More Recycling @ your Library!

Thinking Library!

Carole Stanger

February 26, 2011

New Books Upstairs @ the library!

Heartbeat Away by Michael Palmer

Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo

America by Heart by Sarah Palin

Treachery in Death by J. D. Robb

Digital Photography Simplified by Rob Sheppard

Now You See Her by Joy Fielding

Vicious Cycle by Terry Blackstock

Devil’s Food Cake Murder by Joanne Fluke

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

• Check out our website http://www.atlantic.lib.ia.us

• The Library Board Regular Meeting Monday, Mar. 14 5:30 p.m. upstairs
• Wed. Mar 2 Dr. Seuss Birthday party for k-3^rd Grades 2:30-3:30. No sign up!

• Story Time Programs for 3, 4, & 5 year olds! No registration! Free!
• Wed./Thurs. Mar. 2/3 Preschool Story Time 10-10:45 a.m.
• Wed./Thurs. Mar.23/24 (note not 26^th as in Story Time Flyer!) Preschool Story Time 10-10:45 a.m.
• Mon. Mar. 21 “When Dinosaurs Die by Iowa Hospice” for all ages. Preschoolers must be accompanied by older sibling or adult. 10:30-11:30 a.m.

Did You Know… the Atlantic Public Library is a collection sight for empty printer ink cartridges? One of the Boy Scout troops is in charge of collecting the cartridges from the collection box located upstairs in the library.

Behind My Desk… These past couple weeks I have been trying to work on the library statistics page. I haven’t been really satisfied with the format. We are always adding new patrons and depending on where the people live, it can throw off the set up. I needed to find another way to expand the page without juggling information around.

I have worked with Excel for many years and I love it, but it can be a major process to change spreadsheets to fit other spreadsheets. Anyway, that’s what I have been doing lately without pulling out my hair or going blind by staring at the computer screen too long…and I think I’m there! It’s one of those things that go on behind the scenes, that looks effortless but is really a TON of work to put together.

The library has offered to be a collection point for compact fluorescent lamps. I’m glad that we can be partner with the Cass County Landfill operation.

When you think about it, libraries are a perfect way to save the environment and have been long before it was politically correct to do so! I like that!

To totally change the subject (my mind tends to wander), I would like to let you know about a special site on the Internet called Project Gutenberg. Since 1971 this group has been digitizing books that are no longer under the jurisdiction of copyright. There are over 100,000 free books available. Many are what you would call “classics.” Again, I say the word “free.” Anyone who charges you to have the ebooks of Austen, Shakespeare, Dickens, etc. is making total profit off of you. Just go to www.gutenberg.org

March is just around the corner and…Keep Thinking Libraries!

Bills, Bills, Bills

Thinking Library!

Carole Stanger

February 12, 2011

New Books Upstairs @ the library!

Déjà vu by Fern Michaels

Evergreen by Bruce Golden

Fadeaway Girl by Martha Grimes

Wicked Lies by Lisa Jackson

Fatal Error by J. A. Jance

Though Not Dead by Dana Stabenow

Book of Tomorrow by Cecelia Ahern

Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown

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

• Check out our website http://www.atlantic.lib.ia.us

• The Library Board Regular Meeting Monday, Feb. 14 5:30 p.m. upstairs

• Story Time Programs for 3, 4, & 5 year olds! No registration! Free!
• Wed./Thurs. Feb. 16/17 Preschool Story Time 10-10:45 a.m.
• Wed./Thurs. Mar. 2/3 Preschool Story Time 10-10:45 a.m.
• Sat. Feb. 12 Cass Co. Conservation Backyard Bird Count 1-2:30 p.m. Library Program Room
• The Atlantic Public Library will be open on Monday, February 21 President's Day.
  

Did You Know… the Atlantic Public Library is a 24/7 Wifi hotspot…even in the parking lot?

Behind My Desk…I just got back from a terrific vacation! You never know with vacations. Sometimes the anticipation of the “getaway” is greater than the actual trip itself. Not this time for me! I took a cruise to the Caribbean; and, yes, I missed the blizzard. It’s been quite a few years since I had been on a cruise. I went with one of my friends, and we treated ourselves to a room with a veranda. The weather was lovely and warm. We sat on the beach and sipped our fruit punch. Ahhhh!

And now, I’m back to reality! My winter coat and gloves felt very good this week. I’m rested and feeling much better.

I’ve been working on library bills this week to present to the board on Monday evening. Expenses keep going up and budgets get tighter and tighter. I try very hard to stay “on top” of the financial situation for the library. Everybody has their own way of doing finances. I receive the bills/invoices and then I organize them. The City Clerk’s office requires certain things that need to be done before issuing checks, so I need to make sure those are done correctly. I like to know where every penny is spent and I expect the library board to want to know that, as well.

I make a list of the bills by City account numbers and then set up a separate list for explanations for each bill. Once that has been put together, I give as close an estimate of the budget each month including how much has been spent to date, how much is spent in the current month and how much of the budget is left. The board gets a copy of each of these things at the board meeting. Sometimes I give a little extra information about certain bills. I want them to feel confident that taxpayers’ money is being spent the best way we can.

Because we are a department of the City of Atlantic, we go through the city’s budget process. Now, for those of you who live in rural Cass County, the Board of Supervisors budgets a certain amount of county funds for rural residents’ use at any of the six public libraries in the county.

