“Discovering Main Street” Author in Toledo Saturday

Foster Church, Pulitzer Prize winning writer for the Oregonian signs his book Sat, December 11 at Gallery Briseño (405 N. Main) from 12:00 – 5:00. Toledo is among the Oregon and Washington towns profiled in “Discovering Main Street: Travel Adventures in Small Towns of the Northwest.” One of the interesting things about the chapter on Toledo is to recognize the changes that have occurred here since his visit in 2006. Church writes he avoided towns that are already well-known tourist attractions; Toledo was one of a handful profiled along the coast. Each profile starts with “The Road” – usually the most scenic route available and ends with “The Basics” – suggestions about accommodations and restaurants. Calling small towns like Toledo “the last frontier of American tourism,” Church has simple suggestions for visiting them: Visit the Chamber or Visitor’s Bureau; read the local paper; find billboards of goings-on at the library or supermarket; find the best view of town; satisfy your curiosity; hang loose.

Church has a charming way of deconstructing myths about a town, offering a little history, a little anthropology and a little mystery. Just as some of the towns profiled are unexpected, so is some of his prose, such as “Myrtle Point is a downer at first sight.” However, he summarizes, “almost all small towns (in the NW) are blessed with an amenity that makes residents feel good and inspires newcomers to settle in them. That’s their natural surroundings, and no one can pull the plug on that.” Review by Alan Searle. (“Discovering Main Street; Travel Adventures in Small Towns of the Northwest” is published by OSU Press, © 2010, 192 pages)

The Gallery Briseño event is part of the Hometown Holiday events. It also features a wine tasting from InVitus, and gift sales.

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Product Review: Library To Go

Digital books are the wave of the future. A report this month from Forrester Research predicts $966 billion in e-book sales in 2010. However, through a partnership with Library2Go, operated by the Oregon Digital Library Consortium, Toledo Public Library patrons can download plenty of books at home, at no charge. It’s amazingly simple. I downloaded and installed the Adobe reader version for Macintosh in less than two minutes (broadband speed) and was reading my first e-book in less than five. The result for my PC was just as fast. To access the service, visit the Beachbooks website and log in (If you don’t yet have a library card, contact the library at 541-336-3132). From there, click “World Wide Web” and then “Library2Go.” This opens a new window and asks you to log in again. Using Library2Go is just like online shopping – you will put your selections in a ‘cart’ and ‘check out’ to download them. If you have shopped online, this will all be very familiar. Either way, Library Director Peter Rayment suggests using the tutorials, FAQ and videos at Library2Go to learn more about the system before starting to download books. You may also need to install book reading software, but the links on Library2Go are easy to find and intuitive. Log out of Library2Go before returning to the regular online catalog.

This service unexpectedly boosted Toledo Library circulation to a record level in the last fiscal year. Rayment said monthly circulation reports did not include downloading – those numbers showed up at the end of the year, and were a nice surprise. Rayment adds that library users are becoming increasingly sophisticated in their use of online tools, which is pushing circulation upward. He encourages everyone with online access to try e-books, which can also be put on iPods and other mobile devices, not just a hard-wired PC or Mac.

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