What's new for April

We are offering a variety of programs aimed at adults this month. That's something new for Kelley Library right there. We saw a need to expand programming at the library and thanks to Andy, our new Assistant Director, we are offering three.

Of course, we are offering the next in the KLAS series (thanks as always, Deb)on April 16th and this month's session is sure to be fascinating, building on the growing desire right now to eat local and homegrown. Liz Barbour from Creative Feast is presenting a program exploring cooking and gardening with herbs. I have had extensive personal experience with both these as my mother was a member of the Herb Society of America for years, has extensive herb gardens (outdoors in Maine and NJ, and in her greenhouse in NJ), lectured on the topic, edited the Herbarist, and used herbs in everything. I highly recommend your exploring this varied and fascinating topic. It can range from a plant or two on your kitchen windowsill to enhance your cooking to exploring your inner gardener and creativity with an herb garden.

On April, 22nd we are celebrating Earth Day with a panel of experts discussing alternative and green energy sources and practices. On hand will be Peter Rudd from Salem's Atlantic Biodiesel, Jack Lin from Woodlins Renewables also here in Salem, Jeff Goodman from the Wind Guys USA in Rye, and Howard Coffman of Fuel Cell Info Network in Nashua. We are lucky and honored to have these well-respected individuals on hand to help us all explore the future of alternative energy and to answer our questions. It is a timely topic - wind energy is being vigorously debated in NH right now. Alternative fuel is sure to be a part of our country's future, and here is the perfect opportunity to learn more about it all.

Rounding out the month, we are offering a Job Search Workshop on April, 23rd. Although New Hampshire has not been as hard hit by the recession/depression/bad times as other areas of the country (like our neighbors Massachusetts, Maine and Vermont), many are looking for jobs in this exceptionally difficult job market. Michael Markham of the Northern Essex Community College will be at Kelley Library to offer tips, guidance and insight into what employers are looking for in prospective employees.

Three remarkably different programs, yet similar in the end - helping us to understand the world around us, find new ways to live in these challenging and changing times, and ideas to challenge, inform and spark creativity. That's a library in a nutshell. A single source for a broad spectrum of information and resources to enhance your life.

Little herb gardens, by Georgeanne Brennan.
How to say it: job interviews, by Linda Matias.
Farewell my Subaru: an epic adventure in local living, by Doug Fine

Changes

We have all done it or experienced it. A rule, policy or procedure is created to solve problems at hand and it works great. Over time, the rule becomes ingrained in life and we no longer really think about it any more. It is just part of daily life, part of doing business, part of running the household. Unfortunately, too often the reasons that made the rule a great solution change or disappear over that same passage of time. What's left is a rule we continue to follow and enforce without any basis.

That's why it is vital to review the rules and traditions in our lives and see if they are still a good fit. We are doing just that at the Kelley Library - and we continue to find some that needed to be changed. I've been working the desk a lot recently - and I've had to enforce the rules. Being new, I wanted to know the reasons behind some of them and we all realized that the reasons were no longer valid.

For some years, there have been limits on the number of items that can be checked out - limits on music CDs, VHS, audiobooks of all kinds, DVDs. These limits made a lot of sense when they were created. These collections were small and slowly developing. To make sure there were enough for everyone, it was decided that a patron could only take out 4 of each. Well, these collections have grown, and in some cases, peaked in popularity and are now fading in interest. So, thanks to the service minded Board of Trustees, as of April 1, these limits are being lifted. Come on in and go crazy - we won't say no. And as a little added bonus, we dropped the fines on VHS - no more $1.00 per day. As of April 1, adult VHS will be $.10 per day and children's VHS will have no fines like the rest of the children's collection.

But we are keeping limits on the popular DVD collections - raised to 5 per card - but limits remain. Our new video game collection will also remain limited to 5 per card. Why? Because these collection are still too small to keep up with the demand. We are busy working to enlarge the collections, but for now, the limits - and the $1.00 fines - remain.

For now, but rest assured, we will revisit this rule regularly and when the time is right - changes will happen. In the meantime - we hope you enjoy what changes have been made.

