Materials - Books, audiobooks, movies, magazines, local newspapers, and more!

Most items are available to be checked out for a two week period.   The exceptions are magazines, movies, and Wii games which are checked out for a one week period.

Librarians have a language of their own.  Checking out an item means you have come to the counter, the librarian has scanned the items, put them on your library account, and you are ready to take them home.  Checking in an item means you are finished with the item and are ready for the library to take the item off your account and put it back on the shelf.   The basket on the front counter is where you place items that you want the librarians to check in.

Adult Section

• Books that the library has just purchased and catalogued are displayed in a special shelf near the entrance.   They are displayed there for 5 months.
• Regular Fiction Books  -   Fiction is literature, especially short stories and novels, that describes imaginary events and people.
  
• Western Themed Books - usually about cowboys or the Old West
  
• Christian Fiction - Fiction books with a Christian theme or viewpoint
  
• Large Print - These books make reading a little easier since the printed words are much larger.
  
• Audio Books on CD
  
• Playaway Books
  
• Nonfiction Books - Books based on facts, real events, and real people.  They are filed in Dewey Decimal order.  Ask a librarian if you need help finding a particular book.
  
• Biographies (and autobiographies) - Biographies are the stories of a real person's life written by someone other than that person.  An autobiography is a book about a person's life written by the person himself.
  
• Magazines 
• Reference Books - These books are not allowed to be checked out and taken home.  You can sit in a comfy chair here at the library and look at them though.  They have a reference sticker at the top.  Most are in the nonfiction section.
• Local History Books - Some of these are kept behind the counter and you will need to ask for these.  The El Paso Story is an example.   Many can be found in the Lester Pfister History Room.
• El Paso High School Yearbooks - Lester Pfister History Room
• El Paso-Gridley High School Yearbooks - Lester Pfister History Room
• Local historian Marilyn Swanson's scrapbooks of local information, including   - Lester Pfister History Room
• Microfiche reels of newspapers from El Paso - Lester Pfister History Room
• Digital newspaper of newspapers from El Paso - Lester Pfister History Room

Young Adult Section

Books just purchased and catalogued are displayed on special shelving in the Young Adult Section.
Fiction books
Graphic Novels
Nonfiction books
Books on CD

Children's SEction

Books just purchased and catalogued are displayed on special shelving throughout the Children's Section.
Board Books - sturdy books for very young children
Picture Books - These are called Easy books.  They are great kinds of books for parents to read to young children.
Beginning Reader Books - We call these Easy Readers.  They are specifically written for young children who are just starting to learn to read.
Easy Audiobooks - These are books that come with a CD of someone reading the book.  They often have music, also.
Nonfiction
Biographies
Audiobooks on CD
Fiction books - These books have chapters. 
Magazines
Literacy Kits - These bags contain a book, a recording of the book, and a fun activity to aid the child in reading comprehension or literacy
Currently, there are 7 kits:
1. Are You My Mother?
2. Baby Sign Language
3. Brown Bear, Brown Bear
4. Caps for Sale
5. Chicka Chicka Boom Boom
6. English for Beginners
7. I Spy...beanbag
Treasure Chests of Knowledge, aka Themed Trunks - These tubs contain items to give a very extensive overview on a certain subject. These tubs would be appropriate to be used in an educational setting, such as a school or home-school environment. Currently, there are 12 trunks covering the following subjects:
1. American Revolution
2. Animals & Their Babies
3. Art History
4. Discover Dinosaurs 
5. Geology Rocks!
6. Ocean Creatures
7. Outer Space
8. STEM - Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics
9. The Importance of Pollinators
10. The State of Illnois
11. The Water Cycle
12. The Wonderful World of Trees

Movies - movies are filed with different color labeling

Movies cost 50 cents to check out for one week.
Newly purchased and catalogued movies sit on a special shelf for a few months.
Children's Movies - Pink - mostly cartoons and animated type movies
Family Movies - Blue - Movies rated G.
Christian Themed Movies - Purple
Movies in a Series - Yellow - Things like James Bond or many PBS TV shows 
Documentaries - Lime - Also contains exercise videos.
Classic Movies - Beige - Also contains musicals.
Adult Movies rated PG or R - White
Superhero Themed Movies - Red