Tumbler Ridge Public Library Blog

A Tale of Two Libraries

2011-12-20T14:02:00.000-08:00

In March of this year, one public library existed in Tumbler Ridge. It had a purple ceiling, very old green carpet, and a layout that made the library appear much smaller than it actually was.

By the end of October, a different library existed in Tumbler Ridge. It had a bright ceiling, new flooring, and a much better layout.

So who made the changes from the first library to the second?

We did.

On her very first day of work with us last November, Paula told Sharon and me that the Library felt a little cramped and dark, and that three things needed to be changed: the ceiling colour, the flooring (for safety reasons as well as to lighten the library), and the shelf layout. I can't speak for Sharon, but I took a bit of offense to her comments, as I had rearranged a few things earlier in the year that opened up the library layout somewhat. In any case, I was impressed by the scope of her thoughts about the library, but I wasn't sure if we'd even get that much done over the next two or three years.

...It took less than a year.

During our grant-in-aid application last year, Paula requested funds to replace the library's flooring. The District of Tumbler Ridge granted us those funds, and they were held by the Community Centre until needed.

In April, construction resumed on the exterior of the Community Centre, and the library was asked to move everything at least five feet away from the exterior walls. With some help from Community Centre staff, we moved shelves, placed a great deal of furniture in storage, and prepared ourselves for cramped conditions for a few months.

Paula, Sharon, and I continued working away at the details of our flooring and rearranging project during this time. The Library staff decided on a type of flooring and a colour for the walls, and I spent a few days making a detailed map of the library and its furniture to design a new layout with. After a comment by Sharon, Paula asked the Community Centre maintenance staff to look into how easy it would be to remove the walls enclosing the reference room. When we came in to open the library the next day, half of the walls enclosing the reference room had already been removed.

The remaining walls were removed over the next day.

In early September, Paula hired a contractor to paint the library's ceiling. The library staff (and Sharon's husband, who helped out) spent a day tarping everything in the library, and we were forced to close for two days while the painting was in progress.

Once we reopened, we prepared for the real work on the library. Paula had hired a contractor to paint the walls and install the flooring, and he began work in early October. In a few short days, he had the library painted, and began installing the flooring. Library staff members worked frantically to stay ahead of him by moving books and shelves away from where flooring still had to be laid, while putting as many shelves in their final locations as soon as possible.

By October 19th, we were finished.

So what's great about the new layout?

1) The library is much brighter

open access to the windows
shelves running parallel to the lights
brighter flooring and ceiling paint

2) More space for new books

previous new book shelf now just holds new adult fiction
low shelves just inside library now hold new non-fiction

3) Notebook computer users have places to call home

the study cubicle at front of library has a power bar mounted to it
small tables with chairs and our red sectional chairs are available at each of the lamp posts
the library's main tables are available even when events are taking place

4) The children's area

much bigger and brighter
more room for strollers and parents during children's programs
combining it with the presentation area freed up space elsewhere in the library

5) Better shelf layout

more attractive
easier to find materials
room for expansion
less wasted space (one-sided shelves against walls instead of freestanding back-to-back, etc.)

So that's it folks. A tale of two libraries. On behalf of the library staff, I'd like to thank all our library clients who have complimented us on the work we've done. It wasn't always fun, but I think the end result was certainly worth all the effort.

New World of Overdues

2011-08-10T14:52:00.000-07:00

Effective September 1, 2011, the library's overdue system will be changing.

Changes to overdue fees
Books - $0.25/day
Magazines - $0.25/day
CDs - $0.25/day

Maximum overdue fee per item - $10.00

Patrons will now be billed and suspended once any of their borrowed items becomes six weeks overdue.

So what's the reason behind all of these changes?

Let me explain what it's *not*, first:

It's not that we hate our patrons. We like them a lot! Without patrons, we wouldn't get to work at the library!

It's also not a way for us to bring a lot of money into the library. In the past year (July 2010 - June 2011) the library has collected around $100 per month on average from all overdue fees and replacement fees for lost books. This represents a very small portion of the library's budget, and if our patrons all return their borrowed items on time, we won't even be collecting that much in the future.

So why are we increasing our overdue fees?

The main reason for increasing our overdue fees is simply to have patrons return their borrowed items on time. The majority of the library's patrons always return things on time, and the changes to our overdue fees will not affect them at all. However, we do have a small number of perpetually overdue patrons. These patrons, while very nice in many other ways, seldom return their items on time, and perhaps increased overdue fees will provide some encouragement for them to do so.

There are a few other reasons though.

The library makes it reasonably easy for you not to have overdue items.

If we have your current e-mail address in our system, you will automatically receive a courtesy e-mail three days before your items are due.
We're centrally located, only a minute walk from the main parking lot in the shopping district.
When you borrow items, you're given a date due slip.
You may renew items in person, online, or by phone.

Finally, the library hasn't increased its overdue fees in years. The cost of books and other library materials has been rising steadily for years, and our overdue fees do not reflect this.

We're not naive, folks. We know some of our patrons will be unhappy with the changes to our overdue system. But if it encourages all of our patrons to keep track of their library items and return them on time, it'll make things better for all of us.

Everyone a Reader

2011-08-03T15:43:00.000-07:00

A few months back while preparing for our strategic plan process, I was told that the library should have a vision statement in addition to our mission statement. I hadn't heard of a vision statement before, and did some reading. It sounded to me like vision statements are supposed to be shorter and broader than mission statements, and written to be more of a goal than a process.

Because I wrote the library's mission statement, which was then approved by our library board, I started looking at our mission statement and thinking about how I could adapt it into a vision statement.

The Tumbler Ridge Public Library's mission is to improve and promote literacy, intellectual freedom, and free access to information for all residents of and visitors to Tumbler Ridge.

Even now, in my heavily biased opinion, it seems fairly concise and covers the important things we do around here. But I had no idea how to condense it further or how to make it into a goal.

After some thinking, considering, and (most importantly) pondering, I came up with this for a possible vision statement:

Everyone a reader.

And that's what it's really all about. We can define and limit things, but it ultimately comes down to that as a goal.

Everyone a reader.

People borrowing John Grisham's newest? Readers.

Children looking at picture books? Readers.

Teenagers browsing graphic novels? Readers.

Men who only seem to like westerns? Readers.

Audiobook affictionados? Readers.

E-book enthusiasts? Readers.

Everyone a reader.

As long as libraries exist, reading will continue to be a cheap, fun activity suitable for all ages. There's no reason everyone can't be a reader.

That's the goal folks. Now we just need to make it happen.

Midsummer Update

2011-08-02T13:55:00.000-07:00

Hello good readers,

Today seemed like a good time to update you on things happening around the library now that we've left July (and hopefully all its rain) behind.

Summer Reading Club
Summer Reading Club is still ongoing at the library. Programs take place at 3pm from Tuesday to Friday every week. Make sure to register your children and have them return their reading records on time so they can receive a prize at the closing ceremonies!

Tuesday, August 16th: Reading records due
Friday, August 19th: Closing Ceremonies at 3pm

Evergreen Update
We've been using Evergreen as the library's ILS for seven weeks now, and it's working out pretty well so far. I've spent some time fighting with it (and learning interesting things in the process), and on the whole I'm liking it much more than our old system. We've got to spend more time getting e-mail addresses from patrons into our system so it can send out courtesy e-mails before items are overdue, but things are going very well other than that.

Renovations
Renovations to the Community Centre are continuing. I know everyone is frustrated with the library's current layout, the lack of seating, and the lack of access to some books (especially the picture books), but we're doing the best we can folks. Once the interior work is finished, we'll be looking at installing the new flooring we'd hoped to install this year, and then rearranging the library to make the best use of the space we've got.

The rearranging we did last summer and then built on last winter was fairly minor. We opened up the left side of the library and made it more accessible in general. But now we're looking at bigger ideas. Can we move the children's area? Do we need to look at one-sided shelves to place against walls? Can we set things up better for patrons using their notebooks or tablets? So far our answer to those questions is "Yes."

Since Paula arrived in November, she, Sharon, and I have been talking at length about the library's layout and how it could be arranged better. With any luck, you'll see the results of all those discussions in a few months.

Brief Congratulations
I'd like to take a moment and offer my congratulations to Paula, whose term as Head Librarian recently exceeded the length of my tenure (8 1/2 months) as Interim Head Librarian. ...I'd also like to congratulate Sharon and myself for behaving for this long and not scaring Paula off with our antics!

On a serious note, I'm still having fun back at my Head of Technical Services position, and am very grateful she's decided to stick around. Thanks Paula!

History of the Library
I've spent some time over the last few months working on and off on a history of the Tumbler Ridge Public Library. So I've been reading through the old Tumbler Ridge newspapers stored in the reference room, and transcribing library-related stories. I'm only up to 1986 so far, but I've found a number of good stories about the early days of the library and Tumbler Ridge in general.

There's a lot happening in Tumbler Ridge right now between the attempt to re-open Quintette Coal, the development of an underground mine, new housing, and wind turbine construction, and I think it's a good time to take a look back. Thirty years ago, there were some fairly lofty goals set for Tumbler Ridge, and I think now's the time to look at them, then see what we can do about exceeding them.

