Tuesday, October 25, 2011

New Library Ideas!

Thinking Library!

Carole Stanger

October 29, 2011

New Books Upstairs @ the library!

Music of Silence by Andrea Bocelli

Bonnie by Iris Johansen

Lady of the Rivers by Philippa Gregory

Christmas Wedding by James Patterson

Destined by P. C. Cast

Litigators by John Grisham

City of Whispers by Marcia Muller

Christmas Homecoming by Anne Perry

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

  • The Library Board regular meeting Monday, Nov. 14, 5:30 p.m. upstairs
  • Wednesday/Thursday, Nov. 2/3-- Preschool Story Times for 3-5 years old from 10-11 a.m.
  • Wednesday/Thursday, Nov. 16/17—Preschool Story Times for 3-5 years old from 10-11 a.m.
  • Monday, Oct. 24-Oct. 31, the Library’s Haunted House is back during regular library hours!
  • Saturday, Nov. 5 Massena Public Library, 9:30-10:30 a.m., All Cass County Reads Driving to Clarinda ‘s Rosanne Bachman will be giving another talk about her book! This will be for Cumberland and Massena Public Libraries. All are invited!!
  • Sunday, Nov. 6—Daylight Savings Time Ends
  • Tuesday, Nov. 8—all day—Local Elections.
  • Friday, Nov. 11, the Atlantic Public Library will be closed in honor of Veteran’s Day. The library will reopen on Saturday, Nov. 12 from 9:30- 2:30 p.m.
  • Thursday, Nov. 17 will be a setup day for the Semi-Annual Friends of the Atlantic Public Library Used Book Sale.
  • Friday & Saturday, Nov. 18 & 19 will be the Semi-Annual Friends of the Atlantic Public Library Used Book Sale.

Did You Know…the Atlantic Public Library subscribes to a terrific online database for kids called Tumblebooks? Just click on the Tumblebooks link on the library webpage!

Behind My Desk… I’m back from the conference in Council Bluffs. This was one of the best conferences I have attended! I learned all sorts of things! I mentioned in my last article that I was going to attend a workshop on changing from the Dewey Decimal System. It was interesting to hear how other public libraries are doing this and how their patrons responded. It doesn’t happen overnight and takes much planning and patience. We just might try it here.

In a way, we’ve already started. Our adult music cd collection is sorted by category. Also, we integrated our mysteries upstairs into our regular fiction section. This seems to go against the theory, but I think it makes it easier to find authors who love to jump genres. The whole purpose for these changes is to make it easier for the patron to find things on the shelves when browsing.

Are you aware of the organization out of Decorah, IA called Seed Savers Exchange? I was able to go to a session given by the librarian from that group. I had no idea that this place existed so close to us! I was totally impressed with what they do there. If you are interested, have a look at their website at www.seedsavers.org

Finally, on the last day of the conference I listened to a wonderful speaker who was a pediatrician and during his medical education, he took a year off to get his Masters Degree in Library and Information Science. (Ok, I was impressed!) His talk was about early developmental skills in babies for reading. His patients are given a book at each checkup. He can evaluate a child in so many ways by just watching how a six month old child interacts with a book. He encourages the parents to read to the child on a daily basis. It is SO important. I cannot stress that enough.

Those were some of the highlights of my conference. Now I have to get back to work!

Boo!...and Keep Thinking Libraries!

Monday, October 10, 2011

Halloween Happenings @ the Library!

Thinking Library!

Carole Stanger

October 15, 2011

New Books Upstairs @ the library!

Shadow in Serenity by Terry Blackstock

Feast of Fools by James Lee Burke

Angel for Christmas by Heather Graham

1225 Christmas Tree Lane by Debbie Macomber

Late Edition by Fern Michaels

Shock Wave by John Sanford

O’Brien Family Christmas by Sherryl Woods

Martha Stewart’s Handmade Holiday Crafts by Martha Stewart

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

  • The Library Board regular meeting Monday, Oct. 10, 5:30 p.m. upstairs
  • Wednesday/Thursday, Oct. 19/20-- Preschool Story Times for 3-5 years old from 10-11 a.m.
  • Wednesday, Oct. 19—Halloween Craft Day for 3rd-5th Graders from 2:00-3:30 p.m. Please sign up!
  • Wednesday, Oct. 26—Halloween Program for K-2nd Graders from 2:30- 4:00 p.m. Please sign up!
  • Friday, October 28, Halloween Party for 6-8th Graders 6-10p.m. Please sign up!
  • Monday, Oct. 24-Oct. 31, the Library’s Haunted House is back during regular library hours!
  • Saturday, Nov. 5 Massena Public Library, 9:30-10:30 a.m., All Cass County Reads Driving to Clarinda ‘s Rosanne Bachman will be giving another talk about her book! This will be for Cumberland and Massena Public Libraries. All are invited!!

Did You Know…the Atlantic Public Library board has written bylaws that outline its operational procedures and are reviewed by the board at least every three years? The bylaws and other library policies can be found on the trustees’ page of the library website.

Behind My Desk… I’m just curious if anyone has some Atlantic public library history sitting around anywhere. Does anybody have some old board minutes hidden away in the attic somewhere? The library is sadly lacking a good many years of information. I don’t even have a list of former board members. I need to qualify that statement. I do from 1998 forward and the original board members but when you consider there has been a library since 1903, that’s quite a span of years. Also, there have been nine members on this board from the beginning, and that’s a lot of people being involved with the library over the years. If you have any information, I would be happy to talk with you.

Most of this week I will have attended the annual conference for the Iowa Library Association in Council Bluffs. As most people know in the western part of the state few conferences are held on this “side.” It’s a nice change. One of the pre-conference workshops is about the alternatives for the Dewey Decimal System. Some public libraries are moving to a more “bookstore” classification system. I have felt for a long time that although the Dewey system is a logical way of classification, it is also very complex. At various times in my career I have considered changing to a simpler system for public library patrons. I “chickened” out because it would be a huge task and all library personnel had to be willing to make the change. Also, I really wasn’t satisfied with the alternatives.

Anyway, it will be interesting to see what others are doing and how the public reacted to the changes.

Don’t forget all the Halloween programs coming up… and Keep Thinking Libraries!