The Scientific Library’s 19th Annual Book and Media Swap officially kicked off on October 30, and dozens of NCI at Frederick employees have visited Building 549 to browse through over 2,700 donated books, DVDs, and CDs.
More than 600 items were taken during the kickoff day on October 30, said Pamela Noble, serials technician at the Scientific Library, who coordinates the Book and Media Swap. Visitors selected items covering eclectic topics such as the British royal family, Hawaiian music, abstract mathematics, and even yoga for cats.
“Nineteen years of successful Book Swaps! I think it went really well,” Noble said.
The Scientific Library hosts the swap each fall. NCI at Frederick employees can donate books and media and get points for each donated item, which they can use to take different items during the swap.
The theme of this year’s Book and Media Swap was “mystery solving,” and visitors could solve their own mystery by taking wrapped clue books. These included titles from a variety of genres, wrapped in paper and labeled with clues about their identity. It was a mystery to visitors whether they were getting a book of Stephen King short stories or a book about outsmarting squirrels who steal from the birdfeeder.
Patti Labbe, director of quality control at the Vaccine Clinical Materials Program (VCMP), used the event as an opportunity to refresh the contents of the small library maintained at the VCMP.
“There were plenty of mainstream authors selections to choose in all genres. I was thrilled to find Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden, one of my favorite books. I hope my VCMP colleagues enjoy it as well,” she said.
After the kickoff day, all items from the Book and Media Swap were moved to the Scientific Library in Building 549, where visitors can still use their donation points to take the remaining books and media. Beginning on November 13, anyone can come to take free Book and Media Swap items, even if they didn’t donate anything. The items will remain in the Scientific Library through the end of November, after which they will be donated to charity.
