Spooky library video

News from the Commissioners' Meeting

• The number of visitors to Garrett County in FY 2007 was up more than 10% over the number of visitors in FY 2006.
  
• This year will be the 40th anniversary of the Autumn Glory Festival.
  
• The Cooperative Extension Service office has produced a powerpoint presentation on the gypsy moth problem in Garrett County. The presentation discusses the impact of the gypsy moth, the life cycle of the moths, intervention strategies that can eradicate the moths, and a the potential economic impact of problem. I'm hoping that we can help distribute the presentation to citizens and officials.
  
• Community Action received a Community Development Block Grant to construct an early childhood education center in Grantsville.
  

Currently reading: The Yiddish Policeman's Union by Micheal Chabon; The Dangerous Book for Boys by Hal Iggulden; Altered Art for the First Time by Madeline Arendt
Cannot wait to read: The Tin Roof Blowdown by James Lee Burke (his first novel set in the post-Katrina era)

Read!

A tribute to Dr. Seuss

23 Things Wrap-up

1. What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey?
Image generating, creating this blog, ZoHo, and videos online.

2. How has this program assisted or affected your lifelong learning goals?
This blog in particular has allowed me to experiment and communicate

3. Were there any take-aways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?
Yes, I plan to keep up this blog to help me communicate with our staff.

4. What could we do differently to improve upon this program’s format or concept?And last but not least…
Weekly meetings with staff to discuss the project.

5. If we offered another discovery program like this in the future, would you again chose to participate?
Yes!

6. How would you describe your learning experience in a few words or a few sentences, so we can share our successes and promote this program?
23 Things is a great way to learn about new technologies. I found the most of the "things" to be much more interesting and user friendly than I expected.

Audiobooks

One of the earliest sites that I came to love is Project Gutenburg. Whenever a student is looking for an older classic book and it is not available in the library, I think of Project Gutenburg.
I wish our library had access to downloadable audiobooks. I cannot drive anywhere without a book on CD. I'd love to have an MP3 player with access to an extensive library of downloadable audiobooks.

Podcasting

Podcasting is an excellent way to tell someone how to do something, relate a story or just say what you have to say. To me it seems less useful than using video presentations. The podcasts that introduce topics of the 23 Things are very helpful introductions.

More video sites

I love the humor and the opportunities for learning!!


VideoJug: How To Give A Great Man To Man Hug

Wonder(ful)

I've been a huge fan of YouTube for some time. I think that this type of technology will be the wave of the future. Staff and public training, canned reference interviews and, video pathfinders are all potential uses.

From the Freakonomics Blog

One interesting blog (for nerds) is the Freakonomics Blog
A recent blog entry asks "If Public Libraries Didn't Exist, Could You Start One Today?"

The short answer seems to be no. The blog also points readers to swaptree.
Swaptree is a free swapping service for books, DVD's, games and other materials. Great service, but we do the same thing - online reservations but no swapping is required. Our patrons have already paid for services with their tax dollars.

Currently reading: Final Truth by Mariah Stewart; Traditional crafts of Ireland

Web 2.0 awards

Great exercise! I explored several of the award winning new tools. I particularly liked confabb the conference index that can be searched in a variety of ways including by subject and location. I see a big future for this site.
I tried to insert widgets into my blog but everything seemed to develop a glitch at the last moment. The most common glitch was an error message about not being able to translate the widget into XML.
Laws ever blogger should know

Currently reading: Spicy food lovers bible by Dave DeWitt & Nancy Gerlach; Free disasters by Stuart Woods (not his best work!)

Zoho writer

Wow this is definitely a thumbs way up!! I love the word processor, the ease of use, and the blog and forum entries to help me get a handle on user issues. I posted this directly from ZoHo writer.
Thank you 23 Things for leading me here.

Maryland Libraries Sandbox

So much to do and see. I really like the idea of the sandbox but is it just one more thing to do? Best thing there: reading about other folks favorite books.

Currently reading: Constant Gardener by John LeCarre; The Exceptional Presenter by Timothy Koegel
Just finished reading: Play Dead by David Rosenfelt

Wikis

Exercise number 16 is an interesting look at wikis. It's better than a path finder, more linkable than a subject guide, able to allow all users to make comments and corrections, its a wiki!
I particularly like the Library Success wiki which is limited in scope for now but seems to have unlimited potential.

