@Entity
public class StoryGroup implements Serializable, IStoryGroup {
    private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
    private int               id;
    private String            groupName;
    private Set<IStory>       stories;

    StoryGroup() {
    }

    public StoryGroup(final String name) {
        groupName = name;
        createHashCode();
    }

    @Id
    @GeneratedValue(strategy = GenerationType.AUTO)
    public int getId() {
        return id;
    }

    public void setId(final int id) {
        this.id = id;
    }

    @Lob()
    @Column(name = "GroupName")
    public String getName() {
        return groupName;
    }

    public void setName(final String groupName) {
        this.groupName = groupName;
        createHashCode();
    }

    // bi-directional many-to-one association to Story
    @OneToMany(mappedBy = "group", targetEntity = Story.class)
    public Set<IStory> getStories() {
        return stories;
    }

    public void setStories(final Set<IStory> stories) {
        this.stories = stories;
    }

    private int createHashCode() {
        final int prime = 31;
        int result = 1;
        result = prime * result + (groupName == null ? 0 : groupName.hashCode());
        return result;
    }

    /** {@inheritDoc} */
    @Override
    public boolean equals(final Object obj) {
        if (this == obj) {
            return true;
        }
        if (obj == null) {
            return false;
        }
        if (getClass() != obj.getClass()) {
            return false;
        }
        final StoryGroup other = (StoryGroup) obj;
        return GeneralUtil.isEqual(groupName, other.groupName);
    }

    /** {@inheritDoc} */
    @Override
    public int hashCode() {
        return groupName.hashCode();
    }

}

public final class StoryGroups {
    private final Map<String, IStoryGroup> groups;

    /**
     *
     */
    public StoryGroups() {
        final Session s = SessionProvider.getSessionFactory().openSession();
        final List<?> q = s
                .createQuery("select sg.name as key, sg.name as value from StoryGroup as sg") //<---------------???
                .setResultTransformer(Transformers.ALIAS_TO_ENTITY_MAP).list(); //<---------------???

        groups = null;   //<---------------???
        s.close();
    }

    public IStoryGroup getGroupByName(final String name) {
        IStoryGroup grp = groups.get(groups.indexOf(name));
        if (grp == null) {
            grp = new StoryGroup(name);
            final Session s = SessionProvider.getSessionFactory().openSession();
            final Transaction t = s.beginTransaction();
            t.begin();
            s.save(grp);
            t.commit();
            s.close();
        }
        return grp;
    }

    public static void main(final String[] args) {
        final StoryGroups s = new StoryGroups();
        final IStoryGroup g1 = s.getGroupByName("Fiction");
        final IStoryGroup g2 = s.getGroupByName("Biography");
        System.out.println(g2);
    }
}