Book: Strategies for successful career change: finding your very best next work life, by Martha E. Mangelsdorf
Music: Dance into the Daylight, by Phil Collins
Music: MTV Unplugged, by Bob Dylan

Survey says . . . part 2

Last month I talked about the Playaway audiobook collection purchased in response to the survey conducted recently about the Children's Room. By the way, the collection is now available - take a moment on you next visit to the Library to take a look. Programming for kids got a big response in the survey with a great deal of interest from kids and parents alike. We have been working on that too and I will keep you posted as we progress.

We have already kicked off programming for tweens and teens with a Teen Advisory Group. Cathy (Children's Department) and Andy (Assistant Director) are working with a group of kids to develop a teen page on the website. The first teen page meeting is scheduled for after school on March 26th and is cleverly called HTeenML. The kids are going to be responsible for the design, content and upkeep of the page. Not only will this offer a creative outlet for the kids and offer some experience in using web design software and languages, the library will benefit from the ideas, inventiveness and imagination of the kids. Talk about win win.

There is no limit to what will develop from the Teen Advisory Group - book discussions (Twilight?), Book Buddies mentoring younger readers, crafts (I would like to see 'trees' growing in the Children's Room - like this only more and bigger), video gaming - playing and creating - where ever their interests lead us. It will be a fascinating journey.

Create your own website, by Scott Mitchell
Creating web pages for dummies, by Bud E. Smith

Sale of the month

We are in the midst of our annual magazine sale. Here is your chance to get a full year's (monthly) or a big bundle (weekly) of a magazine for a buck. How can you beat that? The Kelley Library subscribes to over 300 magazines so there are a lot to pick from. Being a recipe junky - I collect with good intentions, and occasionally actually try them - I am sorely tempted by those bundles of cooking magazines. I have already given in once and bought the bundle of Gourmet magazines - and have ripped out a ton of recipes to add to the pile. But you know, there are so many that are tempting - after all it is only a buck. Arthritis Today - could be helpful in helping with those aches and pains. New Hampshire to Go - tempting, since I am new to the area (but it is already gone - I snoozed and lost). Those needlework magazines, the In Style and other decorating titles . . . I could buy them all. And then when I think about my family I am further tempted. The only thing holding me back is knowing I will have to take them over to the transfer station to recycle and you know, that arthritis makes it tough to do.
So stop in and take a browse, it's amazing what a buck can still get for you: help in remodeling your home, world travel without spending more than a buck, inspiration for the garden you are making plans for now that spring is almost here, trips through history, valuable help in dealing with your kids. They talk about a bang for your buck - you can really find it at the Kelley Library right now.

Up for renewal: what magazines taught me about love, sex, and starting over, by Cathy Alter
Whatcha mean, what's a zine? : the art of making zines and mini comics, by Mark Todd

Tis the season

It's February and tax season is upon us all. It is a busy time for a public library as people desperate for one tax form or another come in, confident that they will find it there. At the risk of showing my age, I can remember when forms were easy to find - at the post office, the DMV, federal offices of all kinds, local and state offices, even the liquor store! Those days are long gone. Between the various branches and levels of government trying to move to paperless filing and reducing their costs and the chore that providing forms is, the sources for forms has dwindled down to libraries and tax services. The easy excuse nowadays is that these forms are available online.

And that is why libraries still continue to offer the forms. Yes, the forms are available online, and the websites for forms are fairly easy to navigate. Yet, there is a presumption on the government's side - that everyone owns a computer or has easy access to one. We in the library biz know this is not accurate. Those who need access to forms the most are the least likely to have ready access to a computer. People don't all have friends and family that can help them find the right form. And those instruction booklets. Try using them online - it takes a sophisticated computer user to get at the information they need.

So that is why libraries are a good fit for offering the forms. Libraries are here to help people find information that they need. Librarians are working to help guide people to the right source, to show people how to use the internet, how to fill out forms. So come on in - we'll be there to help you find the form you need. Try our website - we have easy links to the online form sources. We are there to help with everything except giving you tax advice - that is for a different professional. Of course we can help you find a list of those too.

America: who really pays the taxes, by Donald L. Barlett
JK Lasser's 1001 deductions and tax breaks: your complete guide to everything deductible

Survey says . . .

