Sometimes plans change...

Apologies folks.

We've been plugging away doing inventory, but it hasn't been going as fast as we'd like.  As a result,

the library will be closed Tuesday, February 2nd.

Here's the full story:
This morning, the board chair, library manager, Sharon and I had a meeting to discuss how the inventory is going.  Sharon and I reported that the AF (adult fiction) inventory is done, and that the ANF (adult non-fiction) is underway.  I should mention that those two collections comprise around 40% of the library's materials.

Our original goal was to finish inventory by the end of January, but unfortunately that's not possible.  So we had a conversation about how we should proceed from here.

The first option was to continue with the status quo:  staff members working on inventory in their spare time between important day-to-day tasks.  We considered this option, but as a practical matter the inventory wouldn't be completed for a few months.

The second option was to have library staff come in on Monday (when the library is closed) to have an uninterrupted day of working on inventory.  This option had a fair share of problems.  The library would have to spend a great deal of money on overtime, and some staff members would be unavailable due to prior commitments.

The final option was to close the library on Tuesday.  Because all members of the library staff are already scheduled to work Tuesdays, this option wouldn't cost the library much money (a little bit so that part-time staff members will be here all day).  The major downside, of course, is that patrons won't have access to the library on Tuesday.

We weighed the pros and cons and in the end decided that closing the library on Tuesday will give us the best chance of getting a *lot* of the inventory done in a short period of time at the lowest possible cost.

Sorry for the inconvenience folks...

Knee deep in ....inventory

If you've been to the library in the past few days, you've probably seen a few staff members (or a few volunteers) in the stacks with a booklet of papers, some writing implements, and blue-stained hands.  Those are the tell-tale signs of an inventory in progress.

What does that mean?

Well, to most patrons it really won't change much.  We're not planning on closing the library or cancelling programs to make time to do inventory.  We won't be blocking off any aisles or performing book recalls.  While we're doing inventory, library staff will be busier (and very likely crankier), and service may be somewhat slower (if we're all in the stacks doing inventory, it may take a minute or two for us to notice someone at the circulation desk, etc.).

Just bear with us for a few weeks, and hopefully things will be back to normal in no time.

WE'RE BACK!

We're back!  The holiday closures gave the library's hard-working staff some much-needed time to spend with family recharging for the year ahead, and now we're back to our normal schedule.

As I said in my last blog post before the holidays, we've all got a lot to look forward to at the library in 2010, and some of those things are already happening.

New Books
The new books we've ordered over the past month or so have started to pour in.  Since Christmas, we've received 139 new books, and there are many more to come.  We've received most of the graphic novels we ordered (including two volumes of Mouse Guard, which Sharon ordered and I'd never heard of but looks really neat), some fantastic fiction (including Michael Crichton's first book published after his death, a compilation of Naomi Novik's first three Temeraire novels, the final novel in the Star Wars Darth Bane trilogy, and Stephen King's newest), and some compelling non-fiction (autobiographies by Theoren Fleury and Howie Mandel among other titles).

New Computers
The library's new public computers were installed between Christmas and New Year's.  They're faster and more reliable than the old ones, and as an added benefit, have headphone jack in the front (no more reaching around to plug headphones into the rear jacks).

Children's Programs
The library's children's programs will resume starting next week (except for Wednesday Club, which will start the week after).  Here's the breakdown:

Lapsit

• Starts January 14th
• Every Thursday at 10:30am
  
• Rhymes and songs for children 0-2 and their parents
• Drop-ins welcome
  

Storytime

• Starts January 15th
• Every Friday at 10:30am
• Stories, songs, and crafts for children 3-5 years old
• Pre-registration is required

Wednesday Club

• Starts January 20th
• Every 2nd Wednesday at 3:00pm
• Stories and crafts for school-age children
• Drop-ins welcome

Itchy Feet
We haven't finalized the schedule yet, but the Itchy Feet season will begin before the end of January.  We've got some great presentations lined up that will take us from Taiwan to Nigeria and many points in-between.


As you can see, there's lots of great stuff happening at the library so far in 2010, and there's much more to come.  Stay tuned!