Penguin Books from impending bankruptcy.

Paperbacks eventually became a favorite standard for readers and publishers due it’s affordability and portability on both ends.

Here at the library we deal in both hardback cover (we’re archivist after all) and soft paperbacks, each with perks and benefits.

Check the stacks for any number of paperback books. But, if you want a true, classic paperback experience (especially if you’re traveling or lounging about these summer days) come check the wire racks located behind the Fiction shelves. These are dedicated to paperback-style titles to check out!

Dino-joke:

I asked the librarian if she knew any authors who wrote Dinosaur novels…
She said: “Try Sarah Topps.”

An extra reminder for everyone to come claim and redeem any Summer Reading Club prizes by July 31.

Stop by the children’s department desk during library business hours and pick up those well deserved rewards!

It’s National Soccer Day!

Do you still have the World Cup on your brain? A football (yes, football) itch you can’t scratch?

We’ve got tons of soccer-related material for all ages that will keep you enthralled, and always learning more about one of the world’s most culturally diverse and played sports.

If we don’t have something in our catalog, try the Interlibrary Loan system and let’s see if another library has that item to lend out.

We hope you got your Summer Required Reading done during Summer Reading Club (way easier when you’re getting rewarded for reading)!

For those who are still a little behind, don’t fret.

We keep multiple copies of popular books that schools often require students to read over summer.

Don’t wait though! During this transition time from July to August, we often see them fly off the shelves for some reason. 😄

Head to the Young Adult section (next door to the Genealogy room with the glass window wall) and look for the stacks with books that have the yellow spine label stickers marked "YA SRR."

Sometimes titles are cross referenced in Fiction and Non-fiction too.

You can always head to the service desks and ask us to point you towards a title!

We’ve got one more Adult Summer Reading Club spotlight to mention!

Tech Supervisor and adult program coordinator, Leah, applied for the Community Investment Grant that H-E-B Grocery Company proudly offers to community causes and non-profits throughout Texas and Mexico.

We’re thrilled to announce that she (and the Friends of the Longview Public Library) received a $500 grant endowment to use towards Adult SRC.

We got awesome prizes for the raffle giveaway baskets, and we were able to supplement the six programs just for adults this summer.

The programs were a mix of subjects and themes, and we required such a medley of things to supply them.
Luckily, H-E-B had a majority of the items at their stores, and it made all the program setup so much smoother!

Adult Summer Reading Club is fortunate to always be free for our patrons to participate in, and we couldn’t do it without support from sponsors like H-E-B.

Thank you so much, and we encourage everyone to seek out an H-E-B store to shop in when they’re traveling out and about (hopefully we get a local store one day!).

See you all next summer!

H-E-B

Even though we had an unexpected lull period during the End of Summer Party, we still managed to get some snapshots of fun in the sun!

Thank you to our Parks & Rec team, and all the Broughton division for helping us out and hosting us.

Summer Reading Club at the library might be done, but we encourage everyone to take advantage of the parks, splash pads, pools, and summer programs across the city to have some extra fun!

Also, shout out to our youth services team and summer interns for another job well done.
(You earned your Unearth A Story t-shirts and stars!)

A reminder:

The last day to come redeem/claim your Summer Reading Club prizes will be July 31, 2026.

Bring paper logs with you (if necessary) and check-in at the youth services desk in the children’s department.

You worked hard for those prizes, so don’t miss out on the rewards!

We’re still thinking about the gift baskets for the final Adult Summer Reading Club raffle drawing and Bookmark Challenge!

We wouldn’t be able to offer them without donations and support from wonderful local businesses and sponsors.

Thank you to:

- Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen.
- Starbucks (on Marshall Avenue)
- Starbucks (on the Loop)
- Paint Slingers
- Edible Art Specialty Cakes & Cookies
- Coffee & T's
- TJ Maxx.
- H-E-B.
- OwlCrate
- Wild Honey Creamery
- Chuy's
- Scooter's Coffee
- Dutch Bros. Coffee.
- Film Alley-Longview, TX
- The Friends of the Longview Public Library

A number of you put in some serious reading time efforts to try and win a prize this summer.

We had a total of 7,436 raffle ticket submissions online, making that roughly 446,212 minutes of reading.

And, that’s just online entries.
We also had plenty of in-person ticket submissions to add to that!

Great job readers.
Don’t forget to come pick up your complimentary ASRC Thank You Goodie Bag at the front desk by August 9, and support your local businesses!