Libraries 2.0

Fabulous! Yes, yes, let's make our services easier to use. Let our catalogs evolve into much more functional creatures. Yes, yes, let's get our patrons to participate, helping us to design more appropriate user friendly services.
Our challenge: Accepting that facts that everything is in constant change and that we need to constantly learn new things to be able to do our jobs.
Rigidity does breed failure.

Technorati

I was actually very familiar with Technorati before undertaking this assignment. I looked at several blog listings by category. I already read all of the ones that I found interesting. I try to read too many blogs as it is.

Del.icio.us or just tasty?

Del.icio.us is definitely interesting. To be honest, I'll probably only use it when I'm desperately searching for an information source and I've struck out with my usual sources (google, yahoo, about, etc.)

More photos of the new library in Rockville

The fountain on the corner in front of the library.











The adult information desk on lower level.















Main circ desk - much better in person


One of many study areas

View of the plaza stage from second level














The food was good but the children's area was amazing.



Telephone reference.


The plaza area

Trying to blog from home

Uploading pictures from home is a very slow process with a 28.8 Kbps connection. Of course, I can grouse all I want but you can't beat the price! Thanks SAILOR!!

I'm still daydreaming about the new library in Rockville. What a great place!

I love the chess board tables in the plaza area.

Statewide card update

Irene sent a follow up email about the statewide card. Good news!

"Thank you for your feedback about the Statewide Library Card at yesterday’s MAPLA meeting. We realize that the cost of reordering these cards on a county basis is prohibitive and are also aware that there are some quality issues that need to be addressed.

The current “lenticular” Statewide Library Card uses hologram-like technology to show an identifiable local county public library image along with the statewide MPOWER message of My Maryland Public Libraries Know No Boundaries to reinforce its key use and branded signage in all public libraries. The statewide public library card is now well known as the one card that can be used to register with any county public library system in the State. When launched in April 2005, it was (and probably still is) the only true Statewide Public Library Card in the nation. While other states have statewide library cards, no other actually has the participation of all their public libraries as we do here in Maryland.

DLDS is working with Scott Reinhart to order another million lenticular statewide library cards that will be distributed to each county applying the formula used for the last two orders. This should satisfy current local needs and build in time to find a more cost effective solution. In the meantime, I have asked Paula Isett to work with the Statewide Marketing Committee to develop a statewide logo that can be used on your local card for future orders. This will help us to maintain consistency at a much cheaper cost."

Currently reading: Off the grid homes by Lori Ryker; Tribal Art by Judith Miller

MAPLA and the new Library in Rockville

Sophisticated, urbane and just gorgeous - the new library in Rockville. This library seems to have it all. Visionary architecture and interior spaces; flagship status in the newly renovated downtown area; great quiet spaces; lots of computers for the public to use; a fabulous YA area ; etc.; etc. This is probably the most attractive, user friendly large to medium sized library in Maryland. The Baltimore, Anne Arundel and Howard County Libraries and the Hagerstown Library in Washington County have better materials collections.
One of the best things about the new library in Rockville is the way it fits into the new downtown area. The town plaza in front of the library can host entertainment, cultural events and other activities. The library is planning an expo featuring local green businesses in the plaza. The plaza is lined with restaurants and boutiques. There is a Gold's Gym across the street.

Highlights of the Maryland Administrators of Public Libraries meeting:

• Mike Stephens from Clifton, Gunderson reported on new auditing requirements. They currently don't impact our library.
  
• Howard County's Fritzi Newton reported on their LSTA grant funded project, Cultural Connections. Howard County used community liaisons to help form focus groups and develop surveys to design culturally appropriate library services. The county's growing Asian communities were the focus of phase one of the project. I'm proud to say that I worked with Fritzi at the Howard County Library in the early 1980's. Her project is truly ground-breaking.
  
• Learning Libraries 3.0 will be held in several regional locations this fall, including the Frostburg Library.
  
• The marketing vice president of Sirsi/Dynix was raked over the coals by the library directors. Poor customer service, poor product support, delayed and canceled upgrades and the possible demise of URSA 4.0 enflamed the group. MAPLA can be ugly when angered.
  
• It looks like Maryland will be participating in the National Collaborative Summer Reading Program next summer.
  
• The state will no longer purchase MPower cards for the county systems. Several systems have opted to return to their older non-lenticular cards or new designs that are non-lenticular but much cheaper. Please let me know when we start to run low on cards.

