Waiting for a bestseller at the library? If it’s your ‘Lucky Day,’ you can skip the line.
Fans of the written word know the struggle of getting their hands on the latest bestseller from your local library.
The waitlist for the new releases of John Grisham, Danielle Steel, James Patterson and Mary Higgins Clark can stretch into the hundreds at Wake County Public Libraries.
But there’s a new way to skip the line.
A “Lucky Day display” has officially been launched at all branches of the library system, giving people a chance to check out bestsellers without waiting for weeks or even months.
If you see the book on display, that means it is available and free to checkout. The books can’t be renewed and they can only be checked out for two weeks — in hopes of a speedy return for the next lucky patron.
“This helps get bestsellers into the hands of people and increases visitation to the library,” said Dan Brooks, selection manager for the library system. “All of the books on the Lucky Day shelves have a waitlist.”
Waitlists can average between 100 to 300 and can sometimes climb into the upper hundreds.
The Lucky Day shelves are full of consistently top-selling authors that make the bestseller lists, along with a few authors from North Carolina that also see waiting lists.
Honore Holmes and her daughter Debbie Johnson are both fans and frequent users of the Lucky Day display. They usually get together to eat lunch every week and stop by the Cameron Village Regional Library to check out the latest bestsellers.
“I just finished the “The President is Missing” by James Patterson and Bill Clinton,” Holmes said. “I just turned that one in. They’re current books, and they’re good. I’m glad to see the shelves full of them.”
The Lucky Day display is near the check-out area at Cameron Village. Shelves are often restocked throughout the day, because books are constantly coming in and being checked out, said Sue Scott, recreation and reading librarian at Cameron Village.
“People have loved those from the beginning,” she said. “They are the most popular books, and they do have long waiting lists. A lot of people, habitually, check the Lucky Day display as they are walking in.”
The Lucky Day program started as a pilot project in just a handful of branches before now showing up at all of the locations.
Anna Johnson; 919-829-4807; @anna_m_johnson
This story was originally published August 7, 2018 at 5:42 PM with the headline "Waiting for a bestseller at the library? If it’s your ‘Lucky Day,’ you can skip the line.."