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One week from today, the News & Record's book page will be back in its rightful place, as part of the Sunday Ideas section.

When we eliminated the section more than a year ago, you told us you missed it -- and you kept on telling us until ... well, what time is it right now?

You told us we are a community of readers.

You told us you not only like to read but you like reading about reading.

And you were right.

More than 150 book clubs are affiliated with the Greensboro Public Library and dozens more operate on their own in dens and living rooms throughout the Triad.

Greensboro's One City, One Book initiative ranks among the most successful community "read-ins" in the country.

The Barnes & Noble store in Friendly Center is one of the chain's highest-volume stores in the Southeast.

Patrons at the Main Library on Church Street regularly line the sidewalks on weekday mornings before opening time at 9 o'clock.

Finally, the quaint tradition of the small, independent book store is back here as well, in the tiny Glenwood Community Book Shop, where Whitman, Dickinson and Sartre line the shelves in a tiny treasure trove for book lovers on Grove Street.

Our invitation for you to share your favorite book of all time received hundreds of responses from young and old, with more than a few entrants huffing that the 50-word limit could not contain all you had to say about a life-changing novel, short story or book of verses.

The Triad and the state also have produced an impressive community of writers: Fred Chappell (whom Charles Wheeler will profile next week), Marianne Gingher, Randall Jarrell, Candace Flynt, Michael Parker, Sarah Lindsay, Carole Boston Weatherford, Linda Beatrice Brown, John Hart and Bob Watson, to name a few.

So, here we are bucking a national trend among newspapers and reviving the books page rather than burying it.

We are restoring some familiar elements, such as reviews, features and best-seller lists. And we are adding some new ones: regular columns on "green" books and graphic novels and the latest on reading trends and technology.

We are also closely tying the books pages to our new staff blog, "Page Turners," which debuted over the summer and has added new life and fresh voices to local book talk.

Starting next Sunday, here is what you can expect in our books coverage:

-- A once-every-two-weeks books section that will be published in full color on the back page of the Ideas section.

-- Regular excerpts from the "Page Turners" blog that will feature news, reviews and reflections on good and not-so-good reads, with an emphasis on area writers.

-- "Green Books," a periodic column by Go Green Triad writer and content manager Morgan Josey Glover.

-- "Decimal Points," a regular column with reading news, views and tips from Assistant Director Steve Sumerford and the staff of the Greensboro Public Library.

-- A periodic column on comics and graphic novels by Brian Ewing.

-- "What I'm Reading," snapshots from your friends and neighbors on what they're reading and whether they'd recommend it to you.

-- National and local best-seller lists.

-- Travel articles about destinations with strong connections to famous authors or their works.

And more.

We'll also work to engage you as well with a variety of reader-participation features for the printed page and a chance to discuss books with our staff and other readers online.

Make no mistake, we are bucking a trend. Newspapers much larger than our own have downsized or eliminated their book pages altogether.

They include the Atlanta Journal Constitution, Los Angeles Times, Orlando Sentinel, San Francisco Chronicle and Boston Globe.

And for a while, they included us.

In an effort to stretch smaller resources and to conserve newsprint, the News & Record's book page was eliminated toward the end of 2008.

You were not pleased and have let us know ever since through your phone calls, letters and e-mails.

It may have taken us some time to get the point, but we have. The Ideas section will expand to six pages every other week for books coverage beginning on Sept. 20.

Nearly two of the pages will contain book reviews, profiles and other features -- sometimes more, on those occasions when the front of the Ideas section also will be devoted to books, as it will next week.

If we've succeeded, you'll find a section that is at once familiar and brand-new.

Please let us know what you think.