The Time Is Now

As some of you know, I am now working both as a public librarian at the Saranac Lake Free Library and as the academic librarian at the Malone Campus of North Country Community College. In both locations I do some standard run of the mill library stuff to help keep the library open and operating. Most of those tasks have to do with cataloging and keeping track of items in the collection both on the shelves and out on loan. I am also in the midst of a new weeding project. Needless to say while there is some overlap in what is to be found in both libraries the emphasis of the two collections is very different. And just like at the SLFL while I’m in Malone I assist people in their search for items. Although, here again the emphasis between the two types searches is very different.

At the SLFL most, but not all, of the reading is for enjoyment and recreation. At the Malone campus I work with students who are looking for articles and most, but not all, want non-fiction texts dealing with specific subjects. Recently, a number of students have come in looking for a specific number of sources for an assignment. Interestingly, they are required to find a number of online journal articles and a single book. That particular task requirement reminded me of when I had to find a number of different physical sources and one web based source for a class I took many, many years ago. At the time it was rather cutting-edge to be required to find an internet based source. I also remember that at the time I was very much intimidated and dismayed by the assignment.

A little while ago when I was still in Library School I purchase physical, hold in your hands and turn the pages text books. I also bought a couple of books that I had come across in different classes that peaked my interest. But the vast majority of the reading I did and the information I accessed was via web-based pdfs found in federated databases. Now, I am lucky enough to remember what it was like to hand search an actual card catalog. And I knew all about title, author and subject long before going to library school. It has occurred to me while assisting these students that many of them have never had that experience. It has also occurred to me that the requirement of finding one physical book to use as a source is not a bad idea. Since information can come in many different formats it is a good idea to be able to use different ways to find and recognize the information we seek. I will mention that I did use an electronic catalog to search for the book; mainly because the student wanted a readily accessible source right off the shelves here in Malone.

Thinking about the process afterwards it occurred to me that at some point in the future new students may no longer have that physical book requirement. It may be revised by an eBook requirement. It also occurred to me that at some point if an instructor does require the opening of a physical book it might be restricted to students working on advanced degrees. Just as today not every student has access to a Guttenberg Bible or a first edition of The Importance of Being Ernest in the future that may be the case or choice for all physical books. Clearly, you would not require a first year college student to do such a thing. Nor would you allow such an individual to touch such a valuable piece of education equipment when an eBook would do just fine.

But that’s for the future. Right now I did notice that there are a number of similarities between what I have done and what the current crop of students entering the library is doing. They are looking for something. They are looking for information and a means to access that information, just as I did with a card catalog or reserved article list. Now we use a host of technological tools to bring that information to our fingertips. The process of getting the information is now better then what it was in the past. I can reach further and faster. I can also access other librarians or educators and chat, comment, text or wiki about new editions and perceptions of an existing work. I also realized that I’m the product of multi-generational changes in information format, access and retrieval. I’m comfortable with each rendition, from books to eBooks or journals to pdfs. And I have to tell you that all of that change, all of that innovation is why when I’m asked I always say “Right now is the absolutely most exciting time in the last 120 years to be a librarian or to be a library patron.”

See you at the Library,
Pete

Reading As A Gift

I clearly remember the very first book that was ever given to me. I also believe that this particular book was also the very first book I ever read all by myself. Although I do not think that those two events happened on the same day. But who knows? The book is a classic that has been enjoyed by generations of young readers and listeners: One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish by Dr. Seuss.

I remember where I was sitting when my mother called me over and presented me with the book perhaps it was an early birthday, I’m not sure. I do know that it was my father who picked out the book for me. A few years ago I was speaking with my mother about Newberry and Calldicott winners and books in general. I guess I can mention here that like me, my mom also has a MLIS and worked as a librarian. She also received her degree in the later part of her life. I clearly remember her taking the coursework and studying the Dewey Decimal System on flashcards. Yikes! Anyway, my mother told me that my father walked past a bookstore to and from the train station on his way to and from work each day. He made the choice to not buy any coffee for the morning commute and instead would pocket the money and save it up until he had enough to purchase a children’s book. I should also add here that I am one of ten children and so I’m thinking that my dad never did get around to ever being able to buy coffee going to work until very late in his career. Of course, by then there were grandchildren so maybe he never did get to enjoy that morning train coffee.

