Book Displays Galore!

We have doubled our book displays after the addition of our new Power Walls. In addition to the permanent new fiction and non-fiction, staff picks and Wild About books, we have:

Books on grilling for the summer!


Montana fiction for the locals and wannabe locals!

And the ever important Chick Lit display!

We're excited to offer more book displays and reader's advisory for all of our patrons, and be able to highlight different parts of our collection. Stay tuned for news on the Grab 'n Go section coming very soon!

Power Walls, Walls of Power

We can all bid a fond (?) farewell to those little carts that the New Arrivals and Staff Picks were living on--this afternoon our Power Walls arrived and were pretty much immediately filled up by eager staffers.

Look for the rotating displays to move into this area in the near future, along with the forthcoming Grab-n-Go items, more about which anon.

YA Almost Finished

The Plastic walls have come down around the new and improved YA area. There are still a few adjustments and cleaning to take care of inside the walls, but we're keeping the specific details a secret until we're ready to have a grand opening/open house. When will that be? How's June 28th for you?

There will be an all ages open house from 4-6 with refreshments and door prizes. Then, when the library closes at six, teens are invited to stick around for a "We survived the renovations" Party. There will be games, prizes and more treats. Teens, be sure to show up before six, as the outside doors will be locked at that time.

What can you expect inside the room? Expanded shelving for YA materials, new computers just for teens, and comfortable sitting space to name a few.

We hope to see you soon as we start finishing up this phase of our renovations. The opening of the new YA room will also mean the return of our adult computer classes in our downstairs computer classroom. Be sure to check here to see what classes we will be offering once we resume classes.

Maybe it won't be so bad after all

Change is aways hard and going through the changes, with all the chaos that brings can be even harder. That being said, I will be glad when the changes are all in place and there is a little less chaos. As for now I must say that although my initial reaction to the color scheme of red, navy and pumpkin was less than positive, having had a sneak peek at the Young Adult area I have been pleasantly surprised with the look... bold but comfortable on the eyes (at least mine). I tend to like nature colors and while no colors are going to please everyone, I like the way these look together.
The space designers that have been working with us on this project hve been very professional and I am looking forward to the "final product" as well as some of the not-so-physical changes that will be made. Some in particular will be the time dedicated to checking with folks in the stacks to see if they need help rather than making them come to the desks, self checkout which will increase privacy for patrons, and the "grab-and-go" section which will include best sellers that will be available right near the front for those that want a good book but are limited in time to spend in the library.

Getting A Little Color

At the beginning of the week our monolith/Stonehenge-like entrance to Entertainment Central got a splash of color. It's almost like the scattered sunny days we've seen lately gave it a tan!

Entertainment Central is still going through it's transition period. We have all of our Movies and CDs shelved there, but they aren't going to stay exactly where they are. We are still waiting for some new drawers to show up, but we have all kinds of room in the time being to put more of our music out than we ever could have before.

We're still a ways out in terms of completing the whole project, but it's happening slowly but surely.

I've heard a lot of comments from patrons who aren't really happy about the remodel and will miss having a face to face experience with a librarian when they check out, but not to worry! We all know how well self check out works other places (eg. Albertsons) so we'll still have a desk you can go to to check out materials, deal with account problems, ask questions, etc. And there will be a "roving librarian" who will assist you in the stacks and chat literary with you. We'd hate to give the impression we're doing away with customer interaction, we just want to give you all as many options as possible for checking out your materials as quickly (or slowly) as you want.

The Monolith

When you come into the library, you'll now notice what reminds me of either a white version of the monolith from 2001: A Space Odyssey, or more accurately a single piece of Stonehenge. But actually, it is the future entryway for "Entertainment Central," the place where all of our CDs, DVDs, Book CDs, etc. will be stored in the future. Shelving is arriving as we speak, so expect to see even more changes in the next few days as Entertainment Central begins to take form.

Where the heck are my books?

Through the redesign here we've had to temporarily move our books around to shift shelving. So right now it may be tough to find the book you're looking for, let's see if we can't clear things up just a little bit.

The first, and most common question is always, "Where are the new books?" We've placed them on carts right behind the information desk. There are several carts full of new fiction, new non-fiction and our staff picks.



Next, and most confusing, even to staff, is fiction by authors whose last names begin with L, M, or N. These books have shifted to the top shelf above the rest of our fiction collection. L starts above the A's and then everything moves back from there.



And lastly, our Large-type books have moved to the shelves above our Biography collection right behind the reference desk.



All these changes are temporary while we get things moved into their new places. Don't hesitate to ask any of us to help you find something, or grab something from the top shelf, we'll be more than happy to do it!