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

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

• 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!

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

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

• 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 3^rd-5^th Graders from 2:00-3:30 p.m. Please sign up!
• Wednesday, Oct. 26—Halloween Program for K-2^nd Graders from 2:30- 4:00 p.m. Please sign up!
• Friday, October 28, Halloween Party for 6-8^th 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!

October Library Happenings!

Thinking Library!

Carole Stanger

October 1, 2011

New Books Upstairs @ the library!

Lethal by Sandra Brown

World’s Creepiest Places by Bob Curran

Sibling Effect by Jeffrey Kluger

Son of Stone by Stuart Woods

Forbidden by Ted Dekker

How to Carve Freakishly Cool Pumpkins by Sarah Schutette

Vault by Ruth Rendell

Ballad of Tom Dooley by Sharyn McCrumb

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, Oct. 10, 5:30 p.m. upstairs

• Wednesday/Thursday, Oct. 5/6-- Preschool Story Times for 3-5 years old from 10-11 a.m.
• 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 3^rd-5^th Graders from 2:00-3:30 p.m. Please sign up!
• Wednesday, Oct. 26—Halloween Program for K-2^nd Graders from 2:30- 4:00 p.m. Please sign up!
• Friday, October 28, Halloween Party for 6-8^th 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 has recently renewed the subscription to Book Page for our patrons! This is a great way to find out more about your favorite authors and books! Stop by upstairs and pick up your complimentary copy each month!

Behind My Desk… I got the chance to visit the official dedication of the new Fontanelle Public Library. What a nice facility for those residents and neighbors! Cumberland is in the middle of a renovation and Lewis just broke ground for its new library. Griswold may be finally getting a chance to grow and expand, as well. Wow! It’s really nice to see our communities supporting these important institutions.

For those of you who have Kindles and have wanted to “checkout” a downloadable e-book from our WILBOR database, it’s now available! Just go to our webpage and click on the WILBOR link and find the Kindle link on the left hand side. Be sure you know your library card number! You’ll need that to login.

Just received a list of events that are happening here at the library in October! All sorts of fun activities are happening!

I also want to give you a bit of a “Heads Up” about the Friends of the Library Used Book Sale coming up November 18 and 19. Please do not bring any of your books until after November 8. As you can see in our Coming Events, the month of October will be busy; and we really don’t have the space to store used books for any length of time.

Enjoy the autumn colors… and Keep Thinking Libraries!

Atlantic PL No Longer Access Point for IWD

Thinking Library!

Carole Stanger

September 17, 2011

New Books Upstairs @ the library!

Only Time Will Tell by Jeffrey Archer

Heartwishes by Jude Deveraux

Northwest Angle by William Krueger

Race by Clive Cussler

Mercy by Beverly Lewis

Clubhouse Confidential by Luis Castillo

Fix It and Forget It Diabetic Cookbook by Phyllis Good

Prey by Linda Howard

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, Oct. 10, 5:30 p.m. upstairs

• Story Time Programs for 3, 4, & 5 year-olds will start back up on
• Wednesday/Thursday, Sept. 21/22 --Preschool Story Times for 3-5 years old from 10-11 a.m.
• Wednesday/Thursday, Oct. 5/6
• Wednesday/Thursday, Oct. 19/20
• Saturday, Nov. 5 Massena Public Library, times not definite yet, 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 has a Facebook page? Just click the Facebook link on our website!

Behind My Desk… I need to mention about our part with the Iowa Workforce Development (IWD) service. I have very mixed feelings about what is happening with IWD. Of course, libraries are here to serve our patrons. But, I don’t like to be taken advantage of, either. Especially when state funds are cut to libraries, and we are expected to take on special responsibilities we are not trained or paid for.

The Atlantic Public Library was to be an ACCESS POINT for our IWD area. Unfortunately, the software did not work with our computer system. Somewhere, “they” were trying to find a “work-around” for our system, but it didn’t happened. Therefore, I decided that the Atlantic Public Library would not be an access point for our area. The toll-free number for the IWD is 800-562-4692. People are now being asked to go to Cass Co. Dept. of Human Services at 601 Walnut Street here in Atlantic.

I did add a link to the general Iowa Workforce Development site on our webpage under “Find Information.”

Just for your information--It is against the law for convicted child molesters to use any public library in the State of Iowa. That makes it tricky for someone who has that conviction and needs to find a job, don’t you think?

Speaking of assisting other agencies, the library is going “green” with tax forms this year. We will have individual forms & instruction booklets available for 1040, 1040A, & 1040EZ. However, any other forms needed will need to be photocopied (at 10 cents/page) out of the reproducible binders located near the photocopier. Just a reminder--that the IRS only sends out federal tax forms. State forms are no longer sent out and must be downloaded off the computer.

Just to add to the madness—Because some post offices are being closed, it has been suggested that libraries would be a perfect alternative to sell stamps.

I love the remark one librarian made, “Need some fries with that order?”

… and Keep Thinking Libraries!