Books and reading always had an important place in our home. I grew up in two houses. We moved to the second house when I was about thirteen or fourteen. The largest single piece of furniture in either of our homes was a bookcase. It ran across the sidewall in the dining room in the first house and stood against the living room back wall in the second house. It was huge. It stood at least twenty-four feet long and ten feet high. And it was stuffed with books, books of every imaginable kind. There was a classification system in place. It ran vertically. Books for younger readers were located on the bottom shelves and books for older readers progressed from about the third shelf up to the top. Even the top of the bookcase was used as a shelf with books stored horizontally on their sides, spine out, of course. My copy of One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish did not reside on the bookcase. I keep it in the room I shared with two of my brothers.

I’m sometimes asked by parents when they should begin reading with their children. I suggest that they start reading as soon as they start holding the child. That is what happened to me and that is what we did with our children. When you start early you are giving both you and the child the chance to begin an activity that will last a lifetime. You also give yourself the chance to read aloud some of the books that you enjoyed as a child. You get to give to someone something of your own experience. Some books stick with you. And some places and times are forever entwined within you with the book you happen to be reading or that are read to you. I’m not sure why either of these things happens but I am very happy that they do. The first books our children received were waiting for them when everyone came home from the hospital. I also remember who gave our children their first books. It was my dad.

See you at the Library,
Pete

Bare To The Bone

Last Friday a Bone series graphic novel crossed my path. I’m a familiar with the series and know that the writer Jeff Smith has won a number of awards over the years for his efforts. I’ve also spent some time looking over the graphic novels in our collection here at the SLFL and have visited a couple of shops that specialize in this type of work. And although they don’t do much for me now I’ll also admit that I read tons of comic books as a kid. So, I was curious.

I was intrigued by the work because of the cover art. So I keep the book out on the counter and whenever I had the chance I’d just flip it open to read a bit. I then checked it out and took it home for the weekend. I know that graphic novels are designed to be eye-catching. But I think the real question is: to who’s eye?

It’s no surprise to say that the publishers are appealing to young readers. That’s fine. Writers and publishers have been doing that for a long time. And for almost the same amount of time we’ve all heard concerns that certain books or types of works are not appropriate for young readers. Okay, that’s fine too. But I would add two caveats. The first is that it is very difficult to use a wide paintbrush to determine what is appropriate for every reader. That is really a decision that is best made by having a discussion between a parent and a child. There are a lot of people who can help with that discussion. Educators and librarians are just two groups of trained professionals who can assist but it is really up the parent and child to make the final determination. The second aspect is the potential concerns someone may have by providing something that might be too frightening, shocking or mature material for the individual. Graphic novel are graphic and so the discussing goes that little is left to the imagination. I would say maybe. It really depends on the particular work and the reader.

One aspect of each of these concerns is that we make the assumption that in order to understand a given text or illustration an individual has to have a certain level of maturity, intelligent or worldliness. Okay, I can buy that too but I also think that most readers, even young readers are self-selecting / censoring / understanding. They will get out of a book, story, article, painting, illustration or piece of music only what they can understand. Now in the process they may become confused by something beyond their own understanding. And sometimes they need someone to point the way to completely comprehend what they are reading or viewing. The classic example of this concept is the use of the word Rosebud in the cinema work Citizen Cane. Actually even if you’ve never seen the movie, you might still know what I mean. But to completely understand the Rosebud reference you also need to have an understanding of a number of other concepts some of which include irony, flashback, remorse and redemption. It’s the same with books, even graphic novels.

It’s too easy to dismiss an entire collection as unworthy of a child’s or adults reading efforts. Notice I didn’t say genre. I didn’t use that term because there are different genres of graphic novels, just like with other works of fiction. So within our entire collection of items available to the public we include adult, juvenile, toddler, fiction, non-fiction, reference, how-to manuals, audio-books, DVD’s, VHS’s, microfilm, photographs, artwork, newspapers, magazines and public computer work stations that provide software for games, writing, building spreadsheets, and internet access to the virtual world. So we offer many different choices. And that is but one of the reasons as to why we also make graphic novels available at the SLFL. Some of our readers choose to swim widely and deeply throughout all of our collections. Other find one type of work or subject and they prefer and mine it exclusively. Both ways are correct. Because both ways provide our patrons, the young and the more seasoned, with what it is that they are looking for.