I thought this might be a good place to give a little explanation of how the library finances work.

Take time to laugh and smile, and…Keep Thinking Libraries!

Libraries? Social Networking?

Thinking Library!

Carole Stanger

January 29, 2011

New Books Upstairs @ the library!

Hammersteins by Oscar Hammerstein

Fields of Ukraine by Haim Tal

Prostitutes Ball by Stephen Cannell

Rivers Bend by Jayne B. Murray

Weight Watcher’s New Complete Cookbook

Strategic Moves by Stuart Woods

Other Eyes by Barbara D’Amato

Tick Tock by James Patterson

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

• Check out our website http://www.atlantic.lib.ia.us

• The Library Board Regular Meeting Monday, Feb. 14 5:30 p.m. upstairs

• Story Time Programs for 3, 4, & 5 year olds! No registration necessary! Free!
• Wed./Thurs. Feb. 2/3 Preschool Story Time 10-10:45 a.m.
• Wed./Thurs. Feb. 16/17 Preschool Story Time 10-10:45 a.m.
• Sat. Feb. 12 Cass Co. Conservation Backyard Bird Count 1-2:30 p.m. Library Program Room

Did You Know… the theme for the February Preschool Story Times at the library will be “Lovable Pets”? The story times run through April, and are for boys and girls ages 3-5. They are free and there is no registration. Come join the fun!

Behind My Desk… Last week I spent a whole day attending a conference…online…including exhibits! It was the Fourth Annual Iowa Small Libraries Online Conference. Each year gets better and better. That saved me time on the road in January. It was well worth the time for me to attend. People from across the country are interested in trying a similar idea.

One of the sessions was on social networking and libraries. I will be honest, I wasn’t really sure I wanted to attend it, but decided to at the last minute. There was a terrific list of things librarians are doing online. I want you to see the list:

· Digitizing materials

· Mitigating rural isolation

· Answering questions for our patrons

· Sharing news

· Recommending, downloading, discussing solutions to old problems

· Finding emerging trends

· Marketing and promoting their libraries

Well, surprise! A lot of these things we’ve been doing for decades…just not online.

Another list I found equally worthwhile was a list of things libraries can do online and save money for the library. Have a look…

• Instant chat…fewer long distance phone calls
• Post events…reduce costs for ads
• E-Learning…travel costs
• Online notices/signs/flyers…postage costs and less paper and ink used.
• E-Collections…savings of materials not being returned, replacement costs
• Online grant applications…postage savings and administrative time savings

Not everything is bad about computers and the Internet—far from it!

We keep getting closer to spring…Keep Thinking Libraries!

New Books for Those Snowy Days!

Thinking Library!

Carole Stanger

January 15, 2011

New Books Upstairs @ the library!

Lost Gate by Orson Scott Card

Judas Gate by Jack Higgins

Damage by John Lescroart

Naked Cruelty by Colleen McCullough

Dilemma by Albert Cutie

Color of Night by John Timmerman

To Have and To Kill by Mary Jane Clark

Family Affair by Debbie Macomber

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

• Check out our website http://www.atlantic.lib.ia.us

• The postponed Library Board Regular Meeting Monday, Jan. 17 5:30 p.m. upstairs

• Story Time Programs for 3, 4, & 5 year olds! No registration necessary! Free!
• Wed./Thurs. Jan.19/20 Preschool Story Time 10-10:45 a.m.
• Wed./Thurs. Feb. 2/3 Preschool Story Time 10-10:45 a.m.
• Wed./Thurs. Feb. 16/17 Preschool Story Time 10-10:45 a.m.
• Sat. Feb. 12 Cass Co. Conservation Backyard Bird Count 1-2:30 p.m. Library Program Room

Did You Know… the Atlantic Public Library has an online reader’s advisory source? It’s called NoveList and is right on our webpage! Have you read every one of Louis L’Amour’s books…several times? Checkout NoveList for suggestions for similar authors that you might enjoy reading, too!

Behind My Desk… There is no good time to talk about death and grief. On the other hand, it needs to be talked about. The library has books on dealing with grief for all ages. If you go to our online library catalog and type in “grief”, you will find quite a nice list of books available at the library to check out. We have books for the younger ones in our children’s section downstairs, as well. It’s one of those subjects that will come up sooner or later, and you now know that the library may have some helpful items for you.

I had a visitor to my office today. She was so excited to share her thoughts about ebooks and ereaders. She loves her books. They are important in her life, but she saw a bigger picture. She saw the thing I have been emphasizing about ereaders. They are a GIFT to a person with visual disabilities. Ereaders are wonderful to increase print size. They are wonderful also because they are not heavy to hold. I would hope that our local care centers would take a real serious look at this new reading format. There are tons of free titles to download through Project Gutenberg.

Another interesting thought was expressed through the Iowa library online discussion group. Some bright person realized that some people are generalizing the term “Kindle” to mean an ereader. (It’s like Kleenex.) A “Kindle” is an ereader from Amazon.com. A “Nook” is an ereader from Barnes and Noble. They are two entirely different things, but similar.

And don’t forget about downloadable audio books! There are wonderful titles online that are free, as well for this format.

Stay warm and safe and…Keep Thinking Libraries!