Online Stuff
Finally, if you're so inclined, please take a moment to read my Twitter feed and the Library's Facebook page. My Twitter feed is full of random whining, occasional poetry, and nonsensical banter with my brother. The Library's Facebook page is mostly being used for event announcements, but I've also started posting photos of my current whiteboard drawing of what the library really needs.

And with that folks, I'll bring this blog post to a close. Take a minute to visit the library, borrow a book, and then enjoy the good weather while it lasts.

Making Preparations...

2011-07-27T12:12:00.000-07:00

As you probably know by now, Tumbler Ridge will be experiencing a planned power outage on Thursday, July 28th from 7am to 7pm. Since we learned of the outage yesterday, library staff members have been preparing for it, and have a few announcements to make.

First, the library will be open its normal hours (10am-8pm), and staff members will be able to check out library items manually. As always, your library card will be required.

Second, some library services will be unavailable. The library's computers will be shut down, so patrons will not be able to access the Internet. In addition, we will be unable to create new patron accounts or accept payments for lost books or overdue fees.

Finally, the library's children's programs will continue as scheduled. Lapsit will still be held at 11am, and our Summer Reading Club program will still take place at 3pm.

We're in for an interesting day tomorrow, folks. Please feel free to come to the library, but be aware that it won't be business as usual.

Know when to hold 'em (always)... Know when to fold 'em (never)...

2011-06-17T16:16:00.000-07:00

One of the great things about our new library program, Evergreen, is that it will allow us to handle holds properly. We're really excited about this at the library, because it'll give patrons better access to the books they want without requiring extra trips to the library.

If you'd like to borrow a book the library has, but you're not able to visit the library this very minute, you can place a hold on the book. Have your library card ready, and either phone us or visit the library's online catalogue (http://tumblerridge.catalogue.bclibraries.ca) to place a hold on the item.

If the book is out on loan, Evergreen will add you to the queue for the book. When the book is returned, staff members will be alerted by Evergreen, and the book will be made ready for the next patron in the queue.

If the book is on the library's shelves, Evergreen will add the book to a list of holds for staff members to gather. At least once a day, library staff members will search the shelves and find the requested items.

If we've got your e-mail address in our system, Evergreen will automatically send you an e-mail telling you that your book is ready to be picked up. Otherwise, you'll receive a friendly phone call from a staff member (usually Jacob) to tell you that your book is available.

That's it!

So, make sure we've got your current e-mail address and phone number, then try it out! Place a hold, and then recommend it to your friends.

Now that I've described the former, some of you are probably wondering what the latter part of this post's title refers to. It refers to the *horrible* practice of folding page corners over instead of using a bookmark. This method of marking your page is second in vileness only to placing the book in the open, face down position known as the spinebreaker. Please don't do either one of them folks. ...while I'm at it, please don't use bacon as a bookmark either...

Adventures in Libraryland

2011-06-15T17:13:00.000-07:00

Greetings good readers,

It's been an interesting week so far here in Libraryland.

Monday
The week started when I worked Monday for the first time since I started here over two and a half years ago. Paula, Sharon and I were in to receive in-person training prior to our library going live on Sitka Evergreen on Tuesday. Now, the library has been here over 25 years, our hours haven't changed since I started in 2008 (I'm not sure how long they were in place before that), and we've got our hours posted on the door.

...I lost count of how many patrons tried to come into the library. Every time one of them rattled our locked doors, I hopped down from my perch on the circulation counter, unlocked the doors, and told them "We're closed Mondays -- the only reason the lights are on is because we're receiving training today." Their response: "You're closed on Monday?"

It's nice to know people like us to be open, but it would also be nice if people were aware of our hours and didn't insist on trying the doors when we're closed...

Tuesday
Yesterday was the library's official "go live" day with Sitka Evergreen. We had all hands on deck (and crowding behind the circulation counter). After going through more training, Paula and I worked with our trainer to try to set up our library's local administrative settings. I chose one option, saved it, and then the program quit responding to any further changes. We had lost access to our database.

About ten minutes later, our trainer started hearing about Sitka Evergreen being down across the province. As a result, we worked on some other things. Later in the afternoon after Evergreen was back up, our trainer was talking to the tech support team. I could only hear her side of the conversation, and it went like this:

"So it was us? The setting Jacob changed did it?"

So it's official folks. On day one, I crashed the Evergreen server.

To be perfectly honest, I'm kind of proud of the achievement. I did a bit of a victory lap afterward and was bragging to the other staff about it.

Wednesday
When I was getting ready for work this morning, I decided to bring back a stack of my borrowed interlibrary loans. I haven't had a chance to process the returns since I got back from the Beyond Hope conference last Thursday, so they've been piling up. I had just carried over a stack of 20+ interlibrary loan books to my desk when Paula caught me and said "Oh Jacob, did you hear that Canada Post has locked out their employees?"

...So I put back my stack of books. I'm hoping the situation gets resolved soon because my basket for books belonging to other libraries has a very finite space limit, and we're rapidly approaching it.

So that's what's been happening so far this week folks. Stay tuned, because we'll be keeping busy over the next week in particular as we continue to learn how to use Evergreen and prepare for the Summer Reading Club opening ceremonies next Wednesday.

Summer Reading Club 2011 -- Savour Each Word

2011-06-11T11:49:00.000-07:00

It's that time of the year again. School is winding down, and everyone is wondering what there is around town for kids to do this summer...

As always, the Tumbler Ridge Public Library will be having Summer Reading Club all summer long! Once your children are registered, they'll enjoy fun activities at the library four days a week, keep their minds active, and receive a prize at the end of the summer for the reading they've done.

This year, Summer Reading Club runs from July 5th to August 19th.

Summer Reading Club Schedule

Wednesday, June 22nd at 3pm -- Opening Ceremonies
Registration
Stories
Music
Facepainting
Popcorn
Door prizes

Weekly Schedule (starting July 5th)
Tuesday at 3pm -- Storytime and a craft
Wednesday at 3pm -- Storytime
Thursday at 3pm -- Storytime and a craft
Friday at 3pm -- Storytime

Friday, August 19th at 3pm -- Closing Ceremonies
Prizes
Medals
Fun!

So sign your children up, and have them spend their summer at the library!

Before I wrap this up, I'd like to thank all the sponsors who have donated to Summer Reading Club so far:

Spectra Energy
Walter Energy Western Coal
Peace River Coal
Capital Power
Lion's Club of Tumbler Ridge
Lakeview Credit Union
Encana
Avalanche Trucking
Dr. Mark Sevier
Uniglobe
Chetwynd Dental Clinic

Thanks folks! This program wouldn't be possible without all your help!

Incoming!

2011-06-11T10:18:00.000-07:00

Later this afternoon, Mandarin, the program responsible for the library's catalogue and circulation, will be shut down for the last time. This weekend, technicians will be uploading the library's data, and the library will officially start using Sitka Evergreen starting Monday.

Instead of writing a lengthy essay about what Sitka Evergreen is, and what it'll do for the library, I've decided to just post a list of questions and answers I wrote for staff members so they could talk to patrons about Evergreen.

So what is Sitka Evergreen?

Evergreen is an open source integrated library system (ILS) -- the program that handles the library's cataloguing and circulation. Sitka Evergreen is the name for the group of BC libraries that are installing Evergreen.

Why is the Tumbler Ridge Public Library switching to Evergreen?

Using the same program as other libraries in BC will allow us to

Share our catalogue listings
Make it easier for patrons to find books to request through interlibrary loans
Reduce duplication of effort between libraries
Lower cataloguing costs
Give our library a say in how our ILS will be developed and improved going forward

Evergreen will also allow us to

Properly track youth accounts
Distribute overdue and hold notices by e-mail

How will Evergreen change things for me?

Patrons will be required to show their library cards to borrow or renew items
The Library's grace period will be reduced to one day
The Library's online catalogue will look different and offer a number of extra functions, including

the ability to search the catalogue of every BC library using Evergreen
a shelf browser, which will show you items shelved near the title you've searched for

Why do I need to carry my library card to borrow items?

Evergreen works differently from Mandarin, our current system. As a side benefit, requiring library cards to borrow or renew items will increase individual user security, as patrons will no longer be able to borrow books based on their knowledge of another patron's name and/or phone number.

Why is the grace period only one day?

The grace period is programmed into Evergreen, and may not be changed by individual libraries at this time.

Will the library's loan lengths or fines change?

No. Items will still be loaned for the same length of time, and overdue fines will be unchanged.

The staff members at the library have had training and access to a test server to practice with, but we're still learning exactly what Evergreen can do. It'll be a few weeks before we're completely comfortable with it. In the meantime, please bear with us, and always remember your library card.

Garbage-pickers aren't so bad...

2011-04-30T15:35:00.000-07:00

When I was a child, and my family visited my grandparents, we'd often play canasta. If any one of us picked up the discard pile when there was less than a dozen cards or so, we'd be called a garbage-picker. Regardless of our intentions (often grabbing one or two cards we needed to finish a canasta, etc.), we were labeled for picking up and collecting something that others felt was worthless.