See you at the Library,
Pete

First Time Out

When I’m working the Circ Desk I often get the opportunity to chat with people about what they’re reading. I also see how often a book goes out when I stamp the due date in the back. It is possible for me to get a very accurate picture of how popular a read is by looking at the stats we keep on each book. I have no idea who has taken the book out, but I am able to tell how many times the book has gone out. But, by and large, I can get a rough read by just looking at the stamped date. The dates are color coded so I can also see if the book has gone out a lot this year or last or even the year before depending on the stamped ink color. There have also been times when I’ve noted that the last time a particular book went out was say, October of 87. That is a long time between check-outs.

Anyway, sometimes when I flip the back cover I see that for this particular book there are no stamped dates. So this means that this patron is the first person to borrow this book. I usually make a remark like: “Hey, you’re the first person to take out this book.” As a rule the individual smiles, I then ask “Let me know what you think of the book when you bring it back.” The patron usually smiles, nods their head and says “Sure”. I first started doing this with children. I have a very clear memory of having to lean over the Circ Desk to speak to a small child and ask them to tell me about the book when she brought it back. She beamed at the prospect of an adult interested in her opinion of a book. She then told me all about the book. Evidently she and her mom had already read the book in the Children’s Area, liked it and were taking it home for additional readings. I found the activity so enjoyable and successful with children that I decided to expand the request to include adults.

Now the chances that I’ll be at the front desk when the book is returned are not good. But there have been a few cases where the individual to whom I made the request has sought me out to tell me about the book. And that is just great. My request is not merely a way to chat away the time with patrons, although it is a pleasant activity. I really am interested in what people like to read and the reasons for doing so. One of the reasons is because I sometimes get recommendation requests. So if my breadth of knowledge concerning the collection is expanded by other readers who have first hand experience with a particular book I have a much better chance of hitting the mark for any individual reader.

There is also an additional reason. I too like to read. And when a few hundred books pass through your hands each week you can’t read them all. No matter how much you might want to. So some type of personal triage for reading material is necessary. One way I decide what I’m going to read is personal recommendations. If someone I work with recommends a book I take that as a very good sign. And if a patron recommends a particular book that too is a strong point in favor of my checking it out. Now, does this method always produce a winning read for me? Nope. But what it does do is it allows me to chat with others who also happen to enjoy one of my favorite activities. In addition, it also expands my exposure to include a particular book; one that, for whatever reason, I might never have chosen to take off the shelf and read myself. What a deal!

See you at the Library,
Pete

Time For A Quiz

Question: So what makes for a busy day at the Library?

Answer: People.

On last Friday we had 159 persons pass through the front doors in the first two hours of operation. As I’m sure you all realize that makes for over one person per minute. Now, to be fair, not every one of these folks needed immediate help from the person behind the circ desk. But I’m sure every person who walked in appreciated the smile and hello that they got. And if I recognized them and was not overly busy they also got my “How the heck are ya, (fill in your name here)?” greeting.

As the person at the Circ Desk my primary responsibility is to help each patron as they enter our domain. This may mean just checking books out as they are about to leave. Or it might mean directing someone to the rest rooms: “Right through the archway on your right, there are additional rest rooms downstairs.” Or to the children’s area: “The doorway, just past the public computers. Please remember that if your child is under five they need to be supervised at all times.” Or the Dickert Museum: “Through the archway and down the stairs. At the bottom the stairs go straight ahead. Please remember to turn off the lights when you leave.” Or the Adirondack Room: “Through the archway and down the stairs at the landing turn left go down another set of stairs and you’ll see the doorway on your left.” In addition I also get to help people straighten out there library account, enroll new library card holders, answer the phone, renew items via the phone and direct people to adult fiction and non-fiction: “Through the archway and straight ahead.” Educate patrons in using the public computers: “Please sign up here. If you have not used our computers before, please be sure to read over our policy statement and sign on the bottom. The user name is “All” there is no password and there is a forty-five minute time limit.” And when I’m not doing any of those things I’m checking-in books or cataloging periodicals and generally tiring to be helpful. I’ve been asked where to find a cup of coffee in town, where the cheapest motel is to be found and “Is this the right road to be on if I’m driving from Montreal to Philadelphia, PA? Yikes!

