Library Log 6/25/09

Kieran’s notes from the back room:

Well, I am headed off to the big American Library Association Conference in Chicago on July 9th with 22,000 other librarians and 900 vendors. I want to thank Patricia Moore, Robin Hohn and Nan Davenport for the donations to help me get there and back. Our library has a lot to offer as a model for other libraries, and a lot to learn from others. Meanwhile in the library, you may have noticed some construction going on at the front door area. We are getting the security gates installed and with great help from our volunteers we have put security strips in materials and DVDs in locking cases. We have also rearranged some of the shelves. If you are looking for audio books or video games or music they might not be where you last saw them. No, we are not trying to intentionally confuse you… we are just attempting to put more stuff in in the library for you to check out. Just like your closet at home or that one drawer in your kitchen occasionally rearrangement is necessary. Speaking of the kitchen, on the 7th of July @ 7 pm we will be having a program on canning, preserving and dehydrating…. food not books. Well, I’ll be back on the 21st so feel free to stop by the back room to hear all about the exciting world of librarians in Chicago.

Library Log 6/18/09

Kieran’s Notes from the back room :

Well, I am so excited to announce that the John C. has hired two part-time employees! Cheryll and Mary are joining our team. Over 65 applications came in – I really couldn’t believe the amount of wonderful people who applied. I really hope some of those other applicants stay in touch with the library as volunteers or to present programs. There are some very exciting and knowledgeable people in and around our community. We all can benefit from the skills and knowledge base of those around us. I urge all of you to come in and meet Cheryll and Mary. Of course while you are in the library harassing, oops I mean greeting them, you can also take a look at some of our new arrivals of books, DVDs and music. The library got in a new music CD that I had to just rip open and listen to as soon as I saw it. It is a compilation of 38 years of number one hits on the pop charts. I was shocked at how easily I could remember songs I hadn’t heard since high school – or junior high! The youngest member of the staff here looked at us a wee bit funny when he heard A-Ha playing and the rest of us singing along! Different music for different folks and different generations…guess it takes all kinds. If you want to talk music when you are done harassing the new staff come on by the back room and say hi, I love music of all kinds.

Library Log 6/11/09

Kieran’s Notes from the back room:

Summer time! As I type this, Cid, our Program Coordinator, is testing the sound system, and can I just say that no one will ever mistake this library for a quiet zone. I think the windows are rattling! Yup, we are getting ready for Movie Night. Movie Night will be once a month ….and we have popcorn! It won’t just be educational movies either. Sure, we might slip a documentary in once and awhile, but for the most part Cid is planning on a blockbuster summer. We are even considering a Family Pajama Night Movie, where we can all wear our PJs. Watch out Cannes here comes Florence! Meanwhile, the Children’s Summer Reading & the Teen Summer Reading programs are underway. If you see kids wearing “Be Creative” shirts you know they have completed at least ten hours of reading this summer! Now while the kids are reading, you can be learning the ins and outs of the internet with Robin. She has a Google class soon so call and sign-up. We have some good books hitting the shelves this month. One that caught my eye is DEAR AMERICAN AIRLINES by Jonathan Miles. I found it funny and full of stories that digress from the main plot. Not every reader will like that. Indeed, if your aesthetic is spare, you may find yourself skipping paragraphs, even whole pages, but to the main character of the book, his digressions are the “sideways waltz” of his life. If you want to talk literature or digress into a rant about plastic bags, I am the guy in the back – come and see me in the back room.

Library Log 5/4/09

Kieran’s notes from the back room :

I was reading the blog “I Love Libraries” the other day. It featured a story from a man who volunteers at his library and why. Now, most of us have fond memories of our hometown public library, and some of us can recall stories of how a library or librarian touched our life in a profound and meaningful way. His was quite something. He wrote : “When I was a kid, I had a strong interest in art. While I was browsing around the art book section of the East Akron Branch of the Akron Public Library, I saw a drawing book that I really liked. So I decided to sneak it out of the library. As I was going out the door, I got caught. The librarian took me to the office and asked me why I wanted to steal the book. And of course I gave the usual intelligent 10 year old response: “I don’t know!! But instead of calling the cops, she said, “Why do you want to steal it, when it’s your book anyway?” She told me, “All the books in the library are yours, we just store them for you. Don’t you have a library card?” I shook my head. So she said, “Well ok, let’s get you one.” After she signed me up for a library card, she checked the book out to me. I was proud of my new library card, and it really made me feel important. From that day on, she would help me find other art books. Looking back on that now – although it seems like such a small thing – I really feel it was a life changing event. Today, I’m an artist and musician (jazz drummer & Irish guitarist) and I do volunteer work, teaching a guitar workshop, for the Barberton Public Library.” Got a story to tell about how the library changed your life? Tell me about it! Seriously! Email it or bring it in (I am the guy in the back room). I would love to hear your library story.  You can even tell me in person …or just stop by and say, ‘Hi’.

Library Log 5/28/09

Gypsy’s Corner:

Greetings! I am writing to you from a different corner of the library these days but I am still here to keep you up to speed on all the interesting things we have going on here. As your new Director I would like to first thank you all for your support and encouragement in my new position. This is an awesome library and I am looking forward to the challenge of keeping it the thriving community entity it has become. I would also like to invite you all to the “New Director’s Reception” being held here on Friday June 12th at 5:00. There will be great refreshments along with the chance to visit with the staff and Board. We hope you will stop by and introduce yourself, take a look around, and find out what we’re all about. A few changes you may notice right away are that Cid Larson will be taking over with community programming and volunteers. She’s putting together a survey to get some feedback which programs you’ve enjoyed most in the past and what you would like to see in the future. She is very enthusiastic about her new post and looks forward to your input. Also, Robin Hohn will be taking over with the youth, starting with the Children’s Summer Reading Program next month and then with the Teen Group in the fall. Next month we hope to be welcoming a couple of new faces at the circulation desk to help you find exactly what you need. I have enjoyed meeting and visiting with so many of you while I was the Assistant Director and I hope that will continue. I may be in a different corner now, but my door is always open.

Kieran’s notes from the back room :

Slowly but surely the boxes that formed Ft. Hixon are disappearing. Yup, we are getting the DVDs and CDs into security cases. As the items are returned, we are putting the discs back into the cases and then slipping those into the clear security cases and putting them on the shelves. John Errickson is helping us out with the project and it is moving along quickly! Thanks John! You will no longer have to wait for us to find the DVD or CD you want in the myriad of shoe boxes we have behind the circulation desk. I had someone ask the other day if theft was that much of an issue here. While we have had some theft (which is why we put all the DVDs and CDs behind the circulation desk in the first place), the change to these security cases is more for the ease of the librarian and the speed of check out. Looking for three movies in the shoe boxes and a couple music CDs and a video game or three per patron can take quite some time – especially long if you are the fourth guy in line and you still need to pick the kids up from the babysitter – it feels like an eternity! Now let me clarify, we aren’t trying to rush you out of here, just the opposite in fact. We want you here more often. All summer in fact. That is why we are have some awesome entertainment for the Summer Reading Program. Sign the young ones in your life up for the Summer Reading Program from May 29th thru June 8th. The first program is “Lights, Camera, Action!” with PM Productions. Be Creative @ the John C. Fremont Library! (We sure are!)