Where have all the photos gone?

All of my ALA photos have vanished from my blog. I don't know how that happened. Also, my camera will no longer load photos to my computer. Gremlins I guess.

Search rolls

I can make a search roll.
http://rollyo.com/free_range_reader

But I still can't link to it.

Overwhelmed by feeds

I created a list of RSS feeds that I thought I might be interested in. I discovered that I don't have time to read them!

My Library Thing list

My Library Thing allows users to post lists of books, share posted booklists and network with other users to discover other books that might be of interest. I posted some books just to see how it works:
http://www.librarything.com/catalog/freerangereader
I still don't know how to make links in blogger.

Image generating for dummies

I like Imagechef





More Imagechef

Still trying to figure out how to make blogger work

Extended pack member Chloe


I seem to have a problem making blogger change font sizes. Things always look good when I am creating and previewing posts but gremlins appear when I post things.

The American Library Association annual conference

Marian Wright Edelman, President of the Children's Defense Fund

I'm back from ALA's annual conference in Washington DC. The conference was overwhelming! By far the most moving presentation that I attended was Marian Wright Edelman's address on the state of America's children.

I attended a pre-conference on giving your library a make over (Extreme Makeover: Redesigning Your Library to Promote Usage and Circulation). Most of the projects presented at the pre-conference were YA area make overs. Everyone seems to love slat wall displays. Ikea has great little egg shaped chairs that spin for kids. The Queens Public Library did away with Managers' offices and switched smaller meeting rooms with larger staff workrooms to provide more public space in the library. RFID and self-checkout machines are very popular in larger and more affluent library systems.
The biggest pain about the conference was that workshops and lectures were held in about 30 different hotels that were scattered around DC. Thomson Gale provided shuttle buses that made traveling around easy but it often took more than the scheduled 30 minutes between workshops to get from place to place.

The march of the librarians between buildings.


The best workshops that I attended were about providing and marketing business reference services and award winning programs in small and medium size libraries. Again YA programs seem to be the hottest thing around.


The porch of the Morrison-Clark Hotel


I stayed at a small hotel about two blocks from the Convention Center. The hotel was charming but the rooms were tiny. The neighborhood was interesting.


Is this a church next door to the hotel? I don't know.


Statue of Samuel Gompers in the park across from the hotel.




"SAY TO THE ORGANIZED WORKERS OF AMERICA THAT AS
I HAVE KEPT THE FAITH I EXPECT THAT THEY WILL KEEP THE
FAITH. THEY MUST CARRY ON, SAY TO THEM THAT A UNION [MAN]
CARRYING A CARD IS NOT A GOOD CITIZEN UNLESS HE UPHOLDS
THE INSTITUTIONS OF OUR COUNTRY AND A POOR CITIZEN [OF]
OUR COUNTRY IF HE UPHOLDS THE INSTITUTIONS OF OUR COUNTRY
AND FORGETS THE OBLIGATIONS OF HIS TRADE ASSOCIATION."

Strange quote from the Gompers statue. What's with all of the angels, weapons and semi-naked people?

What's out there?

Obviously, I have a lot to learn about adding photos to my blog. Sorry about the spacing on the next entry.


Cyclone spots Boo slinking around.

Beautiful Garrett County

This is the time of year when I am especially happy to be in Garrett County. We have beautiful clear skies, chilly nights and an abundance of wildlife.

The view above, looking across the cove to the mountains beyond, seems to sum things up nicely. This is favorite view of both locals and tourists.




Everyone at the branches is gearing up for Summer Reading Club. This year's t-shirt is much better than last years. Sadly, this may be the last year for Sneaks.










Summer Reading Club banner at the Friendsville Library.
T-shirts are $5.00

The Grantsville is for the birds! (just kidding) There does seem to be a bird population explosion in Grantsville. The Library is a popular spot for nesting or just hanging out.
Nest over the letter T.










Ducks on the pond in front of the Grantsville Library.

Finally finished reading: The Road by Cormac McCarthy - and I'm fighting the temptation to spend all my savings on canned goods
Can't wait to start reading : Vineyard Stalker by Philip R. Craig - if only to cleanse my mind of the depression left by The Road
Everyone should have: Peterson's Field guide to Mammals of North America; and National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Mammals. Yes, you need both. The Audubon guide has color photos and the Peterson's guide has color drawings. Peterson's has much more extensive narratives about each animal and it shows gory details like skulls and teeth.

