A bit of this and that

Sorry, no pictures to go with this entry, I'll try harder next time. I realized that I have not posted anything to our blog for quite a while, I better get busy.

As most of you know, here in the Children's Department we've been busy with the school-age (6-years-old and up) activity program. This Tuesday, July 31st at 2 p.m. will be our last one for the summer. We have a professional storyteller, Tom McCormack, coming to bring colorful characters to life! Do you know what a storyteller is? It is not someone that sits in front of you and reads a book. He will tell stories, a much harder task, and well worth your time. If you are an adult, you might want to come to his workshop on Monday evening, July 30th at 7 p.m. in our large meeting room. During that time he will tell you about the importance of sharing your personal stories with your children. Then Tuesday he will do two different programs, the one at 2, and then at 4 p.m. he will do a program for teenagers, which will feature different indigenous musical instruments.

Our last Thursday afternoon at the movies will also take place this week. On Thursday, August 2nd at 2 p.m we will be showing the movie Barnyard. I will be your host at this movie, and I will be making popcorn.

For those of you that have still not picked up your Family Reading Folder, there is still time. Stop by the Children's Desk and ask for your folder before the 19th of August. You have until the end of August to collect your coupons for Dairy Queen or Good Food Store and Del's Place.

Caution: Books Crossing

As card-carrying members of Generation X, my wife and I are, by default, in touch with a certain amount of that culture. For example, we read ReadyMade magazine and in this month's issue I saw something about BookCrossing.


Apparently the basic idea is that you read a book, leave it somewhere, post on BookCrossing where you've left it, and someone comes along to get it, reads it, ad infinitum.

Sounds good to me. Check out some of the Missoula locations. (Maybe MPL will be on the list in the near future.)

Harry Potter Fever Hits MPL!

You might think that because we work with books all day, librarians would be immune to the mania associated with the release of hot new titles. You would be wrong. If anything, I think librarians are more prone to it. For instance, the talk over the dinner table in the staff room tonight was all about speculation on what's to come with the release of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows". Is Snape loyal or a traitor? Will Dumbledore come back? How will Harry defeat Voldemort? Who will die at the end of the book? And of course, most pressing of all, will there be another book? Just like all the rest of the Harry Potter fans out there, we're waiting with bated breath for all of these questions and more to be answered on Friday at midnight. And no, we don't get a sneak peek just because we're librarians. Darn...

Down Time, Lots of It

Most of you already know that we'll be closed next Monday, but did you know that our catalog will be down tomorrow?

But wasn't it just down last week?

Tomorrow we're going to be upgrading our system in order to accommodate the new Harry Potter book. It's just that huge. Not really, but the real answer would be much more boring so I'll spare you the techie details.

And stop asking me to steal you a copy of the new Harry Potter book before it comes out. I wouldn't do anything of the sort...plus they don't arrive here at the Library until late Friday, so I'd have too little time to turn any sort of profit on them. Just be sure to bring your library card tomorrow if you want to check anything out.

On Monday we'll be doing Staff training. Staff will learn all kinds of things to keep the library running smoothly and serve you, the patron, better than ever.

See you soon, if you don't come in while we're closed. And steer clear of any Harry Potter spoilers.

Libraries are for cowards...

In a recent interview with EW.com, Stephen Colbert, host of nightly"news" program on Comedy Central called The Colbert Report, discussed his new book I am America (and So Can You!).

If you are eagerly awaiting the October release of this humorous and satirical book, the following exchange from the interview will just give you one more reason to get your name on the hold list:

"So if I too wanted to become America…
I would read this book.

This is the book for me.
Actually, I'd buy it first. And then I'd read it. No libraries, okay? Libraries are for cowards. No free rides. The book is for heroes, and the heroes are the people who buy the book. Don't lend the book."

(source: EW.com Birth of a Colbert Nation by Whitney Pastorek)

I found this through librarian.net. I like everything about this video, definitely not safe for work.

Read a Book

Posted Jul 12, 2007

This bizarre PSA, reportedly airing on BET, exhorts young black men to "read a fuckin' book, nigga."

EDIT - Viacom removed the video from YouTube, so here's the new link.

My excitement is getting the better of me....