I see that happening at the library sometimes, and it really bugs me. People with an inflated sense of their own literary tastes put down readers and authors who don't live up to their expectations.

"You really read him/her?"

"I can't/won't read that trash."

"He/She isn't a *real* author."

For those of you who have expressed these sorts of sentiments (and to be fair, I've done it once or twice in my life in response to authors who write more books than I do blog entries), I'd like to request in the politest way possible that you keep them to yourself. Here's why:

1) Adult illiteracy is a major issue.

As I've written about before, we live in a time when illiteracy is a huge concern. There are many people who will never voluntarily read a book after high school. As a society of readers, we need to be encouraging people to read, nomatter what the content.

2) Library funding is derived from circulation (to an extent).

If elitist readers drive away patrons, the library's circulation stats will plummet and the library's book purchasing budget will follow. At that point, the library will have to focus its fiction budget on titles that appeal to as many patrons as possible, and will no longer be able to purchase books that appeal to that small elitist subset.

3) Indiscriminate reading should not offend you.

Reading is not a conspicuous activity. Short of reading pornographic materials in public, reading is not an activity where the participant makes a point of doing something to impress or offend bystanders.

4) There's nothing wrong with trashy novels.

Okay, these books will probably never be used as a basis of an academic dissertation. People can still derive pleasure from reading them. These people are still reading and using their imaginations rather than passively consuming television and other media.

I've read the Illiad. I also read Star Trek novels. The universe is not constructed in a way that requires me to only enjoy one or the other. So leave those readers alone who don't match your expectations, and perhaps try picking up a trashy novel. Who knows? You might even enjoy it.

Synchronicity and Summer Reading Club

2011-04-19T14:22:00.000-07:00

Greetings, good readers.

Last week Sharon spent a large portion of her time preparing her fundraising letters for Summer Reading Club. Each year she sends out letters asking for support for this program, and a handful of businesses and organizations have been very generous and made the Summer Reading Club possible.

Sharon was finishing off the letters this morning and was getting ready to mail them when she received an out-of-the-blue phone call from Glenn Auger of Spectra Energy. He was coming to the library to present us with a cheque for the Summer Reading Club. Meanwhile, the envelope addressed to Spectra Energy was sitting on Sharon's desk, just waiting to be sealed and stamped.

Glenn stopped in shortly before I left for lunch. He told Sharon that Spectra Energy knew of the importance of the Summer Reading Club and literacy at a very young age. Then Glenn presented Sharon with a cheque, posed for a photo, and left with our profound thanks.

Now I'd just like to take a moment to thank Spectra Energy for their donation and for kicking off the Summer Reading Club. The Summer Reading Club is largely funded by donations of this kind. The funds are used to buy program supplies, help pay for summer students, develop our children's collections, and (most importantly) buy prizes to reward members of the Summer Reading Club at the end of the summer. It's a fantastic program that helps keep the children of TR entertained and educated over the summer, and we certainly appreciate the help.

Thanks Glenn. Thanks Spectra Energy.

Living in the Chaos Zone

2011-04-12T17:37:00.000-07:00

Hello good readers, and welcome to a brief blog entry.

Two weeks ago, we were told that work on the community centre envelope would be starting again shortly. Due to the work required on the exterior wall of the library, we were asked to move everything at least five feet away from those walls.

We spent the next three days (Thursday, Mar. 31 -- Saturday, Apr. 2) moving books, shelves, and furniture with a great deal of help and sweat from the community centre staff. Due to space constraints, the library's large tables and most of its seating have been placed in storage.

Shortly after we were warned about the pending construction, the silence we've enjoyed over the past few months was shattered as the contractors continued their work.

On Saturday morning while I was shifting books on the shelves, there were a series of loud thumps on the roof which caused one of our fluorescent light covers near me to fall and shatter. The community centre staff responded, and they've since removed all the light covers so that incident will not be repeated.

In spite of everything, we *are* open for business. If you visit us at the library, you will likely find it noisy and cramped, but we are open. Our hours will not change over the next few months, and the library will not (barring any unforeseen dangers associated with the renovation work) close while construction is ongoing.

Before I wrap up this blog post, let's make a deal folks. If you don't complain to me about the noise and cramped conditions (which are thoroughly beyond my control), I won't rant at you about how I have to work full time under these conditions.

...Wanna shake on it?

Spring Break 2011 at the Library

2011-03-19T16:38:00.000-07:00

Tuesday marks the beginning of Spring Break at the library. Now, before anyone gets *too* excited, Spring Break at the library does not involved attractive college-aged people partying on the beach in swimsuits. Instead, the library offers two programs (each a week long) for children.

(Please note: there are a limited number of spaces available for each workshop.)

Pre-registration is required.

Week 1 (Mar. 22-Mar. 25): Paper Mache Workshop with Sharon

Sharon will be working with the children on a week-long paper mache project. In past years, these projects have included piggy banks and monsters, and this year will be different again. The children will start by building a basic paper mache shell, and will paint their finished creations later in the week.

Registered participants should wear old clothes, as paper mache tends to be messy.

Week 2 (Mar. 29-Apr.1): Juggling Workshop with Jacob

In the first part of the week, I'll be showing children how to make their own juggling balls. After everyone has made a set of juggling balls, I'll be teaching them the basics of juggling:

two ball
two ball in one hand
three ball

Later in the week, I'll be teaching more advanced juggling skills to children who have mastered the basics:

palm-down three ball
four ball
juggling oversized/irregular objects

Finally, I may (time, supply, circumstances, and ceiling height permitting) give a demonstration of my ability to juggle three soccer balls.

...and with that, you now know why I've been seen juggling in the library the past week. If I'm going to be teaching it, I need the practice.

Failed Blog Posts

2011-03-10T12:28:00.000-08:00

I've spent the last half hour or so trying to write a blog post about our latest new book list.

A few patrons have noted that the list contained around three times as many non-fiction books as fiction books. I was going to explain why in a lengthy post, but the answer boils down to me saying "Stuff happens." Our book suppliers ship books out to us as they get them in stock, etc., and sometimes that means we receive shipments with many more non-fiction books than fiction books, or vice-versa.

There. That's all I actually needed to write. But I've got an inflated sense of my own self-importance, and don't think I should be writing blog posts like that. I want my blog posts to be epic, thought-provoking, and stellar examples of good writing. How can I possibly achieve those goals with a three sentence blog post?

In any case, after I gave up on the two previous attempts to write that entry, I looked under the "Edit Posts" tab. There were five saved draft blog posts that I had never deleted. Two were blank and two were failed first attempts at posts I eventually completed.

The final draft blog post in that folder was one I attempted to write called "The Next Five Years." In a few weeks, the library board and senior staff members will be meeting with Andy Ackerman to create a strategic plan for the next five years. Before I started here, the library created a vision pathway which looked to me like a childish drawing full of pie-in-the-sky ideas like a brand new library building with a built-in theatre for presentations (among other things).

I believe our strategic plan will be a little more concrete than the vision pathway. As part of the preparation for it, I had to answer a bunch of questions about the library's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (to which I wish I had answered "me", "not enough of me", "cloning me", and "meteors" respectively). At the end, I had to write down one goal for the library in the next five years.

While there are many worthwhile goals we could strive for, I settled on a fairly simple one: to double our annual in-library visits by 2015. We had approximately 56,000 visits to the Tumbler Ridge Public Library in 2010. If Tumbler Ridge grows as many people expect, we expand our collection, and we continue to offer excellent programming, I think this is a reachable goal.

I think that wraps it up for this blog post that was built on the ruins of others. Perhaps next time I'll have a topic worth writing an epic, thought-provoking post about...

Lessons not taught, conventions unfollowed?

2011-02-24T18:45:00.000-08:00

Be forewarned -- this blog post has very little to do with the library or literacy in a conventional sense (though it does address a related field of literacy --that of chronological literacy). You have been warned...

Over the past few weeks, I've noticed an interesting trend. We're seeing a glut of children (most seem to be preteens) coming in to the library and asking staff members what time it is. Now, none of us mind answering that question. Even though we don't record it as such in our stats, it's one of the easiest reference questions we're ever asked (next to "where's the washroom?"). But I'm starting to find the trend a little alarming.

We have a clock in plain view behind and above the circulation counter. The clock is large enough that I can clearly see the numbers from the opposite side of the library. The only assumption I can draw based on that (other than sheer laziness) is that these children can't tell time -- at least, not with an analogue clock face. I learned to tell time that way in the first grade. (if my parents didn't teach me before then -- I can't remember for sure...)

Is telling time on analogue clocks/watches a skill that's not taught anymore? In the past year, I've heard that many children are no longer being taught cursive handwriting, and I thought that was borderline ridiculous. But at least people who cannot write cursive can take a stab at deciphering it. The same isn't true for people who have only learned to tell time on digital clocks. In a very real sense, these people are functional chronological illiterates.

