That funny widget

If you are reading this, you may have noticed that we revamped our website. You will find the information you have come to rely on in the same places, but we have added some features that we believe will enhance our service and speed you on your way to where you need to go.

That revolving widget that has been on our website for a few weeks (you will see it just down a bit on the left) is one of our enhancements. This gizmo is made up of the covers of our most recent additions to our collection. Does one look interesting to you? Just click on it and you are taken to a brief description, some reviews, and some suggestions of other titles. The catalog entry is just a click away from there so you can reserve the book or check on its availability. Use the drop-down menus at the top of the page for more newly added items organized by topic or format.

We think this little gadget will be a big enhancement - if nothing else, you can't say you don't know what's new! Try it out and let me know what you think.

Changes we don't like

We have been talking about change for a while, and there have been a number of changes at the library - hopefully most are ones that have been positive since that was the intent. All these changes were a choice, based on observed issues and needs, developed from a meeting of minds to formulate the best solutions.

Unfortunately, sometimes change is imposed rather than chosen. And there are big changes coming up for everyone that uses the library. Maybe you have been hearing about the drive to reduce the tax rate here in Salem, and reductions inevitably are visible and felt everywhere - and the library is no different.

As of January 1, 2012, the library hours will be reduced. We will be closing at 7PM on Monday and Tuesday nights, and at 2PM on Saturdays.

But that is not the most difficult change for us. The library was asked to absorb a 10% budget reduction and to meet that goal, everything will be reduced and sadly that reduction includes a staff reduction of two. We are very distressed and saddened that two of our wonderful people will be leaving us at the end of the year.

While we will do our best to provide the quality service you have come to expect, covering the kind of services provided by these departing staff members will be difficult. We all hope that you will be understanding as we find our feet as we adjust to these difficult changes.

Kindle and eBooks

We have been a participant in the wonderful state-wide program that makes Overdrive and downloadable audiobooks and eBooks available to you. You can find it here if you haven't tried it already. Originally this was just downloadable audio, but about a year ago, we all added to our annual contribution to Overdrive and added eBooks. They have proven to be enormously popular.

There have been a few drawbacks. It is a process to do it the first time, there aren't many eBook titles and they are always checked out, and you couldn't use your Kindle with it. But times change, and we are delighted to announce some very nice upgrades.

First of all, you can now download eBooks onto your Kindle (it has to go through your computer first) and read. Remember these are "checked out" just like a book and you only have them for two weeks, renewable. However, they are free, and we all know that eBooks are just about as expensive as regular books now.

Second, we have just arranged to have a supplimental service with Overdrive. This means that while we will continue to participate fully in the state program, we are arranging for additional eBook titles that will be available only to Kelley Library cardholders. We are in the process of selecting titles right now - so keep checking, soon there will more titles to select from that may actually not be already checked out!

Questions? Just stop by or call the reference desk and our helpful staff will be delighted to introduce you to this expanded service.

Still love to hold those books in your hands - you are in luck! We have just the books you are looking for, we just have them in more than one format.

Stop in and check out the Kelley Library. If you haven't been here recently, you really haven't been here.

Have you met Natalie?

If you use the library regularly, you no doubt have come across Natalie at the main desk. What you may not know is that she is our Head of Circulation which means she is responsible for a wide variety of things ranging from statistics to scheduling to making sure that anything and everything related to circulation is being done. If that isn't enough, Natalie is our go-to person for almost any question, idea or plan. If I had a nickel for every time someone says "I'll ask Natalie" we could have a diamond studded circulation desk!

Natalie has imagination, endless curiosity and creativity married to practicality, detail thinking, and the ability to think of all the issues and potential problems - a rare combination. Basically, if I make the most casual "Wouldn't it be nice if . . ." statement, within an hour or at most a day Natalie has a plan of attack with all the variables addressed and is ready for it to be put in place.

So it is no surprise that in the time between my asking if I had asked her the famous 5 questions (no) and coming back with the questions and a pencil, she was all ready with her answers:

1. When I am not at the library, you can find me: at home reading (and let me tell you, she reads alot of books).
2. Describe your perfect day: at the beach, uninterrupted, especially by kids (did you know she has teenaged twins?)
3. If you had to live somewhere else than NH, where would it be? San Diego, it is just about perfect. (She was just out there for a short vacation and discovered its perfection then)
4. What 3 things can you always find in your fridge? Grapes, yogurt and cheese.
5. You would be surprised to find out that I: like to skeet shoot.

Stop in and say hello to Natalie. She is always there for all of us.

