Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Happy May Day!

Thinking Library!
Carole Stanger
May 1, 2010


New Books Upstairs @ the library!
Never Look Away by Linwood Barclay
Down to the Wire by David Rosenfelt
Secret of the Dragon by Margaret Weis
Mapping of Love and Death by Jacqueline Winspear
Deception by Jonathan Kellerman
Black Cat by Martha Grimes
Inn at Angel Island by Thomas Kinkade

Coming Events @ the Library!
Library Hours!
Monday – Friday 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Wednesday 9:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Saturday 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Sundays—closed.
Friday, May 14, 6-7 p.m. Dan Wardell Program for all ages!
Monday, May 17: You can start to donate used books in good to excellent condition for the Book Sale!
Tuesday/Wednesday, May 18/19, 6-8 p.m. Washington School Gym, One Stop registration summer library programs as well as a host of other summer activities for young people!
Wednesday, May 19: You can start to register for Summer Library Programs at the library!
Friday and Saturday, May 28 & 29: Friends of the Atlantic Public Library Used Book Sale!
Library will be closed on Monday, May 31 for Memorial Day
Tuesday, June 1st: Summer Reading Program begins for ages 3 years through 3rd Grade!



Did You Know… that upstairs at the library there is a repository for used ink cartridges? The library has partnered with the Scouts on this little project for a couple years! Unfortunately, they do not want Epson cartridges, but HP and Brother cartridges are just fine.

Behind My Desk… For those of you who have been frustrated with our Public Use Copier in the last few months—we have a new one! Our last one did a fine job for many years, but it had seen better days. I’m hoping this one will be easy to use for people. It still copies 8.5 x 11, 8.5 x 14, and 11 x 17. It can also copy both sides of something. I’m always amazed at that. I know. I have no life, but I do think that was a smart idea by someone.

How did we get through four months of this year already? Well, half of that or more we were buried under snow. One day seemed like all the rest. It’s so nice to see green.

Spring cleaning is continuing in my office. The place looks better, but I know I have a lot of sorting to do and deciding how long to retain some files. This is the important part of the cleaning process.

Dan Wardell is coming to the Atlantic Public Library again this May 14 from 6-7 p.m. to promote our new PBS Kids Raising Readers Library Corner! We have partnered with Iowa Public Television to help with early childhood literacy. Dan was here this past week and gave us a nice big IPTV area rug to use in our Children’s Room along with some TALL posters promoting the new corner. We had to work some magic and cut them to fit our very low ceilings in the kids’ area!
Keep Raising Readers, and Thinking Libraries!

Monday, April 12, 2010

National Library Week!

Thinking Library!
Carole Stanger
April 17, 2010

New Books Upstairs @ the library!
Think Twice by Lisa Scottoline
Wild Ride by Jennifer Crusie
Shattered by Karen Robards
Sheen on the Silk by Ann Perry
Exclusive by Fern Michaels
Whiter than Snow by Sandra Dallas
River in the Sky by Elizabeth Peters

Coming Events @ the Library!
Library Hours!
Monday – Friday 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Wednesday 9:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Saturday 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Sundays—closed.
Library will be closed on Monday May 31 for Memorial Day
Check our online calendar to see if there is an addition!



Did You Know… every time you click on to the library homepage, you will see a different set of five new books that the library now has available for checkout? It’s part of a site called “Library Thing.” Each month I add our new books to this list. At the end of six months, I take them off the list. It doesn’t mean the library no longer owns the title, they are just not considered “new” any more. It keeps the list fresh and interesting.

Behind My Desk… Well, better late than never. This week is National Library Week! I hope that in some small way you celebrate libraries throughout the year. Just a little bit of trivia for you. Iowa ranks 11th in the nation for library visits. Iowans average 6.27 visits compared to the national average of 4.91. Since 1999, library visits to Iowa public libraries increased 41 per cent. We must be doing something right! The Atlantic Public Library averages well over 300 people through our doors every day.

Did you get a chance to try the Scavenger Hunt I tried to put together for Library Week? Facebook fans got a head start on the list last week. A few of them might have been a little tricky. If you got the first 10 completed, I hope you stopped by the library and picked up your “prize.” Go ahead and give it a try! I’ll let you get the prize even if the date has passed!

