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)