I'm not ashamed to admit it. I can barely contain my excitement for the seventh and final book in the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Only 9 more days!!!

My love for all things Hogwarts started off slowly, I'll admit. While living in Japan, I was desperate for any book I could get my hands on that was in English. Up until then, I had no desire to read a silly children's book about a bunch of kids playing magic, but after reading Books 1 (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (called Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone in Japan)) and 2 (Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets), J.K. Rowling's witty writing, suspenseful story lines, and attention to detail had me hooked. I've been addicted ever since.

With the advent of each new book in the series, I have reread the earlier books so that I could be prepared and have the story fresh in my head. It's astonishing the indicators and foreshadowing you can pick up when rereading these books! I love it!!!

Now I consider myself fairly knowledgeable when it comes to Harry Potter trivia, but I was blown away when I tried some of the online quizzes. Check out this site to test your Harry Potter knowledge!

In preparation for the final edition of the Harry Potter series at midnight on July 21st, MPL is presenting a Harry Potter movie marathon Friday, July 20th.

• 11:30 a.m. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
• 2:30 p.m. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
• 7:00 p.m. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
• 9:30 p.m. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

The movies will end just before midnight, so everyone can then head to their favorite bookstore to pick up a copy of the latest and last installment of this historic series.

Happy Fairuseday!!!

That's right, July 11th is the third annual fair use day. Fair use is a long established concept, dating back to 1841, allowing anyone to use large portions of copyrighted material for parody, satire, or analysis. The concept was integrated into US law in 1976.

Nowadays, with an increase in fair use, corporations are trying to sue or otherwise prevent people from using the copyrighted material they themselves didn't create, but merely own the copyrights for. So today, educate yourself, and try it out.

Wikipedia on Fair Use

More on Fair Use Day

We're just like Netflix! (Only free and with books)

Here at the Missoula Public Library we've been experimenting with a Netflix-model for getting materials to our patrons. When you place a hold, simply choose the home delivery option for pickup location and we'll do the rest. We pay the postage, this is totally free.

We are able to provide this service as a pilot project for one of our software vendors OCLC. They are looking to provide this service in other parts of the country as well, and they chose us to be their guinea pigs. So give it a shot, it might not always work, but that's why it's a test project right? And if all goes well, we'll iron out the kinks and offer this service all the time, assuming we find a way to fund it independently. I wish I could post up a few screen shots of this in action, but our system is down for the day. So try it out tomorrow and let us know what you think!

hot Hot HOT!

Records melted away all across Northwestern Montana today, like so much Big Dipper ice cream down a little kid's face.

Having spent my formative years a good deal East and South of here, I've come to have a perverse affection for bad weather in general, extreme heat included. (And trust me: ~103F with a measly 9% humidity is a lot less to bear than ~103F at 70% (or higher).)

But it was still plenty hot.

Why not spend these torrid, torpid days in the nicely air-conditioned library?

(The Missoula Public Library is in no way affiliated with Days Inn, or Wyndham Worldwide. Theirs was just the closest thermometer.)

Missoula Public Library Welcomes Practicum Students!

Wow! We didn't know how much behind the scenes work goes on at MPL! It is an amazing place filled with awesome resources and fantastic people. We've been spending ninety hours here going from department to department hovering over the staff's shoulders trying to absorb as much as we can from everyone. We are constantly impressed with the amount of knowledge and experience that the staff has here at MPL. It has been a great learning experience for us.

Our first hand experiences with the Summer Activity Program (SAP) has given us up close and personal experience with Kate Davis and her raptors and also with Science Woman!

We would like to thank everyone at MPL for taking time out of their day to show us how a book gets from the mail room to the shelf. THANKS MPL!!

Case Of The Mondays

So, I really hate that expression, but it rang true today. You may not know this, but Librarians have lives outside of books and libraries. Shocking, huh? Mine includes playing in a very loud rock and roll band that recently went on a whirlwind tour of the Northwest this weekend. 3 shows, 4 days, about 10 hours of sleep total and some 1200 miles later I made it back to work at 9 am this morning only to realize I'd agreed to switch shifts and work tonight instead. At least I had a chance to catch a rare breakfast.

At least my weekend was action packed and exciting enough to last me through the workweek, especially considering we get a day off on Wednesday. I can make it till then, right?