Our AED

You may have noticed a new addition right at the front entrance. If not, I recommend you take a moment to look. The Town of Salem has distributed AEDs to most of the town building and the library is one of the locations.

An AED - automated external defibrillator - is an easy to use device to help when someone is having a heart attack or similar problem. It comes with easy to follow instructions and won't do anything if its sensors do not find the correct condition. It is an invaluable tool to help keep someone alive while waiting for an ambulance.

Several people on the staff have had training, but the device is out in the public areas just so that anyone faced with this kind of emergency can take action.

Please take a moment to locate the device - no one ever knows when it will be needed.

Reading and sharing

We were talking about what to do about the ripped upholstery on one of the big comfy chairs in the children's room. During one of our many rearraging of furniture here, we moved two down there in the window so that parents/grandparents and kids could snuggle together and share a book. They have been very popular - so popular that we are faced with what to do with the ripped upholstery.

I remember the hours spent reading picture books to my kids back lo these many years and how much fun we had, lying together on a bed, enjoying the books, discussing the artwork, and having a lovely, quiet shared moment at the end of each busy day. My older son continued to share with me and my daughter even when he was reading to himself, but ultimately there came the day that both were avid readers and no longer saw the charm of the picture books. Gosh that was a hard change to accept! But we did keep the tradition of reading several favorite Christmas picture books on Christmas Eve (Polar Express, Santa Cows and Harvey Slumfenburger's Christmas Present come to mind)whenever we are together at Christmas.

So I was delighted to come across this new book that has just come out about a father and daughter who read aloud together each night for nine years: The Reading Promise, by Alice Ozma. They started when Alice was in the fourth grade, with the intention of reading for 100 consecutive nights. Once they reached that goal, they wanted to continue, and did so until Alice left for college. They have worked their way through a wide range of books, but best of all they retained a shared experience through the most challenging age for kids. They were able to carve out a snippet of time to come together and share some meaningful moments together - with books at the heart of it.

There is something about sharing a book that is irresistable. While it is a very solitary activity in general - and my husband always grumbles about feeling ignored when I read - at the same time as you read you frequently are thinking of talking about it to a friend or family member, are reminding yourself to recommend it(or recommend against it) to others. Just now there are a few books where the authors have written to share their life changing experiences while reading a set group of books over the course of a year. Howard's End is on the Landing, by Susan Hill is all about Ms Hill decision to read all the books on her shelves that she never had gotten to before.

Another title just coming out is Tolstoy and the Purple Chair, by Nina Sankovitch. In this book, Ms. Sankovitch decides to deal with personal loss by reading a book a day. She discovered a way to connect with a lost loved one.

It never fails to amaze me the various powers of books.

Books to movies

I can't think of a topic more rife with strong preferences than the translation of a beloved book into film. There are those that were disappointing in the translation: The Shining, Bonfire of the Vanities, VI Warshawski. There are just as many that were quite successful: Roots, almost anything by Robert Parker, a few of the Agatha Christie series. But regardless, when we read a book we create a vision of the characters and the surroundings that is completely our own. It isn't always easy to articulate, but we know what it is, and we know when it is right on film. We are only truly satisfied when the film and the director's vision are close to our own.

Of course, we can always separate ourselves from the book and judge the movie as a stand-alone. I have done that on a number of occasions, with The Shining and even with Demi Moore's rendition of the Scarlet Letter (sorry none of the GMILCS library has this gem). If you just pretend that this is a new story that is totally unrelated to that book you liked so much, you might find much to enjoy in the film. The Shining is a good horror film, but it in no way reaches the intent or the true scariness of the book. When I read it way way many years ago, I had to stop before dinner, otherwise I knew I wouldn't be sleeping that night. The Scarlet Letter? There is a PBS version that is really good, but I found Demi's a guilty pleasure. It bore no resemblance to the book so I just watched for the B movie it was.

The Little House series by Laura Ingalls Wilder is a series of books I can reread at any time. I recall not too long ago on a quiet summer night in Maine, reading The Long Winter. At some point I got up to let the dog out and was really startled to see there was no snow outside. I certainly never got drawn into the story like that when watching the Little House series on TV.

So when I read that the cast had been set for the Janet Evanovich/Stephanie Plum movie - I was kind of worried. I love the series, and the characters are clearly imprinted in my mind's eye. Now that Sandra Bullock was too old, who could they decide to cast? Well, I have to admit, they made some great choices. I'm not sure about the choice for Ranger, but I think Grandma Mazur is going to be a hoot. What do you think?