All of those things are fun to do and all of those things are useful in helping people make the most of their time spent in the library. But none of those things is my absolute favorite thing to do. My favorite thing is to help someone find what they are looking for. It is usually a book. They may know the title, or not. They may know the author, or not. They usually remember what the book was/is about, but sometimes they are a little sketchy on that too. Now, all of these bits of information help in the search. But for me, if some of these components are missing that makes the search all the more intriguing. I am not alone in this viewpoint. In library school and when librarians get together they talk about some of their all-time favorite searches. It’s true. I’ve also heard librarians refer to this activity as “The Hunt”. They get pretty excited about it. Actually, in my experience, it is probably the closest thing to a single attribute that all professional librarians share. They don’t care what the search is for they just relish the seeking. And the more difficult the search the more pumped they get. So, the next time you meet a librarian and can’t think of anything to say, just ask them to tell you about some of their favorite item searches. Be sure to use that term: item search. But before you do, find a comfortable seat, or get a tall drink. You’re going to be there a while. And don’t be concerned about that funny look you see in their eyes. It’s not directed at you.

See you at the Library,
Pete

OJT or Expanding my eHorizons

A little while ago I decided to investigate the downloadable audio books available via the SLFL and CEF’s websites. What brought this about was that a patron came in one evening and ambled over to the books on cd collection. Sometimes when you go to the library no matter what is available nothing strikes you. Our patron had this experience. I went over and we talked about different authors, narrators and books available. Still, no dice. Now I’m thinking, “Hmmm, what to do?” Luckily our patron likes both fiction and non-fiction offerings so we were able to locate an appropriate item. As we returned to the Cric Desk the question of the downloadable books available from our website came up. So we quickly went online to see what the deal was. After a few frustrating minutes I discovered that this was going to take some focus and vowed to learn how to do it before our patron returned to the library. When I got home that evening I sallied forth to download something, anything. I’ll cut to the quick. I did successfully download an audio book.

Here is what I did.

First off don’t be in a rush. In fact, if you like watching baseball you might want to combine the two activities. Don’t worry, if something really good happens on the diamond you’ll see it again on the replay. And as in downloading any software or files, read all the available information on the screen first and then click “okay” or “next”. You might also want to check out the FAQs before you begin.

The first thing you’ll have to do is set up an account with NetLibrary. I went through the CEF webpage to do this. You will need your local library card. Actually what you need is your library card number. That fourteen digit bar code number that lets you take out books etc from the SLFL. So, unless you’ve memorized your library number, you’ll need your library card. You need an account from NetLibrary so that you can download the necessary management software to then download and run the audio books. It is not hard, just follow the prompts. You set up a user name and password, you know the drill. Then you can download the management software. Just to let you know, you are now about half way to actually getting a downloadable book on your computer or device.

Once you have the account and have the management software you can begin to browse the offerings. When I first saw the search mechanism for browsing I was a little suspicious. It appeared to be kind of clunky. Being the person that I am I scrolled to the bottom of the webpage to see who owned / managed the website. There it was: EBSCO. EBSCO is a well know aggregator of both print and on-line databases for journal, newspaper and magazine articles. That was why the search tools looked both vaguely familiar and not so user friendlily. But that was okay. Now I knew what I was dealing with and so forged ahead. I choose to download an audio book of poems and letters by Emily Dickinson.

The actual downloading took a bit of time. If a major league pitcher was really struggling on the mound the opposing team could have sent all nine players to the plate. But I did get the entire work. I now had two hours and eight minutes of narration on my computer. So I listened. The listening quality was very good and the controls are very easy to use. The bad parts are that there is no way to bookmark where you are if you decide to stop for a while. The FAQs suggest you write down the track number or time stamp to find your place again. Like with a pen or pencil on a piece of paper. That is so 1980s. The audio book is actually checked out by you, just like any lending library material, and so it is available to you for a limited amount of time. After three weeks your access to the file expires. That’s all okay. Here is the other bad part: the file does not automatically delete from your computer. If you want the file removed from your machine you need to do that yourself. Alright, I can find the file and do that. Oh, and just in case you where thinking of downloading the audio book to your computer and then burning a cd of the audio book and listening to it in the car, don’t bother. The file is encrypted. I choose to download to my laptop. You can choose to download to a more portable device. Since I didn’t do that yet I can’t report back as to how easy or difficult that process might be. But I will be sure to let you know. Right now, I’m going to go listen to some of Ms. Dickinson’s work.