Assignment for week 3

Flickr is interesting, but I've never been big on taking photos. That being said, I've really enjoyed learning how to add photos to this blog.
My favorite new thing? YouTube. Probably because it allows me to find wonderful old favorite clips as well as new videos. Streaming video is fabulous for visual learners and when demonstrating how to do a physical action. It allows for humor too.

A very busy week

Georgie is off to Ohio for Peachtree training. Don't worry, she printed out the paychecks before she left.
Today is our regular birthdays lunch at the Oakland Library. Hopefully, the heat generated by the Lemon Lust Cake won't be too much for our patrons today.

Still reading and still depressed by: The Road by Cormac McCarthy

Many thanks to the Garden Club

The Mountain Laurel Garden Club plants and maintains the garden areas of the Oakland and Accident Libraries. They do a fabulous job! The garden at the Oakland Library is particularly beautiful this year. The day lilies are just about to bloom.

The Garden Club has a display up in the front window of the Oakland Library to promote the Spring Garden Tour. They do a wonderful job with the window. Be sure to check out the holiday window in December too.


Many people have asked me what is happening with the house next door to the Oakland Library. As most of you know, the Library sold the property to a gentleman whose grandfather used to own the house. The new owner is slowly restoring the house to its former glory.


Worth reading: Library Technology reports "Technology Competencies and Training for Libraries" by Sarah Houghton-Jan

We have meetings, meetings, meetings

The Library's Board of Trustees passed our FY 2008 budget yesterday. Diane had wonderful refreshments for us and the Library looked great, as always. Georgie reviewed the Oakland Library improvements budget and it looks like we may have the money to get the Oakland Library's parking lot repaved and the lines repainted. Rumor has it that we may be able to eek out an additional parking space in the repainting process.

Community Action will be repaving their parking lot and we've had to park all three vans in our staff parking area. Double parking and tag team shuffling of cars is getting old for everyone!

We didn't have a quorum at the WMPL Board meeting today, but three people sent written proxy votes to approve WMPL's budget. WMPL received a large increase in funding again this year. John V. feels that WMPL may be able to fund some or all of our Local History Project outside of the Service Enhancements Grants program!! He was receptive to the YA project at Accident and Oakland.
Everyone loves xrefer! http://www.xrefer.com/
(I wish I knew how to add links.)
Lots of new stuff will be coming down the pike (70 or 68?) from WMPL in the coming year, including downloadable audiobooks!!!
SAILOR will provide new and different databases including a great new online encyclopedia.
Lots of talk about Second Life. Also, new and improved delivery methods and services for movies and ILL materials.
WMPL is matching our staff development grant from the state ($6000) in FY 2008. All staff are encouraged to attend MLA and ALA events, with the approval of a supervisor. Please feel free to join these organizations and to submit receipts for conferences and membership to Georgie so that we can get WMPL to reimburse us. The MLA Conference will be in Ocean City on May 14-16, 2008.
Jennifer H. is planning a technology fair so that folks in Garrett can get the chance to play around with some of the new consumer electronics. The Tech Fair may be a part of our Staff Day on November 12, 2007.

Now reading: The Road by Cormac McCarthy; The Republican (of course)

What's new and interesting

Landon's Library has a website www.landonslibrary.org. Families can register for monthly programs at the Oakland Library via the website.

Lynn attended a meeting about Better World Books in Columbia yesterday. It sounds like Better World Books can provide us with a great way of disposing of books that we don't need.

Our Board of Trustees will meet in Kitzmiller today. We hope to approve our FY 2008 budget and work on our facilities plan. Board members have been warned that no restroom is available for the public to use at the Kitzmiller Library.

The Oakland Library will pilot a new service - movies at the Library. We are working with three separate licensing organizations so that we can show a variety of movies.

Books that never get old: Anything by M.C. Beaton; Anything by Alexander McCall Smith; Sue Grafton's alphabet series; Three men in a boat; World of... jewelry series; Christopher Moore

Free Range Reader

Can old librarians learn new tricks?

Currently working on: Ruth Enlow Library Strategic Plan; Long and short term facilities planning; Staff Development reporting and paperwork; annual staff evaluations
Currently learning activities: 23 Things; beginning metalworking
Currently reading: The Wheat field by Steven Thayer; Simple Chinese cooking; This year you write your novel by Walter Mosley