To The Thieves of the Genealogy Room materials in Staunton Public Library, I would personally like to thank you for stealing numerous books from the Genealogy Room of the Staunton Public Library. The benefits you have handed me are greatly appreciated. I manage to get to Staunton only about 1-2 times a year. And seldom do I get to Staunton where there is not a specific reason for me being there like a birthday, wedding, holiday, etc. Maybe now I won't have to worry about getting to the library on a "stolen" Saturday morning to do some research. This could be a great experience for me. To have lived all these years and not know what it is like to be treated like a thief - now I will have that opportunity. The new rules are as follows, according to the newsletter I received today: 1. Sign in at circulation desk with my name, address and phone number - well that helps. I enjoy my address and phone number scattered all over the place for anyone and everyone to see. Saves thieves (like you) and burglars the extra time of trying to find me. By the way, I do have several reference books if you would like to "take" a look at them. 2. Nothing more than paper and pencils in Genealogy room. That is certainly going to help. My back was hurting from carrying those 3 perfectly alphabetized and separated notebooks with all my family group sheets in them. Now I don't have to worry about cooking or cleaning. I can just spend my time trying to make all sorts of notes as to who I wanted to lookup and where. And if I come across a name I am not sure of, I can just write down all the info and if I get home and it is of no connection, at least I will have practiced my penmanship. And if I don't write all the information down there is always next year. And for years I have been trying to get out of this crazy habit of knowing exactly where my purse is with my wallet, credit cards, house keys, car keys, etc. Just because my purse was stolen at work one time is no reason for me to become paranoid about it. 3. Must purchase blank computer desks from library. Now, you have really simplified my life with this one. Whatever was I thinking to buy several boxes of colored discs, so I can keep each family branch on a different color and grab just the one I want. Now I can just use black disks and not do the dishes while I transfer files back and forth or read each and every label to see if that is the one I want. Besides, all that red, green, yellow and blue is probably not good for my eyes. Aw, what the heck. You are so kind to try to simplify my life, maybe I will just accept your kindness and not even worry about going to the library and give up genealogy completely. Afterall, 30 years of digging around ought to be enough for anyone. Thanks a bunch, Macoupin County Genealogical Society Member, former Staunton resident, and former Staunton Library user. Pam Robertson Ripplinger