FERRIDAY &8212; The way of life when home was on the range colored Thursday night adult reading program discussions at the Ferriday Library.

Glenn Jordan, the curator of the Special Collections and University Records officer and adjunct associate professor at the University of Louisiana at Monroe, delivered a presentation to a small group in the first adult reading program of the year. Jordan gave a power point presentation on the Range Cattle Industry and followed with a book talk on The Virginian.

&8220;Westerns and popular fictions are the all time favorite of most library patrons,&8221; Concordia Parish Library Director Amanda Taylor said.

Thursday&8217;s presentation was the first in a series of four Thursday evening book talks covering the &8220;western favorites.&8221; Books to be discussed include The Virginian, Monty Walsh, The Daybreakers and Lonesome Dove. The program begins each week offering history of the cowboy and the American West followed by a discussion of one of the selected novels.

&8220;We love Westerns and like anything that deals with heritage and where we&8217;re from,&8221; event participant James King said. &8220;We are all a result of what someone else has done and how they lived.&8221;

The program offered reasons for the increase in demand for the range cattle industry, including the need for more protein, the rise of the meat packing industry and the abundance of free land and grass on Great Plains.

&8220;I lived part of this and I&8217;ve always been into stories and working cattle,&8221; three-year Cheyenne, Wyoming resident and horse range worker David Marks said. &8220;I enjoy this lifestyle and I always have.&8221;

Overstocked ranges, harsh winters and conventional fencing led to the end of the cattle range industry, Jordan said.

Event attendant Charlotte White said as soon as the word was out the books were available, she and her husband began the reads and now just like hearing different people&8217;s opinions of the books.

&8220;The program forced me to read something I don&8217;t normally read,&8221; White said. &8220;This presentation has given me a lot of information that I can incorporate into my classes. It&8217;s good background information to pass along.&8221;

The program is a good break from today&8217;s society, Jordan said.

&8220;I think now people are so frustrated with the inability to get things done that we like this,&8221; he said. &8220;I&8217;ve been doing adult library programs for about 25 years and I just enjoy doing this.&8221;

The next adult reading night is scheduled to be at the Ferriday Library at 6 p.m., July 14 and will feature the book The Daybreakers. For more information on the event contact the Ferriday Library.