Thursday, April 30, 2009

We've installed a "people counter"

Yesterday we installed a people counter on our door. It is too high to count young children, unfortunately, but we worried it would get "played with" if we left it too low. We were quite amazed with our count for the first day: 623!! It would be over 700, I'm sure, if it counted the little folks! We know we are busy, our circulation is certainly up. There are lots of folks, though, who come in to read the papers, use our computers, use wifi, do research, etc., who don't check out items. We'll be following these "people count" numbers for a while.

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Strategic Plan

The Trustees of the Library have embarked on creating a new strategic plan. Our goal is excellence in library service, and we'll be forming a committee to envision what we plan to achieve in the next five years. The American Library Association suggests a list of "service responses" and asks us to priorize three or four of them for our library. During the next month or so, we will be creating an online survey for our users. Here are a list of the choices that will be included...remember, we'll be narrowing them down to 3 or 4!

Be an Informed Citizen: Local, National, and World Affairs

Build Successful Enterprises: Business and NonProfit Soupport

Celebrate Diversity: Cultural Awareness

Connect to the Online World: Public Internet Access

Create Young Readers: Early Literacy

Discover Your Roots: Genealogy and Local History

Express Creativity: Create and Share Content

Get Facts Fast: Ready Reference

Know Your Community: Community Resources and Services

Learn to Read and Write: Adult, Teen, and Family Literacy

Make Career Choices: Job and Career Development

Make Informed Decisions: Health, Wealth, and Other Life Choices

Satisfy Curiosity: Lifelong Learning

Stimulate Imagination: Reading, Viewing, and Listening for Pleasure

Success in School: Homework Help

Understand How to Find, Evaluate, and Use Information: Information Fluency

Visit a Comfortable Place: Physical and Virtual Spaces

Welcome to the United States: Services for New Immigrant

Monday, April 13, 2009

May book discussion group

We'll be choosing a new date for our May discussion of MY ANTONIA, because the May 19 date conflicts with town meeting, which I must attend. The new date will be on our library calendar after the April 21 discussion of THE HOURS and MRS. DALLOWAY.

Media drop ready for your returns

We've retrofitted one of our book drops, so you may now return dvds, audio books, and videos when the library is not open. We can probably call this an experiment. You've been asking for this convenience for a long time, we hope it works for all of us! Please remember to check and see that all discs are included before you return the item. Thanks!

Neat sites on the web

Marylaine Block runs a consulting business and posts a "Neat New Things on the Web" nearly every week. This is her most recent column. The peep link is really, really cute!

Friday, April 10, 2009

Resources for Job Hunters

Check this website from the Southeastern Regional Library System:

http://www.semls.org/resource/support/JobSearchWebsites.htm

Monday, April 06, 2009

Dog On It

One of the library's voracious readers raved about a new book called DOG ON IT by Spencer Quinn. I think it is the author's first novel. Bernie runs the Little Detective Agency and Chet is his sidekick, a dog. The entire story is told from the dog's point of view, and it really is fun.
I'm listening to it on audio. The reviews have been really good, the title is suggested for mystery lovers, not just canine lovers!

Books certainly are enthralling!

Great opinion piece in the 4/5/09 Sun Chronicle...very dear to this librarian's heart, anyway! Aren't you curious about what he was reading? There are thousands of books in the library that can grab one's attention...