Perhaps this is part of a growing trend against the regular wearing of watches in favor of carrying cell phones. When I was growing up and given my first watch (an analogue watch), it was like a rite of passage. I got to wear a watch, and was officially a big kid! A year or so later, it was supplanted with a more kid-friendly watch (with a stretchy wristband instead of a traditional strap), but the idea stayed with me.

A few years later, I was given my first digital watch just in time for my teen years, and my current watch was given to me on my eighteenth birthday -- to accompany my entrance to manhood. These watches have meant a lot to me over the years. My current watch saw me through the end of high school, my years at university, timed my exercise over the past year and a half, and even traveled to Japan with me. The writing along the edges has been worn away, the buttons stick, and the watch face is starting to accumulate large scratches. My left wrist has a patch of skin that's permanently pale, indented, and ridiculously smooth. This watch has been through three batteries, five watch straps, and I absolutely *will not* get rid of it until the day it refuses to work at all.

We live in a world where so much is considered disposable and so many old things and ideas are discarded. I implore you folks -- don't let that happen here. Teach your kids how to tell time on analogue clock faces. Give them a watch instead of a cell phone for their birthday -- the watch and the meaning behind it will stay with them much longer than a 3-year contract.

A match made in the ...clubhouse?

2011-02-17T15:13:00.000-08:00

Greetings and salutations good readers,

If you keep up with my Twitter feed (helpfully displayed on the right side of this blog), you already know that I spent much of yesterday working on things related to a golf tournament the library will be hosting in June.

In the past year, we've tried to broaden the library's fundraising efforts. We've had some success in requesting donations for the Summer Reading Club last year (thanks to all of our generous donors), and holding small to medium fundraisers such as cakewalks and our white elephant sale. The one thing we haven't tried is a large scale event-based fundraiser.

At a fundraising meeting last summer, the idea of holding a golf tournament was brought up. I liked the idea, but at this point, I'm not sure if I can even claim that I play golf. After all, I didn't make it out at all last summer and only went golfing once in 2009...

In any case, Brenda, our board chair, liked the idea and she started thinking about it. She asked Chuck, the administrator of the community centre, to help with the planning and things have been moving along since then. We had a meeting a few weeks ago where Paula and I learned more about golf tournaments and we decided on a few of the details.

At this point, I think I should (quickly) point out that certain details may change by the time of the actual tournament. The library has never held a golf tournament before, and we're learning while we plan this one. As it stands right now, we're planning a team best ball tournament for players 12+ with a field of 72 players.

All golfers out there, please stay tuned for more information, and in the meantime I'll leave you with this:

Best Ball for Books:

Golf Tournament for Literacy and your Library

Tournament: Saturday, June 11, 2011

Registration Deadline: Tuesday, May 17, 2011

One book at a time...

2011-02-05T11:27:00.000-08:00

Greetings and welcome to February!

If you've been around the library during the past four weeks, you've probably seen staff members doing inventory and rearranging the library. We're getting close to the finish line on inventory. I'm hoping (emphasis on this word) that we can finish the "people in the shelves checking things off and swearing" portion of the inventory by the end of next week. Then we'll have a day or two of computer work, and we should be done -- about a month earlier than last year.

So what happens when we're done inventory?

1) Post-inventory work

While doing inventory, we've found a number of books on our shelves that were not in our catalogue. As a result, those books cannot be searched for in our computers or loaned to patrons. Sharon, Paula, and I will be working our way through these stacks to decide what can be discarded and re-cataloguing the rest.

2) More library rearranging

In the future, we may be combining our adult non-fiction, and junior non-fiction, and reference collections. Right now if patrons search for non-fiction books in a particular subject, they have to go to three different areas of the library to find them. In many cases, we have 3-4 books on a subject, but they're spread out among these three separate collections. Putting the collections together should make life easier for patrons searching for books, and will make life easier for staff members because we won't have to draw the line between junior non-fiction, adult non-fiction, and reference any longer.

3) Preparation for Sitka

Sitka is the new library program we'll be transitioning to later in 2011. Paula and I participated in a conference call for Sitka-bound libraries on Friday, and learned a little more about the transition process.

4) Ordering books

The hardest part about doing inventory is holding off on tasks we enjoy doing, like ordering new books. I can't speak for Sharon or Paula, but I'm chomping at the bit to start ordering again. We'll be putting extra emphasis on non-fiction this year, as Paula has identified some areas of desperate need while doing inventory. Beyond that, we'll continue to order the best of new fiction, children's books, and more graphic novels as we've done in the past.

We've got a lot ahead as soon as inventory is out of the way, so stay tuned!

Library Rearranging 2.22

2011-01-27T09:45:00.000-08:00

Greetings and welcome to another edition of "Pat Yourself and the Other Staff Members on the Back Jacob"

When Paula started at the library in November, she pointed out to Sharon and me (fairly early on) that the library was fairly dark. We've got a decent amount of windows to let natural light in, but many of the shelves, the carpet, and the ceiling were all dark colours. Painting the ceiling would be a huge job that would probably require the library to shut down for a few days. Replacing the carpet (which hopefully will happen in the future) is another huge undertaking. That left the shelves.

Paula asked a friend of hers to paint the library's green shelves a lighter colour to brighten up the library. In the process of doing that, we rearranged a few things, and discussed rearranging more. Ultimately, we removed one shelf section from the adult paperbacks, added more shelves to the remaining sections, and spaced out the remaining paperback shelves so they aren't as cramped. When the paint dried on the first set of paperback shelves, we prepared to move the shelf to its new home against the front wall of the library.

To move that shelf, however, we needed to move the final shelf of junior paperback. The discussion of how to move the shelves resulted in a plan to completely rearrange the left side of the library. So last Friday (January 21st), Paula, Chris, Sharon, and I spent pretty much the entire day moving shelves.

As long as I've been here, we've had shelves in the children's section that stuck out from the wall and left a series of dead end aisles. We changed it, and now we've got two long aisles of children's books running down the left side of the library. There are still two shelves sticking out from the wall holding the junior fiction and most of the junior paperback, but they're spaced out better.

We moved the study carrel to the blank wall opposite the magazines, and it fits much better there.

So here's the view of the children's section along the front wall of the library. The picture books run along the back wall and wrap around on the front left, the junior non-fiction run along both interior shelves, and junior paperback series run along the outside right shelves.

These shelves are the end of the children's books and hold the non-series junior paperback and the rest of the junior fiction.

All the rearranging opened up the left corner of the library further, giving us room for a larger reading area and a new place for our sale books.

The library is brighter, more spacious, and no staff members suffered noticeable injuries in the process (though Sharon did complain of a broken nail).

We're still in the process of doing inventory, so I doubt we'll be doing much more rearranging in the short term. But anything is possible, so stay tuned!

My Plant

2011-01-25T13:16:00.000-08:00

In mid-April 2010, I bought an African violet. The woman who was selling them as part of a fundraiser had spoken up on the library's behalf a few nights before at an open meeting with town council. At the time, I wasn't in a position to speak up (I had only been interim head librarian for about a month at that point), and really appreciated her arguing on our behalf. As a result, when I saw her selling the violets as a fundraiser, I bought one.

Now, I don't have a particularly green thumb. I have absolutely no plants in my condo, and do not rent a plot at the community garden. I improvised a water catch tray from a weird lid, and watered the violet daily from a plastic cup. Somehow (I'm not sure how), I managed to keep it healthy enough for it to bloom again. At the same time, I fought a never-ending battle against other library staff members who couldn't walk by the violet without stroking its leaves.

So now the violet sits on the second tier of my desk out front. A few months back, the woman who sold me the violet came in to the library and asked if it was the same one she had sold me. I said that it was, and she was amazed that it was looking so good.

This violet has gone through a few rough stretches though. I'm pretty sure I was overwatering it at first, and I damaged a few leaves when I smacked my pen down on them to prove a point to one of the other staff members here. So I've had to do some pruning of leaves that are in bad shape. But the violet is still here, still alive, and still looking pretty good. I've even placed a small origami crane in the violet because I thought it was funny to have a bird "nesting" in the violet.

...now if only I could get it to bloom again.

Clash of Ideals

2011-01-22T15:24:00.001-08:00

Greetings folks!

I thought I'd kick off my (real) blogging in 2011 with something nonsensical: a discussion of the ongoing Cola War in the library.

A few weeks back, I wrote about the nature of caffeine usage in the library. I didn't go into much detail at the time, but the majority of caffeine consumed in the library comes in one of two isotopes: Pepsi or Coca-Cola -- and therein lies the conflict.

The library is in the midst of a Cola War, and has been for some time. In many superficial ways, it's like any other ongoing war. There are a few gung-ho combatants on either side, separated by many people who are indifferent (or have a mild preference for one side). Civilians are often drawn into the war regardless of their wishes. There are often silly battles fought for dubious goals, and the likelihood of having a clear winner is low.

==The Battle==

In the early days of the war (August 2008), a prominent member of the Red Army quit the war. Her loss was mourned, as the ranks of the Red Army were depleted.

