What Wonderful Patrons!

We have some of the nicest library patrons!

thank you so much to the person who gave us the bag of dove chocolates
thank you so much to the person who gave us the box of ferrero rocher chocolates
thank you so much to the person who gave us the homemade chocolate bundt cake
thank you so much to everyone who has come in and been patient and good-humored while we try to figure out how to renew your books collect your fines and place books on hold

If I was more clever, I would write that in haiku format. But instead, I did an e. e. cummings treatment.

What can you do with beads?

We have a new craft book here that is perfect for people with very nimble fingers and very sharp eyesight. The Beaded Dollhouse: miniature furniture and accessories made with beads by Nobuyo Chiba is beading on steroids. She gives you precise diagrams and instructions on creating everything you need for your tiny little dollhouse: beds, tables, sofas, bureaus, lamps, fireplaces, wardrobes, rugs. I thought that was amazing enough until I started thumbing through the pages and saw the accessories she includes in this book. There are diagrams for creating magazine racks, potted plants, chandeliers, birdcages, a Christmas tree (complete with packages), curtains, hats, dresses and - get this! - slippers. Each slipper is made of 40 seed beads (which gives you a pretty good idea of the scale we are talking about with this book). All of the furniture and trinkets Chiba presents can be measured in inches, with a canopy bed coming out at approximately 3" x 3" x 3". The doors on the wardrobe open, the drawers in the desks slide in and out, and the couch comes with tiny little throw pillows. Be sure to look at the candelabrum on page 32, or the calla lily on page 27. If you love dollhouses or you know a little girl, and you have a lot of patience, then the items in this book will be right up your alley. This is a unique crafting resource, and the finished product will draw oohs and aahs from anyone.

We Are Open For Business!

Well, we have re-opened our doors after being closed for three days and we now have our new software system in place. We are already creating a 'punch list' of things that need to be fixed, and putting them in descending order of horribleness (which I'm pretty sure is not a word). However, when we got the call from the software people late yesterday that we were good to go, it was very exciting to use the system for the first time. Web-based training and sample databases have their place, I guess, but nothing brings it home like using your own computers and your own catalog. If you get the chance to drop in today, you will notice that we have our party faces on. There is cake, coffee and balloons and a feeling of stoic optimism. On Saturday we will have members of the Ketchikan Public Library Teen Advisory Group here to help people learn how to use our new catalog (no more green font on a black screen!). The teens came in on Tuesday afternoon to learn the catalog - iBistro - themselves, and the consensus was that it was much easier to use than our old catalog. They might be a little shy at first, but they are very helpful and will be readily available.
As a side note, I would like to extend a heartfelt 'Thank You' to whoever dropped the 5-lb bag of peanut M&Ms into our bookdrop at the beginning of the week. They're not quite all gone, but the bag has been a source of constant comfort these last few days.
So please come in, check us out, search for a book, and put us through our paces. And thanks for being patient.....

AkLA 2008

Well, I have just gotten back from the statewide library conference that was held in Fairbanks, and it was a great conference. The keynote speaker was Kee Malesky, who is an NPR librarian, and her speech was fascinating. Listening to her talk about working with Scott Simon and Dan Schorr was great! I didn't see any northern lights, because I didn't feel like getting up in the middle of the night, but there were large groups of tourists clambering on to buses at 10 pm to drive around looking at the lights.
I gave a session on constructing websites and blogs for small libraries (which means libraries without large budgets, staffs, or a dedicated IT department). The Google-hosted programs are free, easy to use and quick to throw together, so I hope the information was helpful. If you missed the session, or if you came and would like to see the slides as a refresher, I have posted all the information from the session here:
Step-by-step instructions for creating a website: http://www.firstcitylibraries.org/website.htm
Step-by-step instructions for creating a blog: http://www.firstcitylibraries.org/blog.htm
Power point slides with screen shots from the Google website developer: http://www.firstcitylibraries.org/AkLA2008.ppt (This one will take some time to download, I'm afraid, as it is 1.33MB)
If you do develop a website using any of this information, I would love to see it! Please email me with your link, and good luck!

I got bupkis....

I am totally copping out this week and putting the blog on hiatus until the 4th of March. Part of my excuse is that we are feverishly trying to finish inventory before we pull the plug on our current software system (we still don't know yet if our barcode readers will work with the new software, and we certainly don't know how to process inventory with the new system). And part of my excuse is that I will be out of town during the latter half of the week, as I am going to Fairbanks for the state library convention. (I graduated from UAF more years ago than I want to mention, so it will be interesting to see how the town has changed since my stay there. Unfortunately, I'm just missing the end of the Nanook hockey season).
The upshot of all this is that I appreciate you checking in to see what's up with the library, and we will hopefully have a cheery update on the progress of our software migration next Tuesday. We will be open through Sunday, March 2, so feel free to come in and stock up on books, videos and music.

One week to go....

We're in our final countdown week as we prepare to bid a fond farewell to our 16-year-old library software system. Come next Sunday, we are pulling the plug on our old Dynix catalog and moving to a spiffy new Windows-based system called Unicorn (which will soon become Symphony, but you don't even want to get into that).
What does this mean to you, the library user? It means that we will be unable to check anything in or out for three days - March 3, 4, 5 - so we will be closed during those days for additional training with the new system. We have fiddled with due dates, so there will be no library items that are due while we are closed (so no worries about trying to shove them in our bookdrop to avoid late fees).
We will reopen at 10 am on Thursday, March 6th with balloons, cake and a look of concentration on our faces. We are so accustomed to the old system that we do things automatically, and we will now have to think our way through things for a little while. We're sure you will overlook our brief period of inefficiency.
In addition, on Saturday March 8th members of the Teen Advisory Group will be on hand to help people use the new library catalog. Since that week is also Teen Tech Week, it will be a nice chance for the members of TAG to show off their computer skills to everyone in the community. Please stop by and check out our new system! And thanks for being patient.....

Spring's Coming!

The snow has finally melted, March is just around the corner, and it is time to start thinking about gardening. We have some new books on the shelf this month that might answer your gardening questions and inspire you to new heights of horticultural creativity.
Viburnums: flowering shrubs for every season by Michael A. Dirr is a book for serious gardeners. He goes into great detail about the various species and cultivars of this tough little shrub, and he also includes extensive notes about propagation and breeding as well as pests & diseases. Since they love moist, acidic soil, viburnums are a good addition to any Southeast garden.
Impatiens are another Southeast staple, and to get an idea of the dizzying variety of colors and shapes available, you should pick up Impatiens: the vibrant world of busy lizzies, balsams, and touch-me-nots, by Raymond J. Morgan. I love impatiens because they love shade and water, and Morgan provides helpful in-depth commentary and photos about the different varieties. They're a nice, easy way to brighten up your garden or containers.
If you feel that impatiens, astilbe and nasturtiums are for sissies, you may be ready for a bigger gardening challenge. The Encyclopedia of Exotic Plants for Temperate Climates, by Will Giles, is the book for you. He includes photos, descriptions and cultivation information for over 1500 eye-grabbing plants that will astound your friends and impress your neighbors. (And he does include some impatiens, so Ha!).
For the artistic - and patient - gardener, there is Tricks With Trees: growing, manipulating and pruning by Ivan Hicks and Richard Rosenfeld. More than just a bunch of lame topiaries, the trees and shrubs in this book are truly amazing. Page after page of gorgeous, sculptural, carefully aligned plants. This definitely crosses the line from gardening into 3-D art forms. Just so you know, alders make excellent candidates for this.
So roll up your sleeves, dig out the extra-tuffs, and start mucking out that garden!