Dewey Decimal and the Page Boys are at the Pioneer Memorial Library!

Performing such hits as "Your Loving Is Overdue"
                                        "Return to Me"
                                        "Between the Covers"

and their current chart-toppers!

"Let Me Check You Out!!

Tablets, readers and more!

Our life is getting so exciting to see all the technology coming our way. There are numerous tablets that are now available for you to choose from. Ebook readers, telephones and much more now allow us to read or listen to material. Here is a link to a comparison chart you might be interested in: Comparison chart for ebooks.

When traveling during my recent vacation I did note the number of people using electronic devices to read and peruse materials. However, it was not as many as I would have thought.  Then a friend sent me an article from England about publishing trends. It shows that both printed and electronic material purchases are up.

The fun of refurbishing our library!

The last few months has been working through the needs of our library. This includes new carpet (modular vs broadloom), paint, granite, tile or cement floors, new electrical sources, repairs as needed, furniture, art and decorations. I've researched carpet specifications for a library or public entity with high traffic and feel almost the an expert (ha! ha!).  This is just the beginning!

Now we are working through how to move our library shelves (stacks - about 28) and other furniture! Plus, weeding a non-fiction section so we can add more open area to the library. When I walk around the library it seems as if I add one more thing to my list of items that need to be put on the"to do list; or the" to plan list."

The hardest part right now is just picking the modular and broadloom carpets that work together so that we end up with a great looking, vibrant environment.  The jury is still out on this. We have not found or picked the perfect colors yet! 

On another area I'm looking for an artist that can put together a mural for behind our circulation counter. I have some ideas of theme and design but am wanting to find just the right look and design. Soooo now I begin the picking peoples artistic insights and inspiration to fulfill this aspiration. Since we want this to be a memorial we want it to express something that will last for years.

Friends Float in the Thomas County Fair

This past August the Friends of the Pioneer Memorial Library and myself created a fun float for the fair. We created a float to go with this years theme. Since our library had just designed new library cards we decided that we would enlarge our library cards and make the float theme, Your Library Card, Your Ticket To Fun!

One of our members wrote a library chant that we recorded at a local meeting. While on the float we had the chant going while we used our enlarged library cards with unified motions. We also displayed all the items we provide for our patrons in the library. We had a great time and even won first prize!

We had people clap, yell and give us thumbs up for our float. They could hear us for blocks! The next few days we had many people call the library saying how thrilled they were to our float and the spirit behind it. It really does matter that we are out in our community being seen and participating with important events such as this!

Summer 2011

Summer has been so fun helping with Summer Reading. I loved sharing my knowledge about countries such as China and the Philippines.

For the Philippines I used my personal photos and information from living in the Philippines for 13 years. I had not made Filipino Pancit for years! I changed the recipe a bit from the children's story book (Cora Cooks Pancit by Dorina K. Lazo Gilmore and Kristi Valiant), because I wanted our kids to have a more realistic type of Pancit that an average Filipino family might eat. I was really surprised that the kids loved it. Surprised because sometimes kids don't like different foods.

I also used a YouTube video to help kids see how people in the province make huge woks of Pancit! The were amazed: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2TxylXunaQ&feature=email.


For China we read the book Lin Yi's Lantern by Brenda Williams and Benjamin Lacombe.  It shows the importance of the Chinese Moon Festival. It also explains how children in Asia might help purchase food and other needs in the local market. We then made moon lanterns for crafts.

I also used another informational digital recording on the Mid-Autumn Festival that described the making of moon cakes and a moon lantern, plus cultural insights. http://www.chiff.com/home_life/holiday/harvest-moon-festival.htm

Thoughts from Library Conference in Topeka, KS

While sharing experiences and work done in library in Colby (Pioneer Memorial Library) towards helping those looking for resources in the process of job/career hunting a thought popped into my head. It stemmed from the discussion of Kendra Morgan who I was working with from Project Compass (Webjunction). She was sharing with the audience about helping patrons improve their 21st Century skills. While I was speaking with the audience our successes and then our hopes for the future, I realized and said that
        
      "What we need is 21st Century finances to purchase 21st Century equipment."

This was because I saw how our library needed to add at least 12 laptops that are connected to a laptop cart with wireless and electricity within the cart. This way we can have seminars either in our meeting room upstairs or our basement downstairs to teach modern software and new technologies that patrons can access in the Cloud. There is so much that can be done if we have the equipment for patrons to use so they can become proficient using such equipment. I'd also like to see students/youth be able to use them to grow in their own creative abilities.

Dreaming, planning and working toward the future is always fun and challenging. Let's go forward and see our hopes become reality.

Busy, Busy, Busy!!

How can one even begin to express the busyness since January! We have really blown through January, February and March 2011. So much has happened in the library! We had Matt Ludwick discuss his book in January and enjoyed snow storms which closed the city down three times. Twice we closed the library due to -30 degree weather, ice (cars slipping into the street) and then a day of wonderful snow coming down heavy and beautiful.

We’ve been working learning and implementing a new catalog system, adding new computers, Microsoft 2010 and more to our library. I have worked through the process of new library cards that look fresh and light. They will be revealed and rolled out during National Library Week with a silent auction and also a free drawing of 7 cards for those that attend our weekly lunch during National Library Week. I’d show you what they will look like, but I’d like to keep them under wraps a bit longer. They include a new slogan for our library that a Friends member came up with. I think it speaks volumes about what libraries do. This too will be revealed soon.

We have had a great Jazz event in February, complements of the Colby Community Library Jazz band and library staff who made the deserts. On Valentines Day evening we held an event that honored relationships. We showed some videos on the wall while they played, read some poetry about love and relationships and just listened.

 

The library also celebrated 150 years of Kansas by having Tom Averill speak to us about his book, “What Kansas Means to Me.” What a fabulous easy going speaker! He just oozes history and makes one want to attend a class of his just to learn and glean from his thoughts and insights.

We enjoyed collaborating with AAUW in celebration of Women’s History month. During Booked for Lunch we had well known author speak about her writing history including writing historical documentation of African Americans in Kansas, short stories and mysteries set in Kansas.

We also had a 7th Annual Murder Mystery by the Friends of the Pioneer Memorial Library. The play was the Murder of the Great Chef. I ended up being in the play since one of cast was sick at the last moment. I enjoyed going out and finding the things to wear to play the local bag lady. Great fun was had by all!

We are working hard preparing for a civic event this week. Colby is getting ready to vote on a new Mayor. We have 3 candidates and we are organizing a “Meet Your Mayoral Candidate” event on Thursday. They will answer questions sent to the Library by local citizens.

Besides being busy organizing these types of things, we have attended high school basketball games with our exchange student and cooked lots of cookies and things. The CHS Faculty, Administrators and others did a "dance" for the Orange & Black Basketball Tournament. My sweetheart took part in that fund dance.

There has been judging of debate and forensics for high school events (Cherry did not compete in these). We have worked with the local Colby Energy Challenge events as well. My book club is a great group to laugh and talk with. Recently, we shopped in Denver for Prom!  And in between times, I try to get a book review in weekly for our local paper, work with the Thomas County Community Coalition, attend church and soooo much more. Life is full!