Sue Clarey recently helped a patron learn how to use her brand new laptop and eReader.  The patron purchased them so that she could download ebooks from the library.  She brought them, along with the manuals, to the Cicero Library.  She was so happy with the service Sue provided that she sent her flowers.  Thanks Sue, and thanks to all of you who go the extra mile for our patrons!

Really great day at Cicero!

Grupo Pagan set up in front of the windows and the library was filled with the great sounds of latin jazz - cool and sophisticated. Adrienne and I agreed that all that was lacking was a pitcher of margaritas. Nicole and Rose worked with kids - lots of kids! They signed up for the Summer Reading Program and painted murals that will hang on the walls of the children's area. Meg (and Tom, who should be on the payroll as resident artist, dog-handler, and general factotum) worked with a group of friendly and enthusiastic gardeners. Even the light rain didn't stop them.

Oh, and if that weren't enough, there was a genealogy group meeting in the community room. (The instructions for the projector worked perfectly, btw)

Such a great day in the library - I'm glad I was there!

p.s. Watch for copies of Grupo Pagan's CD to be added to NOPL's collection.

Mission statement v. Vision statement

This is NOPL's mission statement:

The primary objective of our library is to provide our community with a high-quality resource for education, research and entertainment. It is our goal to provide this service in the most courteous and efficient manner possible

It's okay - practical and straightforward, right? A mission statement describes where you are now. A vision statement has to do with where, and what, you want to be in the future. Because the board is beginning a strategic planning process I've been thinking about the need for a vision statement for NOPL. I'd like to hear from you - what do you see as a vision for NOPL? What would you like us to be? What role should we play in our communities? In our patrons' lives?

Serious thoughts for a sunny Sunday afternoon. I'm going outside!

RSS feeds - more anxiety for me!

I've always felt overwhelmed by the sheer volume of stuff I wanted to read/watch/listen to - so many interesting books, magazine articles, newspapers, Lehrer News Hour, NPR programs like All Things Considered and Fresh Air. With the Internet my anxiety over all of the things I DON'T have time for has increased - what, X-100? X-1000? And now, with RSS feeds I can have all of the content I don't have time to read delivered! Is that a good thing, or a bad thing? I'll go read a book and let my subconscious sort it out.

But first, these are the RSS subscriptions I've added - Tech News from the Fayetteville Free Library, David Lee King's blog, Rachel Maddow, and free Kindle ebooks. It was easy, though I can't figure out why some of them appear in my Google Reader Dashboard, and some don't. Not really sure what the dashboard is for yet anyway...

An unexpected outcome...

Have you noticed how many really interesting things we're learning about the people we work with? It's a benefit I hadn't thought about when we started, but it's so much fun!

What's new at NOPL?

Wireless printing is up and running! Congratulations to Carol Westcott who kept at it until it worked. This is a great service to our patrons, currently not available at other libraries. NOPL rocks!

Okay, so maybe it's not a good idea...

to be providing Amazon with a place to sell MP3 versions of songs, but I thought it might be nice for you, gentle reader, to listen to some jazz while you read my blog.

I'm quite proud of the fish - I found the picture on the Internet, and added the fish widget. Pretty cool, but it can't compete with Lynne's puppies!

NOPL Staff Development Day

I spent all of last weekend smiling because SDD was so much fun! Thanks to hard work by so many people, starting with Carol and Marianne, the entire committee, and all of the people who helped with the snippets and petting zoo - Ryann and Nancy, Ann and her Library Gaga blog, Barbara Giardina, and all of the enthusiastic participation by our wonderful staff. A great introduction to the 23 Things!

This was soooo easy!

It took me more time to find a URL that wasn't taken then it did to set up the blog! Can't wait to start the 23 Things. Hope you'll join me!