The library posted a wish list through Amazon.com last week, in which it identified 48 book and DVD titles it wants to add to its collection. Town residents can purchase a book on the list and have it shipped directly to the library to help it meet the fiscally challenging year ahead.

Funding for the library's new materials collection was slashed in half because of $100,000 in budget cuts for the next fiscal year.

The items on the wish list are mainly book titles, ranging in price from $7.69 to $100. Though the library is asking for one copy of most of the items listed, it also wants five copies of the yet-to-be-released J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Altogether, the books and DVDs the library is asking for are worth more than $1,100.

"It's nice to do something [through] the library so you can do something for residents in town," said Karl Pearson, chair of the library's board of directors. Pearson purchased a physics book and one copy of the Harry Potter book for the library last week.

While the library turned to the wish list as a response to budget cuts, director Peggy Conaway said the list "is probably something we should do even in times where there's not a budget crisis."

Along with having the purchase be tax deductible, Conaway said this is "a really easy way to shop for a present if you want something in honor of somebody." Book buyers can have a dedication inscribed into the book by filling out the "gift note" section of the purchase form.

By requesting specific titles through a wish list, the library manages to "control what comes in," Conaway said. Otherwise, the library might receive too many copies of any one title.

However, she is still encouraging people to drop off used books that aren't on the wish list.

"We receive books from people every day. If it's something we can use for the collection, we use it, absolutely," Conaway said.

If the used book isn't added to the library's collection, the Friends of the Library will sell it, with proceeds going back to the library, she said. The most recent purchase the library made with funds from the Friends was new furniture for the children's room.

For more information about the wish list, visit http://library.town.los-gatos.ca.us