At the end of last year we conducted a brief survey about what we offer in and through the children's department. The questions topics ranged from the collection to the programming to computers. Like the best of surveys, we learned some interesting and very helpful things. The respondents fell evenly into 2 distinct groups - parents and teen/preteen users. What might be surprising is that their responses were fairly similar - except for computers.

We asked if we should offer internet access in the children's room. Right now, only the online catalog is available, and we thought perhaps it was time to revisit. Over half the parents saw no reason to offer the internet, citing concerns with policing it and it not being necessary since access could be found elsewhere. Overwhelmingly, the kids wanted it. So we are looking into a couple of options: 1) Offer access to our online databases only so that doing homework and research could be enhanced, and 2) Find some good filtering product so that policing usage would not be an issue. Our goal is to make sure that kids have the same quality access and services offered to our adult users while remaining mindful of protecting our young patrons.

Many respondents told us that the kids audiobook collection (cassette and CD) wasn't good enough. Improving that collection is a goal for this year. (In fact it is a goal for the adult collection too, but will be another day's topic.) We have started in a big way by putting together a collection of a new audiobook format - Playaways. These are a nifty product that has no tapes or discs to get lost or damaged, and looks and feels similar to ipods. They are book and player all in one, and we thought kids would be the perfect test group for them. Watch for this collection to be ready for use within a few weeks.

We want to hear your ideas and suggestions. Your comments do have significant impact. Take the time to let us know either by talking to us directly or sending your comments through this blog or our webpage.

Books: Julie and Romeo, by Jeanne Ray
How to protect your children on the Internet, by Gregory S. Smith

Looking ahead

So a new year begins, bringing with it all sorts of possibilities. We all enter each year fairly sure of what to expect during the year - your child is graduating, your parents are planning to move to a warmer climate, this is the year you plan to finally paint the living room. But by the end of the year, we look back and realize we have ended up in a far different place than expected.

Here at the library, we are trying to start the year right - we are going green, well at least greener. It is an ambitious plan and so we intend to move slowly but steadily in the 'green' direction. You may have already seen the blue recycling bins here and there around the library. We decided to take advantage of Salem participating in single stream recycling and expand our recycling efforts in the library. This small step has had a big impact - we now have 3 huge bins for our recycling pick-up and a much reduced amount of trash.

Next we reduced our temperature for the building by a couple of degrees. It hasn't been a tough change to adapt to, and we have reduced our fuel consumption quite noticeably. We just recently reduced the temperature another degree because you told us it was too warm.

Now on to our next step. We are reducing our paper consumption through a variety of changes in routines. One that will impact our users is our plan to reduce the number of notices we send out. Right now we send out a notice to let you know a reserved item is in for pick-up and of course, overdue notices. Each notice involves a full sheet of paper plus large envelope. We soon will be sending out only 2 overdue notices, rather than our current three.

This might be a bit of a shock for some of our users, so we are hoping to convince as many of you as possible to give us an email address. With an email address in your record, all notices - reserve and overdue - are sent electronically - you even get a reminder the day before that your books and movies are due the next day. We are even offering a bit of an incentive. Give us your email address and you can take a chance on winning a Dunkin Donuts gift card. If you already have your email in your account, you can take a chance too. The bonus for us all is that with an email address, we reduce all possible notices to just one in paper form - a great change!

Reducing the amount of mail we send - and currently it is running at about 75 letters a day - will reduce our paper consumption, our ink consumption (fewer catridges going into land-fills), there will be fewer letters to deliver, thus leading fuel savings for the post office.

That's what is interesting about the green process. Even the smallest of changes have a rippling impact on our environment and use of resources. We are very excited about the positive effects of our small changes. Maybe you will join us in this green plan. Make a few changes in your habits, and see the big changes that will happen. Check out how to increase the recycling of your household trash. Reduce the temperature in your house a degree. Give us your email and stop getting those pesky letters!

But as always, we can only imagine what will unfold as the year progresses. We will have to stop and take notice of just how green we are by the end of 2009. I'm sure we will be surprised to see where we are, I hope it is surprised pride at our level of green.

Books: The complete guide to a green home, by Philip Schmidt
This year I will: how to finally change a habit, keep a resolution, or make a dream come true, by MJ Ryan
DVD: Inconvenient truth