By Connie Dalrymple

Guernsey Memorial Library

I’m a sucker for information. At least three or four times per day some random thought occurs to me and I find myself on the Internet chasing down facts, or what sometimes passes for facts.

These days you can look up most anything.

Whether you can find precisely what you’re looking for or whether what you find is truthful and relevant is another story entirely.

Today, my goal was to set up a display of books by local authors in the library. Everyone has heard of James Patterson and Danielle Steel, but what about the Chenango County folks who have labored to get their ideas onto paper? As our neighbors, their words might be even more relevant to our lives and these authors deserve to have their works brought to our attention.

As I wandered the stacks and gathered books, I started to wonder how many authors reside in Chenango County. It turns out that there are some data out there in the ether. In 2023, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics estimated there were 49,450 writers and authors in the United States. New York State is one of the states with the highest number of writers and authors, with approximately 7,540. It turns out that drilling down to how many authors live in Chenango County, and further identifying who they are, is problematic.

The library tries to collect as many books by local authors as possible so that people can support their work but also as part of maintaining a historical narrative for the region. When we manage to identify a local author, we try to obtain copies of their books, labeling them as works by local authors so that readers can find them on the shelves. This is hit or miss, though, and we worry that some authors are slipping through the cracks.

S. R. Ranganathan, an Indian librarian and mathematician, proposed a set of laws for libraries.

Two of them boil down to “Every book its reader” and “Every reader his or her book.”

Essentially, the library’s goal is to provide books to satisfy every reader and to try to provide an audience for every book, making sure that books and readers make connections.

If you are an author, or if you know someone who is an author, please let the library know at guernsey@4cls.org so that we can shine a light on all that is special about Chenango County and the region.