At the Norwin Public Library, not every book gets at due date.

Walking into the building, visitors immediately encounter a carousel and several wooden racks full of paperback books. Unlike the rest of the library's collection, these books don't require a card for checkout and don't have to be returned by a specific date.

"We offer them to patrons on an honor basis," library director Diana Falk said. Patrons simply have to let the library staff know how many books they take and then eventually return the same number of paperbacks.

While the number has to be the same, the books don't. Falk said patrons should feel free to keep a book if they particularly like it and donate a new book in its place.

Most of the paperbacks originally were donated by patrons, and Falk said the nature of the program keeps the books up to date.

"It's a very fresh collection because it's always changing."

Falk said the program has proved popular with patrons. Paperbacks from the exchange account for between 7 and 10 percent of total circulation.

"The patrons love it, and I think they love it for various reasons," said Falk, pointing out that the lack of a due date takes pressure off people who like to read leisurely or take out a large number of books at a time.

Library volunteer Polly Holup organizes the collection once a week. She said it contains several hundred books, mostly popular romances, suspense and adventure novels and a few westerns.

Holup said paperback readers often read through their books quickly, so people like the fact that they can take out a large stash of books at a time.

"We have some old ladies come in and take 30 books out," Holup said, who remembers one woman who brought in a rolling suitcase and filled it up with titles.

People frequently bring in new books to the library, said Holup, and she has no problem finding recently published works in the paperback exchange.

Falk said the library has run the exchange for as long as she can remember. She said not only does the program demonstrate the impact community donations and volunteers make at the library, it also shows the library is more than the stereotype of the harsh librarian with inflexible deadlines.

"We like to remind people that the library may not be quite what you realize," Falk said.