Back to The 23 Things

It's been a while, and like lots of you, I need to work to catch up.  I'm skipping around a little - stuck on Skype, despite all of Nancy's help.  I've decided that stubbornness is what's needed to use these tools.  Also, the ability to focus and not get too distracted by all of the wonderful links on the website. Flixster is great for movie lovers (www.flixster.com) I watched trailers from some of the movies I'm looking forward to this fall, and took a quiz.  You can also watch streaming movies and TV show episodes for free.  And Virtual Tourist is one I know I'll use (http://www.virtualtourist.com/). In the forums for travel in Italy there was a question from someone who is arriving in Venice tomorrow morning and asked about the best way to get to a particular location.  I checked back an hour later and he'd gotten 8 replies!  Another person asked about whether it's necessary to wear a tie and jacket to the opera in Italy. 

I've used Flickr several times. I posted lots of photos of the libraries for Kathy Schalk-Greene and Joan Bernstein prior to our staff development day last fall.  So much easier than trying to email all of those files!  The libraries look different now, but if you want to see some "before" photos you can find them at http://www.flickr.com/photos/katemccaffrey/

The web is well named - easy to get caught in the strands and lose yourself! 

Harry Potter, anyone?

Through September 18th, visit NOPL@Cicero to see a special exhibit and attend programs exploring the worlds of herbology, astronomy, and alchemy.  All of the details can be found on the library's website: www.nopl.org

The traveling exhibit was organized by the National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of  Health, and is coordinated by the American Library Association.  NOPL@Cicero is one of only twelve libraries selected nationwide to participate in this project.

Growing popularity of eReaders

Eavesdrop on any group of librarians and you're likely to hear some discussion of eReaders.  Many of us love the convenience of our Kindles, Nooks, or Sony Readers. We read stacks of print books of course, but since we're likely to be compulsive readers, not happy unless we have a selection with us, and spares for when we finish the book we're currently reading, the technology meets our needs in a lot of ways.

The questions that worry us? What does the increasing popularity of eReaders mean for the future of public libraries?  And how can we meet the needs of our patrons who are becoming converts?  As a librarian and lifetime reader it warms my heart to read the discussions in the Kindle forums - these are READERS!  They discuss books with great enthusiasm.  They recommend titles and sources for free and low-cost ebooks, they discuss the publishing industry and they are excited about new and newly discovered authors.  We don't want to lose them as library supporters. 

Librarians should be out front of the efforts to get the publishing industry to come up with a standard format and a user-friendly way to market ebooks to libraries so that we can lend them, alongside print books, magazines, and the CD's, Playaways, DVD's,etc.that have enriched our collections.

There is an interesting article about the dramatic increase in sales of ebooks in this morning's New York Times.  Take a look....http://tiny.cc/1nlq8

Wonderful programs coming up!

At 7pm, July 29th (that's this Thursday) author Jack Henke will be talking about Oneida Lake history at the Brewerton Library. Mr. Henke is the director of the Oneida Lake Association and author of many books of stories and information about the communities that grew up around the lake.

On August 12th, classical guitarist Peter Fletcher is back by popular demand and will perform at the Cicero Library at 6:30 pm.  Peter Fletcher’s three recordings, The Art of Classical Guitar, A Peter Fletcher Recital and Federico Mompou: Guitar Works (Centaur Records CRC 2588), have received critical acclaim. 

Ruminating on Twitter, LinkedIn and the like

I just revisited my twitter account and my LinkedIn account, in honor of The 23 Things project.  (When, oh when will someone solve the problem of dozens of user logons and passwords?)  These wonderful social networking tools make me wish that I were just starting out - I can see so many ways to use them in building a career.

In the past we counted on professional journals and conferences to learn about best practices and to connect with colleagues from other parts of the country.  Librarians who were lucky enough to work for organizations that supported continuous learning, or who had financial resources of their own could attend conferences, take courses, or go to workshops, but others were more isolated - limited to their own local libraries.  What a difference when you can have a skype conversation with someone like David Lee King, participate easily in webinars and virtual conferences, and ask questions and get ANSWERS from experts and from generous and experienced colleagues you may never meet in person!

Our working lives have been transformed.  Despite the stress of information overload, and the fact that we seem to be connected to work for 16 hours out of 24, the benefits are extraordinary.  Wonder what it will be like in 5 years, or 10 years?

NY Times columnist David Brooks on the importance of books in the home

There is a terrific column in the New York Times today.  We know it's true, but it's nice to have studies backing us up.  Give it a read...

Kids still need books and libraries!

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...