The newcomer on the battlefield officially pledged allegiance to neither side, and indeed, patronized both. However, it quickly became clear he was sympathetic toward the goals of the Blue Army. In the weeks and months that followed, this new entrant stepped up the Blue campaign through the use of extensive propaganda.

In March 2010, the neutral head of the peacekeeping force between the warring sides retired. Unaware of the newcomer's sympathy towards the Blue Army, the committee named him as the interim commander of the peacekeeping force. This act set the stage for the final defeat of the Red Army. However, a combination of apathy and budgetary constraints limited the commander to brief skirmishes against the Red Army combined with an ongoing propaganda campaign.

This state of affairs continued unaltered until November 2010. At that time, the interim commander joined the ranks of the Blue Army and stepped down to make way for a new commander. She quickly professed her total support for the Red Army. The forces of the south have risen again, and the battle continues on.....

==Reality Goggles On==

When I started working at the library in 2008, I was replacing a Coke fan. Originally I was a Pepsi fan, but then switched to Coca-Cola when Vanilla Coke was released. When Vanilla Coke was taken off the market (truly a sad day), my preference drifted until I ended up consuming both brands roughly equally. Even though I still drink both, I'm officially a Pepsi fan while working at the library.

When I started at the library, Rebekah was an ardent Coke fan, and it was fun to bug her about it. The high point was when Michelle (one of our pages at the time) and I placed a skeleton in Rebekah's chair before Halloween. The skeleton had a can of Pepsi taped to its hand and a sign around its neck that said "Even the undead prefer Pepsi". I continued making signs in this style for a variety of objects (a mummy, a roll of bubble wrap, and a stick horse).

As interim head librarian, I made a number of jokes about making Pepsi the official cola of the library or approaching Pepsi for sponsorship (after which we'd have to ban Coca-Cola from the library). Of course, none of these jokes even came close to coming true.

Paula was hired as head librarian in November 2010, and last week I learned that she's also a Coca-Cola fan. She joked that when she's at restaurants and they ask if Pepsi is okay, she says "Well, it's not okay, but that's how things are."

So I guess what I'm saying is that we *won't* be painting the library in Pepsi colours any time soon.

Still Alive...

2011-01-18T11:50:00.000-08:00

Hi folks, and welcome to 2011.

At the moment, I'm very glad I never officially made a resolution to post on this blog more often in 2011. We've been very busy the past few weeks with inventory, preparation for our winter carnival activities, moving books around so shelves can be painted, and sending in our grant-in-aid application.

Once things settle down again I plan to be on here more often, keeping everyone up to date with what's happening in the library (or at the very least, writing about unimportant, but amusing things).

Have faith readers -- I'll be back here with a *real* blog post and cake in the next few weeks.

...The blog post is the truth. The cake is a lie.

(sorry folks -- couldn't resist the reference)

That's it for 2010...

2010-12-11T13:41:00.000-08:00

Before you start protesting, I know we're still officially three weeks away from 2011. Ideally I would've waited until the last week of 2010 to write this post, but that week will be extremely busy. Sharon will be away, we'll be knee-deep in inventory preparations, and I'm sure we'll have a horde of patrons coming in to use our wireless access to try out the gadgets they received for Christmas. As a result, I'm wrapping up 2010 today.

So what major things happened around the library in 2010?

Changes in command -- we had three different people heading the library in 2010, a record that will hopefully not be surpassed.
Rearranging -- this time last year, we still had a reference U at the front of the library and a closed off mess of an archives area.
Fundraising -- Sharon raised a record amount of money for the Summer Reading Club, and we've branched out into other fundraising efforts such as our White Elephant Sale in June and our cakewalks the last two months.
Whiteboard -- the rec centre staff kindly hung the library's unused whiteboard, and I'm having tons of fun drawing random stuff on it and naming a new phobia-of-the-week every Friday.

2011 will be a fantastic year for the Tumbler Ridge Public Library, and will be better than 2010. Why, you ask?

We will have a fantastic, knowledgeable head librarian who will be in place all year. I did my best from March to November, and I don't think I did a bad job by any stretch of the imagination. However, it'll be good for the library (and me!) to have an experienced hand at the helm. Paula has only been here a month, and it's already weird thinking back to before she came.
We'll be completing inventory *much* faster in 2011 because we know what we're doing this time around, and we've fixed a number of issues that slowed down the inventory process in 2010.
More rearranging is on the horizon. Paula, Sharon, and I have talked about the library and its setup, and Paula has noted quite a few odd things that we've never paid attention to. For instance, how many people have ever noticed that almost all of the library's shelves run perpendicular to the banks of lights?

In short folks, 2011 should be a good year for the Tumbler Ridge Public Library, and we're all anxious to get started ... once the holidays are over.

On that note, I'm signing off of this blog for 2010. I'll see you in the new year!

Caffeine: the fuel of our library

2010-12-07T14:12:00.000-08:00

When you think about businesses that run on caffeine, your mind probably sticks to a few common ones like long haul trucking, computer programming, and 24-hour convenience stores. Libraries probably don't come to mind. I certainly never thought about libraries being caffeine-fueled -- at least not until I started working at one as a full-time staff member.

Over the past two-plus years, I've seen that the library runs on caffeine just as much as other businesses do. Now, we don't have a coffee pot plugged in at all times and in fact, coffee is *not* the caffeine isotope of choice. But if you take a quick look around the library at any given time, you'll see our caffeine-delivery systems. Cups of tea, cans of Pepsi and Coke (the cola war is still going strong in our library) and energy drinks litter our desks and fill up our recycling bin far too quickly.

Does our caffeine consumption affect anything around the library? Not really. There have been a few days when one staff member or another has expressed a *need* for caffeine, and then has taken steps to fulfill that need, but that's about it. Do caffeine buzzes affect our work? I doubt it. I don't think I'm any more or less productive when I've had a few cans of pop.

Over the past few years, I've tried to cut down my caffeine consumption somewhat. If you take a look at the Wikipedia entry for caffeine, you'll see a picture taken of a spiderweb that was spun after the spider consumed a quantity of caffeine. The picture is undeniably creepy. While caffeine doesn't affect humans the same way it does spiders, it did make me think about how much caffeine I consume.

When I was working on my bachelor's degree, I used to think that 4-5 hours of sleep a night was plenty. But then I'd have 3-4 cans of pop each day to stay awake, and would often crash in the afternoon anyway. I don't do that anymore. Most days I have a single can of pop. Though I have an occasional latte when I pass a Starbucks if I have a long drive ahead of me, I'm not a coffee drinker by any stretch.

Anyway, in the past month or two, I've thought about trying for a caffeine-free week. I'd pick a week, announce it on this blog and my Twitter feed, try to recruit some sympathetic co-workers, and go without caffeine. Given that I'm on the low end of the caffeine consumption scale, I imagine I'd mostly be okay, but I still think it would be an interesting week, especially if I keep everyone up to date on my progress.

So that was the plan. Then last night I had trouble getting to sleep, then woke up at 4 and didn't get back to sleep until five. Today will not be a caffeine-free day. In fact, today will probably be a 3 CU day. (I wrote on my Twitter feed last week that CU stands for "Caffeine Unit" and is defined as the amount of caffeine in a standard, 355mL can of Pepsi or the equivalent).

Well, I'll try a caffeine-free week at some point, and you'll hear about it on here and through my Twitter feed. Stay tuned!

(All-)Star Tech

2010-12-02T11:03:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was a fantastic day. We had a five hour visit from one of the techs who works for IT North (the library's tech support company), and he fixed a ridiculous amount of technical issues in that time.

First off, our patron printer is working again. The tech resolved the issue that kept the printer from working at all over the past few weeks and also dealt with a long existing issue that required library staff members to find the printer on the patron computers every time they were restarted.

Second, our patron wireless access is available again. It went down a few weeks ago with an error I could not correct. The tech reconfigured the wireless router, and it's up and running. So all of our patrons with their own notebooks, iPads, etc. can use the Internet at the library again.

Third, the library has been without a staff wireless router (necessary for our notebooks to sync with the network) for around a year. The tech installed our new one, and it's a pretty spiffy looking piece of white and black equipment.

Finally, the tech looked into the trouble we've had over the last two weeks with the Internet access on our staff network. He wasn't able to identify the problem, but did tell me what I should do the next time it goes down so that the people monitoring our network can find the problem and deal with it.

The library's technology is working again, and working technology makes Jacob a happy camper!

Explanation of attempted pun in post title
The tech from IT North who visited did an incredible job, making him an all-star, and "tech" sounds reasonably close to "trek." The post title is a really bad attempt at a Star Trek pun.

Two weeks...

2010-11-27T10:10:00.000-08:00

Well folks, here we are at the end of my second week back at my tech desk, and I think you deserve an update.

Am I happier back in my old job? Well, yes, but it's a little more complicated than that.

On the plus side, I've spent the last two weeks handling ILLs, which I really enjoy, and sitting back at my tech desk in the front of the library.

I've also spent time working on Wall Scrabble (an activity we'll be doing at the library during the winter carnival), planning my future storytimes, and doing other things such as starting to give our whiteboard a thorough and overdue cleaning which still isn't complete, talking with Paula and Sharon about plans for the library, and generally keeping very busy.