See you at the Library,
Pete

Got My Library Mojo Working

So this is what happened: A patron came into the Library while I was behind the circ desk. She looked at me, smiled and asked “Where do I find books on gardening?” I returned the simile and said “635 non-fiction.” She looked at me and said, “Wow.” I smiled and shrugged my shoulders.

As a librarian I get asked lots of questions about books and authors. Reader recommendation is one of the areas you study when you go to Library School. Graduate level courses on how to tell someone what they might want to read. A fair number of those questions are about how to find a book on a particular subject or genre. Sometimes this requires that I help find a very specific book. And that means a foray into the stacks. Just about every person I know who works in a library loves to do this. Over time you realize that it’s a good idea to know a couple of things prior to beginning the search. Like where the staging area is for the books before they are shelved. And if there is a spot where the newer books are displayed. And it also helps to know that a biography might have “B” or “921” on the spine and in either case the book is probably shelved with the 921s. So you learn the different places to check. Oh yes, and just because it’s a LP book that doesn’t always mean it will end up in the Large Print collection, but that is the first place I’d look.

So how was I able to help the patron with her question about the location of gardening books so quickly?

I like every other librarian I know doesn’t spend their spare time memorizing Dewey Decimal Numbers. Although on the first day of Library School orientation the Dean of the Department did ask my cohort collectively what our favorite Dewey Decimal Number was individually. At the time I didn’t have one. In fact, at the time I couldn’t think of a single Dewey Decimal Number at all. So, I did what any student does: I sunk back into my chair, avoided eye-contact and didn’t raise my hand. I’m sure Dr. Aversa looked directly at me, but mercifully she didn’t ask me to speak. But it’s all good now. Now, I do have a favorite number. In fact, I have two: 641 & 921.

So, how did I know the number for gardening so quickly that morning? Did I have my librarian mojo working overtime that day? Was I in a library groove and knew I could do no wrong? No, it wasn’t either of those things. What happened was that just the day before I had been looking for books on gardening for myself. And I had been glancing through the books while eating breakfast that morning. And I tend to leave my truck keys on the table right next to the library books I check out. So when I grabbed my keys that morning the spine of the gardening books with the 635 had been one of the last things I had seen prior to going to work. The library gods are fickle. Sometimes they smile on you and you’re just happy to be that lucky. Maybe I’ll go buy a lottery ticket.

See you at the Library,
Pete

Mini Golf At The Library

When we open on Saturday, April 24, 2010 patrons will find that we will have converted both the Main and Lower levels of the SLFL into an 18 hole mini golf course! Actually, if you've been to the library in the last four weeks or so you've seen the display hole. Perhaps you've also tried it. So far, we’ve only one patron sink a hole-in-one. He was just under five feet tall and probably born in the last decade of the previous century.

When I tell folks about the event on April 24th many people smile. They also look slightly stunned. They can't quite believe that we are doing this at the library. In the world of fundraising events we’ve certainly extended the boundaries. But for the library that is old hat, libraries have been extending boundaries for years. That is just one of the things that libraries can do.

But back to mini golf. So, we will have fourteen holes on the Main Level and four holes on the Lower Level inside the Cantwell Room. Of the fourteen holes on the Main Level participants will weave their way through areas not always open to the public. In fact, the 1st hole will be directly through the staff area and exit into the Adult Non-Fiction stacks. Yes, there is a door back there. By putting through all of the holes there is a good chance you will visit places in the library you might not have been to before. And that is another goal of the event. We wanted to find a way to get our patrons into areas of the library that might be new to them. Or perhaps they had not been to that area in a long time: like the Children's and Juvenile Fiction & Non-Fiction Areas, holes 11, 12 & 13. Every collection or area on the Main floor has been included: the Main Reading Area will have three holes, Adult Non-Fiction and Fiction will each sport two holes; the Audio Book section & DVD collections will each have one. And, well you get the idea.

So the SLFL gets to increase visibility within the community, provide patrons with the ability to go into collections they may not have visited in years or even known about and play a round of mini golf all at the same time. What a deal! Many full sized golf courses are proud of their settings and vistas. Here at the SLFL you'll be golfing through the stacks: the accumulated knowledge of centuries, the best of literature, fiction and non-fiction. Who knows? Perhaps a mini golfer will see a title as they walk to the next tee and become intrigued. Okay, that is not too likely. But what is likely is that everyone will enjoy themselves.