Also, last week, I tried to do a little spring cleaning in my office. It seems I’ve become the depository for everything that doesn’t have a home. Everyone has that place in a house where something gets put when you don’t know if you might need the fool thing again. I haven’t helped the situation. I’ve added my share of “what do I do with….” I started by trying to clear my desk. Well, you and I both know that I just put things in a different spot and didn’t do anything except make another pile larger, but my desk looked nicer! I must admit I did make things better. The trash can was quite full when I finished that day!

Next week on April 22 you can celebrate Earth Day! Our upstairs bulletin board has all sorts of information about our Landfill Site and Yard Waste Site. We really need to take advantage of these important sources in our community!

Keep Celebrating, and Thinking Libraries!

Library Scavenger Hunt List!!

Scavenger hunt
1. Locate the Biography section (either upstairs or downstairs) and list a title you would like to read sometime.
2. List the title of a movie (either VHS or DVD) you would like to see.
3. List the titles of three magazines you didn’t know the library had.
4. List a title that can be found in book form, audio (tape or cd), and video.
5. Find a map of Atlantic with the ward divisions; and if you live within the city limits, you need to show which Ward you live in.
6. What libraries in Iowa own…David Grossman’s Lovers and Strangers?
7. Find a picture of the Atlantic Opera House.
8. How many public libraries are there in Cass County?
9. Who wrote the Brother Cadfael series of mysteries?
10. Who wrote Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm?

Extra Challenges:
1. Print a copy of an article written by Frank van Diggelen.
2. Show a staff member how to make an origami box.


1.______________________________________________________

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3.______________________________________________________

4.______________________________________________________

6.______________________________________________________

8. _______________

9. ___________________________________

10._____________________________________________________

Thursday, April 1, 2010

New Books Downstairs!

Thinking Library!
Carole Stanger
April 3, 2010


New Books Upstairs @ the library!
I Know Where I’m Going by Charles Chandler
Pirate Latitudes by Michael Crichton
Hell Gate by Linda Fairstein
Union Atlantic by Adam Haslett
Heights by Peter Hedges
Game Change by John Heilemann
Bread of Angels by Stephanie Saldana

Coming Events @ the Library!
Library Hours!
Monday – Friday 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Wednesday 9:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Saturday 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Sundays—closed.
Friends of the Atlantic Public Library Used Book Sale: Friday & Saturday May 28 & 29!
Library will be closed on Monday May 31 for Memorial Day



Did You Know… that the Atlantic Public Library is available for proctoring tests?

Behind My Desk… Notice something new in the lobby of the library? For the next few weeks there will be someone to answer Census questions for anyone who is having a problem filling out the form or by some strange accident did not receive a form. (Hey, it happens! I wasn’t counted in 1970. I was in college and somehow I never got one!) There are just certain hours when this resource person will be here, so be sure to note the times! Oh, by the way, if you don’t fill the form out; you will receive a visit by a Census person and that person will fill it out for you.

In my last article I had the list for Iowa Teen Awards. Now, I have the longer list of Iowa Children’s Choice Awards 2010-11. These can be found downstairs at the library, too!

Iron Thunder by Avi
The 100-Year-Old Secret by Tracy Barrett
The Name of This Book is Secret by Pseudonymous Bosch
Yes, I Know the Monkey Man by Dori Hillestad Butler
Lost and Found by Andrew Clements
Hate That Cat: a Novel by Sharon Creech
Trading Faces by Julia Devillers
Diamond Willow by Helen Frost
Marley: A Dog Like No Other by John Grogan
Satch & Me by Dan Gutman
Found: The Missing Book by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Deep and Dark and Dangerous by Mary Downing Hahn
Stolen Children by Peg Kehret
Swindle by Gordon Korman
The Willoughbys by Lois Lowry
Two-Minute Drill by Mike Lupica
Every Soul a Star by Wendy Mass
Miss Spitfire: Reaching Helen Keller by Sarah Miller
How to Steal a Dog by Barbara O’Connor
The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex
Detective Camp by Ron Roy
Paint the Wind by Pam Munoz Ryan
The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart
We’re planning to “Make a Splash” this summer…so, Keep Thinking Libraries!