On the down side of things, we're having a *lot* of technical problems, and because I'm the most technically proficient staff member, everyone turns to me to get them fixed. I can't even guess at why a few of these problems have popped up, and in one case, had no idea who I should be contacting to fix it. I've also had to deal with an upset patron (to be fair, if I was billed for long overdue books that I was sure I had returned, I'd be upset too), and try to sort out an interesting bill from the library's insurance provider.

In short, my new (old) job isn't all peaches and cream.

But guess what folks... I'm having fun again.

For the past eight months, I've been dragging myself out of bed at the last minute, running out the door of my condo at five to nine, and making it to the library just in time. There were a few high points in my tenure as interim head librarian, but most of the time I didn't enjoy the job. I remember one day in particular when I was putting my shoes on in the morning and already thinking "I can't wait to get home tonight." I didn't have anything special planned for after work and there wasn't anything particularly bad on the schedule for that day at work, but I already wanted the day to be over.

To put it simply, things have changed. In the past two weeks, there were a few mornings I had to stop myself from leaving for work at twenty to nine. During my first weekend back at my tech job I was hanging out in my condo, playing a video game and thinking "I can't wait for work on Tuesday."

I've been bouncing around the library like I'm hooked up to a caffeine IV and coming up with tons of ideas for storytime, funny things to write on the whiteboard, and probably annoying most of my co-workers in the process.

I'm hoping that in the coming weeks and months I'll have more to talk about on this blog, so stay tuned!

Changing of the Guard

2010-10-30T15:07:00.000-07:00

As some of you have probably heard, the Tumbler Ridge Public Library has hired a new head librarian. I could write a lengthy blog post to talk about it, but I thought I'd keep it simple and stick to the 5 Ws. (As it turns out, this blog post ended up being incredibly long anyway -- my apologies folks!)

Who:

Our new head librarian is Paula Coutts. She's worked in different kinds of libraries (public and medical among them) and is coming off a three year stint at a library in Ontario.

What:

The head librarian position at the library (alternatively referred to as the library manager, library director, etc.) supervises the library staff and works with the library board to establish policies and procedures. She/He also coordinates events with other community groups and applies for funding for the library. There's much more to the job than that, but a *lot* of tasks fall under those broad duties.

Where:

Paula is moving to Tumbler Ridge from Alliston, Ontario. She made a trip out to Tumbler Ridge in September to see the town and library in person, and apparently we didn't disappoint her.

When:

Paula will be officially starting as head librarian on November 15th. Due to when my weekend falls, my final working day as interim head librarian will be Saturday, November 13th.

Why:

This is the biggie, and many people have asked about it. "Why aren't you staying on as head librarian Jacob? Why isn't Sharon taking over? Why won't Peggy come back to the library to run it?" Now, I can't speak for Sharon or Peggy, but based on talking with them, I believe that they are basically happy with their current jobs and how those jobs fit into their lives. (As a side note, I told each of them that the head librarian job would be easy for them because they'd have the world's greatest head of technical services working for them, but neither of them took me up on the offer.)

So why am I leaving the job behind? Well...

I was offered the position as interim head librarian shortly after the previous manager resigned. Brenda (our board chair) told me that we'd sign a three month contract to try things out and that we'd decide what to do from there. I assume the three month contract term served as a safety precaution for the board. If I turned out to be an absolutely terrible head librarian, they could simply not renew my contract.

Because I wasn't sure if I was really cut out for the job (or that the job was really cut out for me), I insisted that my contract include a clause that allowed me to return to my position as head of technical services at the end of it. I felt I was taking a huge risk, and that it didn't seem right that I might be out of a job at the end of my contract simply because I was in over my head as head librarian. The board agreed, and we eventually wrote and signed a contract in early April. It called for a three month term ending in early July and a requirement that I give six weeks notice if I intended to return to my position as head of technical services.

The first two months were miserable. The library's grant-in-aid was cut (note: this is *not* a shot at town council. They have been extremely supportive of and patient with library during my tenure as head librarian and I can't thank them enough for it), our inventory and audit were still works-in-progress, I learned that the library had missed the deadline (1-2 weeks before I received the position) for applying for a grant for summer student funding, and I had to submit a number of major reports that I had never heard of.

In March and April I basically felt like I was jumping from crisis to crisis and really not accomplishing all that much. So as we entered May and my decision date (six weeks prior to the end of my contract) came closer I started looking at what I liked and didn't like about my job. Just before a week of vacation in late May, I told Brenda that I'd almost certainly be giving my notice to return to my tech job when I returned from holidays. She asked me to think about it and talk to her about it when I returned. I did, and we did, and I formally gave my six weeks notice at our June board meeting. A few weeks later I signed a contract extension that would end as of September 4th or upon the hiring of a new head librarian, and we started advertising the position.

We received about a dozen resumes, all of them (but one) from people with excellent library qualifications. The personnel committee on the board narrowed the field down, interviewed the remaining applicants via Skype, and decided to offer the job to Paula.

But I guess all I just typed is more of a history rather than an explanation. I'm giving up the head librarian job because even now I feel like I'm in over my head. Have any of you heard of the Peter Principle? It's an idea that if people are good at their jobs, they tend to get promoted. As a result, people end up stuck with a job they can't be good at. In short, people are promoted to their level of incompetence.

Now, I don't think I've been an incompetent head librarian. However, I've found the job extremely stressful, and I've lost a lot of sleep and gained a fair amount of weight since March. Staff members, board members, and patrons expect me to have all the answers, and a lot of the time I simply don't. It almost seems like they forget that I've only been working as a library technician for a little over two years, all of it in this library.

Over the past few months, I've joked (mostly with Sharon) about who I am in the grand scheme of things. I've laid claim to a few different personas, such as the library's Obama -- the new guy trying to change things. I've also claimed to be a participant on "Flip this Library" -- the guy who rearranges and cleans up the library (with a great deal of help) just in time to turn it over to someone else.

To close out this chapter in the library's history, I'd like to list a few things we (not the royal "we") have accomplished during my tenure as head librarian as well as thank everyone involved.

1) Successfully rearranged the library

Converted the library's back room back into the library's office
Converted the previous manager's office into a reference room
Moved the archives into the reference room
Shifted the first paperback shelf so that the library's corner is wide open
Created reading areas in the corner where the archives were and near the fire exit
Moved spare couches near the magazines to create a better reading area
Moved the final shelves of adult fiction adjacent to the rest of the adult fiction shelves
Shifted the computer desks so the second staff desk in the area doesn't block patrons
Created a new easy-to-use display of the library's audiobooks

First off, thanks to Brian Bray for all his help with the rearranging. He went *way* above and beyond in helping me move shelves and desks, and I can't thank him enough. This wouldn't have happened without him.

Second, ever since we made these changes, I've begun to hear a litany from tourists and newcomers that is very similar to what I remember hearing in my youth: "This is such a wonderful library!"

2) Raised more money than ever for Summer Reading Club

This was all due to Sharon's efforts, but I'm going to claim partial credit simply because I happened to be head librarian while she did it. This year Summer Reading Club was entirely funded by sponsor donations, and we had enough money left over to spend nearly $6,000 on children's books. Given that our book buying budget for 2010 was $10,000, this represents a *sizable* amount.

3) Started a youth audiobook collection with a grant from Telus

I sent in a grant application to Telus in early May, and they replied with a donation of $1,000 in June to put towards establishing a youth audiobook collection. The library has spent a little over half of the money so far, and the youth audiobook collection now contains everything from classics (Charlotte's Web, The Chronicles of Narnia) to modern fiction (The Alchemyst by Michael Scott).

And now, a big thank you to the following people:

The staff of the Tumbler Ridge Public Library -- Sharon Bray, Bintang Howard, Rebekah Perry, Melissa St. Claire, Mackenzie Newhook, Vickie Davis, Ellyanne Spinney (who joined us recently, and is doing an excellent job) and Michelle Schribar (who left us early in the summer -- we miss you Michelle!). I've said it before, but I'll repeat it here: you folks have really gone above and beyond for me.

The board members (of this board and the previous board) of the Tumbler Ridge Public Library -- Brenda Holmlund, Peggy Holden, Jodi Penner, Hank Boere, Bob Mandeville, Rose Colledge, Jerrilynn Schembri, David Falcon, Donna Mandeville, Rich McCrea, and Lisa Buckley. You've all supported me and my decisions. Above all else, you trusted me to do the right thing even when I was desperately trying to figure out what I was supposed to be doing.

The mayor and council of Tumbler Ridge for asking the tough (but fair) questions that kept us on track and for giving us their support.

Certain unnamed patrons (who I hope realize I'm talking about them) who believed in me and supported both me and the changes that took place in the library.

Brian Bray for his enthusiastic support of me and the *ridiculous* amount of help he gave me in moving things.

And last, but certainly not least, my family. They supported my decision to give the job a try in the first place, encouraged me when things were rough, and supported my decision to leave the job in the end.