So “Thank You” to our generous sponsors and donors, listed at the library and on our web site, and thanks to the committee members, volunteers and SLFL staff who have stepped up providing money, skills, effort and time to make sure the event is a go. And as the committee chair I am going to add one more important goal that we've already met: By holding this event we've provided the opportunity for organizations, businesses and individuals to participate in helping to get people excited about and into the library; so that they can see first hand what it is we have and what it is we have to offer.

See you at the Library,
Pete

Same Bat Time, Same Bat Channel

I have noticed an interesting phenomenon working at the library. Most people come to the library at roughly the same time of day, on the same day(s) of each week. Not exactly an earth-shaking bit of insight; more of a funny quirk.

We all have schedules. I’m guessing that I could find many a peer-reviewed article on this subject documenting that we are driven my internal regimens and various psychological / biological frameworks beyond our control. Of course there may be a much simpler reason: people come to the library when they are free to do so; when the hours of operation coincide with their work / family schedules and that just happens to be at about the same time each week. Anyway, if you are on my side of the circ desk you happen to get to see the same folks at about the same time on about the same given day of each week.

So I get to catch up with lots of people about once a week as they are dropping items off or checking items out. You find out about the weather, their cars, their kids, parents, reading habits, which authors they like, travel plans etc. It’s just a few moments over the desk but it seems to brighten everyone’s day. There is, of course, a dark side to this: when someone doesn’t show up during the time that you expect them to, you begin to wonder. Are they on vacation? Is the car in the shop? Are they sick? Did something happen to them? Have they changed their work schedule or library habits? Or have you been “Dear Johned” with the patron havening decided that your library and / or you as a librarian are “no longer providing what they need to grown in their reading and literary relationship”? Yikes! Usually, it’s none of these things. Usually, you just weren’t paying attention or for some reason the patron needed to change their routine for that week. But I have noticed that when someone I’m expecting doesn’t come in at the usual time that I miss that little personal interaction and wonder about them.

When chatting with patrons I often like to use humor. And when given the chance will use it at any time. Most often my humor is directed at myself. And as everyone learns who uses humor there are two intertwined rules: not every joke you use will be seen as funny and you need different jokes for different folks. I have now been at the library long enough to have delivered some duds. And having done so I have this to say: most library patrons are exceptionally polite individuals and they have continued talking to me. Of course, in this case, I’m still the one working the circ desk so maybe the patrons don’t have a choice. But pretty much everyone seeing me at he desk still smiles when they come in the door. Which makes me wonder about those patrons who stop at the front door, look through the glass, deposit their books in the book box and just walk away. If I was a paranoid individual I might think it was me. But I’m not. I think the deposited books are probably overdue and they’re just putting off having to pay the fine.

See you at the library,
Pete

Stranger In A Strange Land

Whenever I’m traveling I always make it a point to go to the local library. I’ve visited libraries throughout New England, the South, the Far West and Alaska. Sometimes it’s the main and sometimes it’s a branch. It’s not hard to locate a library when you’re traveling but a quick internet search is usually a good idea. You can get directions and also find out the hours of operation prior to your trip.

I do have a loose criteria of things I look for whenever I visit a new library. A good place to start is to determine if the building is open and inviting. Lots of windows and plenty of artificial lighting help in this area. Next, can you easily figure out where things are? The main circ desk is almost always right in front of you so that’s easy to locate. You might then need to wander around a bit to find things, but that’s all to the good. I usually look for, in no particular order, adult fiction, non-fiction, main reading room, periodicals, public computer terminals, children’s room and rest rooms.

Once I’ve figured out where these places are I often walk thought each section looking for particulars: Is their a separate young adult section? Is there a separate rest room for children? Are the public computers located near the main reading room? Are there places for reference or research? Do you have to use stairs to get to certain collections? Is there a paperback section? Is the main collection divided into different genre such as mysteries, thrillers, westerns or are they all mixed together. Most local libraries also have something unique about themselves or their community. So, for fun, I try to figure out what that might be. And I look for a public coffee station.

