Safety Tips for Parents and Children in Public Places

Recently a child was attacked at the New Bedford Public Library...you may have read about it in the newspapers. His mother was within earshot, but he was not within her sight. Libraries are public buildings, and the variety of people who use are building is large. Please keep your child within earshot AND within sight at all times. We recently saw a sign in a public library that said "Please keep your child within hugging distance." Children under 8 should never be further from a parent than that. Older children in public are at risk too, and should be taught safety procedures. Our doors are busy, and frequently open...children can move through them very quickly. In addition, our shelves can block the view from what is happening. Please help us keep everyone safe!

Ellen Degeneres on librarians

This is from Ellen Degeneres' blog, and it struck me funny!



My Thought...And I Do Have One
SHHHHHHHHHHHH!Today I’d like to talk about librarians. I don’t know how many of them watch my show. If they do, they probably watch my show while reading or working on the Dewey Decimal System. They probably don’t watch much TV at all. They just wait for the transcripts. If they do watch the show, they probably keep the sound turned down and put their fingers up to their mouths and say, “Shhhhhhhh” every time the audience laughs.
Librarians are the opposite of cheerleaders. At the library, if you make any noise, they deal with you immediately. First you get the silent, “How dare you?” look. If that doesn’t work, they give you the universal zip the lip signal. And if that doesn’t work, they do the lock up the lips and throw away the key move. I always trick them. I pretend to throw away the key, but keep it in my hand and slip it in my pocket. I’m sure I’m gonna get some phone calls from angry librarians. Of course, I won’t be able to hear what they are saying.
Have you ever been yelled at by a librarian? It tickles. I bet when they go out at night, librarians are totally different. It’s probably something like “Librarians Gone Wild.” I bet its just like the “Whitesnake” video. You remember the video? They take their glasses off, the wind starts blowing in their hair and end up on the hood of a Camaro. ..It’s because they can’t see. They think it’s their bed.

Live Homework Help

It is time to remind everyone again that we offer Live Homework Help through our website!
It is available for children in grades 4 through beginning college, and is available from 4 p.m. until 10 p.m. every day except major holidays. After students have used it, they fill out a little questionnaire, and we receive the answers each month. Comments are overwhelmingly positive. Spring brings flowers and lots of projects and reports for students, and Live Homework Help is ready to assist!

Internet and Printing

Big changes are here in the sign-up for our Internet stations! Two weeks ago we started using "PC Reservation" which allows you to sign up yourself instead of stopping at the desk. When stations are open, you can just walk up to an open one and sign in, using your library card # and your pin #...your pin is usually the last four numbers of your phone. If all the stations are in use, there is a reservation station right next to our printer where you can sign in for a particular time or for "next available." When you sign in, you need to specify Internet (as opposed to JUV Internet, which is for kids up to age 15 that have permission slips) or for word processor. All our word processing stations are part of this too. If you owe us money over $3.00, your card will not work and you'll need to pay your overdues. Last week we instituted a print management feature too. When you choose to print from the Internet or from the word processors, you'll now need to choose what you are printing and also feed the coin machine in order to get your copies. We know this will save you from printing things you didn't need to print, as well as save us from spending tax paper dollars on wasted paper. Do let us know if you have any questions.