Finally, I'd like to wrap this post up with a quote from someone in a similar situation of giving up a command for someone else -- Captain Christopher Pike in last year's Star Trek movie:

"I am relieved."

Crusading against the homogenization of language

2010-10-07T19:48:00.000-07:00

Please note this blog post has very little to do with the library, but is more a rant about the use of language.

The homogenization of language in our culture drives me absolutely nuts. English is a fluid, dynamic language that has a multitude of terms to describe variants of the same idea. So why is it that many of these terms are falling by the wayside?

My favourite example of this relates to hockey. Years ago it had its own jargon to describe specifics, but these terms have gradually given way to terms borrowed from other sports or other things altogether

Yesteryear --> Today
hockey sweaters --> hockey jerseys
team crest --> team logo (from something descriptive to a generic marketing term)
center ice --> neutral zone (a Star Trek reference of all things!)

So why do we do it? Why do we replace colourful, descriptive terms with boring, less descriptive ones that can apply to anything? Is it because we can't appreciate anything on its own merits, but have to always look at it in the context of something else?

I can't believe that. I refuse to.

Even a hockey neophyte should realize what the term "hockey sweater" refers to.

I find it disturbing that we're moving closer and closer to the Big Brother ideal where words that express certain ideas simply do not exist. So I implore you: use specialized, traditional, cultural language! Use colourful (though not obscene) language to describe things! If it causes a little confusion, that's okay! Your listeners will survive!

Now, I'll give you an example to prove that I practice what I preach. In a town the size of Tumbler Ridge, it seems sort of silly to refer to "downtown". If you've got long legs, you can walk downtown from any part of Tumbler Ridge in less than fifteen minutes. As a result, I've started calling it the shopping district, and I encourage you to do likewise! It's colourful, it's descriptive, and it differentiates Tumbler Ridge from other towns of a similar size.

We've got a neat language to work with folks. Use it or lose it.

Thanks, but no thanks...

2010-09-24T15:59:00.000-07:00

My apologies for the long delay between blog posts everyone. I've had a few ideas in the back of my head for a while, but haven't been able to get them out by typing...

I'd like to talk about book donations today.

In the past few weeks, we've had four large donations made by patrons, only one of which provided the library with good books that were added to our collection. The one good donation consisted of a handful of recently published hardcovers and trade paperbacks and nothing else. The other three donations each had two or three books we considered keeping, but the majority of the books included were exactly the sort of books we're trying to remove from the library -- extensively damaged books, outdated non-fiction, and old books.

I suppose people are reluctant to discard books and assume that they can always be put to good use in the library. But that's not how it works.

First, non-fiction becomes outdated extremely quickly. Books about current events are often obsolete less than a year after publication, and even books written about long-past events such as World War I lose their relevance as new information is uncovered and our morals and beliefs evolve. Don't believe me? Try looking at old books about the early days of British Columbia. I'll bet that most of those books, even those that were highly regarded at the time of their publication, use a number of offensive racial slurs to describe Chinese immigrants.

Second, fiction also becomes dated. True, there are books that defy the odds and eventually become timeless classics while some others become interesting historical artifacts that reveal the zeitgeist of the publication year to readers. She'll never get off the ground by Robert J. Serling, a novel about the training and career of an airline's first female pilot, is an example of the latter. However, the majority of fiction simply becomes old. How many library patrons really want to read a story about a child whose friends are jealous because he has a brand new Commodore 64?

Third, we don't need any more old books because we've already got enough of them in our collection that we're trying to get rid of. Our collection still has a *lot* of books from the 1970s and 1980s in spite of our efforts at weeding. Last year we weeded over 1000 books from the adult fiction section that hadn't been borrowed in at least 2 1/2 years and were published earlier than 1998. This summer we weeded the adult paperback section in a similar manner and removed books that hadn't been borrowed in at least 3 years and were similarly old.

Finally, despite what people think, libraries do not have a special way to dispose of old books. We place books on our sale cart and recycle them after they've been there for a few months.

I suppose what this rambling post comes down to is this request:

Please folks, don't drop off your unwanted books at the library unless they are in good condition and published within the last five years. If you're donating anything else, you're really just passing off the burden of disposal to library staff members.

End of the Summer

2010-08-14T15:34:00.000-07:00

We're getting closer and closer to the end of the summer folks. A few days ago (on the 11th, to be exact) our receipt printer started giving us date due slips with the phrase "September 1" on them.

So what happens around here at the end of the summer?

Summer Reading Club Closing Ceremonies

Friday, August 20th, at 3pm

We'll be handing out medals and prizes and serving cake to celebrate the end of another successful summer!

Please note: Children must return their reading records by Wednesday, August 18th to receive a prize!

Here's a photo of the prizes available:

We've got board games, science kits, Lego, Mega Bloks, Nerf blasters, a giant water gun, fishing poles, crafts, and more!

So, turn in your reading record and come to the Closing Ceremonies to have some cake and choose a prize!

With that, I'd like to thank all the sponsors who have made Summer Reading Club 2010 possible:

Western Coal - $6000.00
Spectra Energy - $2500.00
Peace River Coal - $2000.00
Capital Power - $1000.00
Lakeview Credit Union - $500.00
Lion's Club - $500.00 and held a barbecue at our Opening Ceremonies in June
Encana - $500.00
Shell Canada - $500.00
Grizzly Crane - $200.00
Hub International - $50.00
K.C.'s Dollar Store and More - door prizes and a generous discount
TR Community Centre - 14 swim passes
Northern Toybox (Dawson Creek) - a generous discount

We couldn't have done it alone folks.

Thank you.

New Youth Audiobooks

2010-08-11T12:41:00.000-07:00

A while back I wrote a post about the youth audiobooks we were ordering thanks to a grant from Telus. (big thanks to the fine folks at Telus, by the way). Anyway, yesterday the first large batch of them showed up. Sharon and I were *thrilled* and we got to work processing them right away. They've been labelled and put away, and we've just put up the laminated cards for them. So here's the list of what has arrived -- come and borrow some!

The Alchemyst - Michael Scott
Anne of Green Gables - Lucy Maud Montgomery
The Bunnicula collection - Deborah and James Howe
Charlotte's web - E.B. White
Coraline - Neil Gaiman
Geronimo Stilton books, 1-3 - Geronimo Stilton
Geronimo Stilton books, 4-6 - Geronimo Stilton
Green eggs and ham and other servings of Dr. Seuss
Hatchet - Gary Paulsen
The Hardy Boys: the tower treasure - Franklin W. Wilson
I miss you, Stinky Face - Lisa McCourt
James Herriot's treasury for children
The Lightning thief - Rick Riordan
Magic tree house, books 1-8 - Mary Pope Osborne
Nancy Drew: the secret of the old clock - Carolyn Keene
The Outsiders - S. E. Hinton
Ramona the brave / Ramona Quimby, age 8 - Beverly Cleary
Ramona the pest / Ramona forever - Beverly Cleary
The Roald Dahl audio collection
The Spiderwick chronicles, books 1-5 - Tony DiTerlizzi

New Display for Audiobooks

2010-07-17T16:19:00.000-07:00

The audiobook collection in our library hasn't been displayed very well in the past. The laminated cards were held in a small box on the same piece of furniture that held the video and DVD cards. When the audiobook cards were kept there, they looked ugly and were hard to browse.

I've been thinking about a better way to display them, and think I've come up with one.

To the left of the circulation desk we have a corkboard hung over top of an old doorway that dates back to the early days of the Rec Centre. As of last week, this corkboard was just used to hold old pieces of paper like a thank you certificate from 2001.

I cleaned it off yesterday, and started printing smaller copies of the laminated cards for the audiobooks. Now patrons can come in to the library, easily browse our audiobook collection, and pull the card off the wall for the audiobook they want to borrow.

Now, the impetus behind this project is our incoming youth audiobook collection (which I blogged about previously). When the youth audiobooks come in, they'll be arranged on the lower half of this corkboard.

"But Jacob," you're thinking "there isn't enough room for many more audiobooks on that corkboard!"

You're right.

This corkboard is being used as a test audiobook display. If it works well, helps audiobooks to circulate, and is liked by patrons, my plan is to buy a roll of cork and use the cork to cover one (or more) of the wall panels on the outside of the reference room, opposite the magazine racks. Then we'll have a wall to display all of the library's audiobooks in an easy-to-browse way that doesn't take up much space.

But before we make that investment, I want to make sure that a corkboard display of audiobook cards will work.

So where do you come in? Easy! Borrow some audiobooks!

More Library Rearranging

2010-07-09T12:21:00.000-07:00

If you haven't been to the library in the past few weeks, you haven't seen the results of our last round of rearranging.

First, we moved the plants, round table, and bank counter (I'm still not sure why we have this thing in the library, and I'd be happy to give it away to anyone who wants it) away from their place next to the fire exit. With the extra room in that area, we moved the final two shelves of adult fiction from their old location (up against the walls near the magazines) and placed them back-to-back, butting up against the adult fiction shelves closest to the back door.