But there is more to a library then mere bricks and books. Once in, you want to figure out what is expected of you. Many public libraries now refer to themselves as the “community’s living room”. As you might have guessed this is a hotly debated issue in library publications and among boards and staff. It quickly gets to the heart of what a community expects from their library and what a library can expect from it’s patrons. Since you are a stranger in a strange land and do not wish to roil the natives by committing a faux pas what is an unsuspecting visitor to do in these uncharted waters? Never fear, an easy way to determine if you’re going to be shushed or smiled at is to figure out what is the appropriate volume for speaking. By doing so you will have a good indication of what this particular library expects from you. And in return you now hold the key to what will allow you to have the most pleasant experience possible while visiting this particular library. Just remember the appropriate volume level may change depending on which section of the library you’re in and when in doubt do what any gracious visitor does: take the cue from your host.

If you’ve visited a cool library be sure to add a comment.

We Don’t Track That Information

A fair number of folks who come up to the circulation desk ask for a copy of their library record or all the books that have been taken out using a specific card.

As a rule there is no nefarious purpose behind these questions. Usually the person is a daughter/son, father/mother, granddaughter/grandson, niece/nephew of a card holder who cannot get to the library. I see them about once a week and what they are doing is supplying their relative with books to read. Naturally what they are interested in is keeping up a fresh supply of new, or at least new to the reader, books for their loved one to enjoy and they don’t want to bring home repeats.

So when they ask for a list of items borrowed by the card holder they are usually disappointed by my answer: “We don’t keep that information.”

We don’t keep it because to do so is considered an invasion of the person’s privacy. Librarians take this issue quite seriously. A very easy way to get a bunch of librarians pretty fired-up is to suggest that libraries should track the reading habits of others. You will see a group of normally sedate, unflappable individuals become very agitated. And they will start rattling off phrases that contain words like: Bill of Rights, Privacy of the Individual and Foundations of American Democracy. In my experience, it is usually best not to make the suggestion in the first place. And even if the individual card holder did authorize a library to keep track of his/her reading habits we couldn’t do it. All library software is written so that no one is able to track what you have taken out in the past. This concept also holds true for using the public computers at the library. After you log off and again when the computers are shut down at the end of the day, all of the records of sites visited are purged.

But, back to the books. So what can someone do to track their own or their loved ones reading habits? An easy solution would be to buy a binder and just write down the title and authors of the books checked out. But that seems so 1980s.

Here is another solution. There are a number of websites that will track your reading habits for you, offer addition titles that you might enjoy based on what you have selected and give you the opportunity to join book discussion groups and blogs based on your reading habits. Welcome to the expanded services of a web-enabled reading community! Here are two sites that are worth investigating:

http://www.whatshouldireadnext.com/

http://www.librarything.com/

If you know of another web site that offer different services to readers feel free to add a post.

"Life's a freeway, but it ain't free"

So, sometimes I’ve asked “If the name of the library is the Saranac Lake Free Library, why do I have to pay fines?”

Well, to quote the Greencards (a new-grass bluegrass group) “life’s a freeway, but it ain’t free”.

When you receive a library card from the SLFL or borrow a book or other item from the library you have agreed to a number of things: first, that you’ll return the item in the same condition that you borrowed it and second, that you will return it on the agreed upon date. That is the date stamped. It is possible to renew some items. The most notable exceptions are the 7-Day books and the DVDs or VHS tapes. All of these items are in high demand and others are usually waiting to read or view them. So they cannot be renewed. But almost everything else can be renewed. You can do this by visiting our website, www.sarnaclakeelibrary.org (you’ll need your library card number and PIN number), calling the library at 891-4190, or by bringing the item into the library. There are a limited number of times you can renew books, audio books or magazines.

So why do we have fines? The fines are a reminder. They also place a value on the item and on the service that allows us all to borrow things from the library. And as I often tell our patrons as they settle up: “You are in excellent company”. The “Free” in SLFL refers to the fact that we do not charge admission or user fees when you borrow SLFL items or
use some of our services. You can read the books and magazines without having to purchase them. You can view the movies without having to buy a ticket. You can listen to the audio books without having to pay anything. We have a number of computers that are connected to the internet and are available to the public without a charge. And we can help with reference questions to answer or locate specific information without a cost. These items and services are all free to the public. They do have a value. And they do have a cost. But the SLFL does not pass that direct cost on to our patrons at the point of service. We do it for free.

See you at the library.
Pete