A day later, I was in the library while it was closed, and I thought "Hey! There's room for some seating here!"

So I grabbed a few of the green wedge-shaped chairs from around the library and made a small curved couch out of them. Now instead of a cluttered area with tables and bank counters and plants, we've got a nice little reading area.

It looks better, works better, and unifies the library's adult fiction section again.

But it wasn't good enough. When we first started moving the archives into the reference room, my ultimate plan was to clean out the corner of the library where the archives had been to make another reading area. I was a little bit bored last Saturday and started moving things. Sharon joined in, and her husband Brian gave me a *lot* of help moving the archive filing cabinet and rotating the first adult paperback shelf.

The end result?

Another nice, bright reading area instead of a closed off corner that was essentially wasted space.

A side benefit to this rearranging is that the light coming in from the end window is no longer limited to a dusty corner. The whole left side of the library is brighter and looks better than ever.

So, what's next for the library's layout? Who knows! Stay tuned!

Youth Audiobook Collection Underway!

2010-07-09T11:40:00.000-07:00

When Sharon and I talked about our plans for 2010 last fall, we decided that we'd like to spend some money on creating a youth audiobook on CD collection. However, when budget time came around this spring, it was seen as a fairly low priority compared to other things and we put the project aside.

In mid-April, I came across a note on the back of the library's Telus bill that said something like "Do you know what Telus does for communities?" with a URL. I visited the site, and found that Telus has grants available for various projects in Canada. So I filled out the application, ran it by our community grant writer for suggestions, and sent it off in early May.

On June 9th, I received a phone call from a Telus representative who told me that they thought our plan to create a youth audiobook collection was great and that it was the exact sort of project that Telus likes to fund. When he told me Telus would be giving the library $1000 for this purpose, I had a hard time responding to him and thanking him. I thought my grant application had been pretty decent, but really didn't expect such a positive response.

A few weeks later, the cheque arrived in the mail, and Sharon and I started to make plans. We researched audiobooks we thought would be good for the library, and asked children who were participating in Wednesday Club to suggest audiobooks they'd like the library to order. Unfortunately, the suggestions we've received to this point are not available in audiobook format, but we'd like to encourage everyone to keep trying!

Yesterday, Sharon and I went through the list of audiobooks we had researched and selected a group of them to purchase. Here's what we ended up ordering:

A.A. Milne's Pooh classics boxed set
Akimbo and the elephants
The Alchemyst
Anne of Green Gables
The Bunicula collection
Charlotte's web
The Chronicles of Narnia
Coraline
French for children
Geronimo Stilton books, 1-6
Green eggs and ham and other servings of Dr. Seuss
Hardy boys #1: the tower treasure
Hatchet
I miss you, stinky face
James Herriot's treasury for children
The Lightning thief
Magic tree house books, 1-8
Nancy Drew #1: the secret of the old clock
The Outsiders
Ramona the brave / Ramona Quimby, age 8
Ramona the pest / Ramona forever
The Roald Dahl CD collection
The Spiderwick chronicles, books 1-5
Tunnels

We still have nearly half (about $450) of the Telus grant left for more audiobooks. Sharon and I have ideas, but we really want to know what our patrons want.

If you can think of youth audiobooks you'd like the library to order, please let us know!

(That being said, there are two sets of books we will not be ordering at this time: Harry Potter and Twilight. Both series, while extremely popular, are incredible expensive in audiobook form.)

Summer Reading Club 2010 - Reading Rocks!

2010-06-05T13:42:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd take a moment to discuss the Tumbler Ridge Public Library's
"Won't Ask, Won't Tell" policy.

"Your children won't ask if Summer Reading Club is educational,
and we certainly won't tell them!"

The Summer Reading Club is a sneaky way to keep your children's minds active over the summer. They'll be too busy enjoying the stories, crafts, and other activities to realize they're learning things at the same time.

Registration for the Summer Reading Club will take place at the Opening Ceremonies on June 19th, and programming will run from Tuesday to Friday weekly from July 6th to August 20th.

Summer Reading Club Schedule

Saturday, June 19th at 1pm -- Opening Ceremonies
Registration
Lion's Club BBQ
White Elephant Sale (fundraiser for library)
      Music
Facepainting
Popcorn and cotton candy
      Door prizes

Weekly Schedule (starting July 6th)
      Every Tuesday and Thursday at 3pm -- Storytime and a craft
      Every Wednesday and Friday at 3pm -- Storytime

Wednesday, August 18th -- Reading Records Due

Friday, August 20th -- Closing Ceremonies

Weekly Themes

Week 1: July 6-9: Readers Roar!
Week 2: July 13-16: Rock 'n' Roll Reading
Week 3: July 20-23: Riddled Readers
Week 4: July 27-30: A Rocky Read
Week 5: Aug. 3-6: Read a Ruckus!
Week 6: Aug. 10-13: Rise Up Readers!
Week 7: Aug. 17-20: Risky Reads

Before I wrap this blog post up, I'd like to thank all the sponsors who have made donations so far:

Western Canadian Coal - $6,000.00
Spectra Energy - $2,500.00
Peace River Coal - $1,000.00
Lion's Club - $500.00 + holding a BBQ at the Opening Ceremonies
Lakeview Credit Union - $500.00
Shell Canada - $500.00
Grizzly Crane - $200.00

Thanks folks! We couldn't run this program without your support!

Pax Bibliotheca

2010-05-29T11:38:00.000-07:00

"People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use"
--Soren Kierkegaard

If you're a regular visitor to the library, you've probably heard me say something like "Excuse me! I'd like you to watch your language in the library!" or "LANGUAGE, PLEASE!" (which isn't grammatically correct, but certainly gets my point across).

I don't enjoy censoring people. Throughout history, librarians have stood against censorship, and I believe very strongly that we should continue to do so. Recently I noted in a grant application that "The Tumbler Ridge Public Library's mission is to improve and promote literacy, intellectual freedom, and free access to information for all residents of and visitors to Tumbler Ridge."

So why do I ask people to watch their language in the library?

I do it for three reasons.

First, I still believe in the concept of "serving the greater good," in spite of the abuses perpetrated under that banner in recent years. I believe the library should be a place where parents can bring their children without worrying about what they'll see or hear during their visit. A library should be a place to find good books to read, not a place to hear people complaining about "f***ing this" and "f***ing that".

Second, I don't believe it's necessary to use offensive language in the library unless a heavy book falls on your toes.

Third, I ask people to watch their language in the library as a matter of courtesy. The vast majority of people don't swear (at least not to excess) around their parents, teachers, or religious leaders. I'm just asking you to extend the same courtesy to library staff members and patrons.

English is an incredibly fluid and versatile language. There are plenty of intriguing and descriptive words out there, and it astounds me that people choose to limit themselves to such a small, offensive, subset of them.

Keep it clean in the library folks.

Thank you.

Reference Room and Library Rearranging

2010-04-30T13:55:00.000-07:00

Well folks, things progressed faster than I expected. Thanks to a *major* volunteer effort from Brian Bray and tons of sweat from myself (and somewhat less sweat from Sharon, who was busy with storytime for the first part of the day), we've got the reference section moved into the new reference room.

Now, we haven't finished moving stuff (including the bookkeeper's desk and computer) *out* of the reference room, so any patrons going into the reference room will have to be accompanied by a staff member for now. I'm hopeful we'll get the bookkeeper installed in the library's back room early next week, and the reference room will be open after that.

Photos:

The start of the library's ANF section.

The left side of the U is gone (moved into the reference room), which has really opened things up.

One wall of the reference room, which has the vertical files and the start of the reference collection.

The reference section continues along the second wall, and ends in a shelf on the right side of the door (not shown)

Of Revelations and Reference Rooms...

2010-04-29T19:49:00.000-07:00

Over the next few weeks, you'll notice some changes to the reference section. Tomorrow we'll be removing one of the shelves in that area, and another will hopefully follow in the next week or so. They'll be going into what will become the library's reference room.

A few weeks after I became interim head librarian, I installed myself (and a computer to work on) in the library's back room which was the library's office many years ago. The library staff have since worked to clean up and rearrange the back room so that the library's bookkeeper can take up residence there again as well. These changes will free up the library's office to become a reference room.

In the short term, the reference room will house the library's reference collection and a few small tables and chairs for patron use. In the long term, I hope to move the archives into the reference room as well which will free up more space in the library's main area.

The creation of a reference room should have a few major benefits to the library as a whole:

1) It'll give us more shelf space for our adult non-fiction collection

We're using emptied shelves from the library's back room as part of the shelving in the reference room, which should leave us with one large shelf to expand ANF into.

2) It'll open up the library somewhat

The left side of the reference U will be gone, which should make the front of the library feel more open.
If we are able to move the archives into the reference room as well, rotating the first set of shelves in the paperback section will give us a small open reading area and light from the end windows will be able to reach the rest of the library.

3) It'll give us a quiet space

At times (especially during storytime or Wednesday Club), the library can be fairly noisy. This reference room will give the library a quiet reading and study area.

Please have patience with us while we're making this change. We'll try to make it as painless as possible, and the end result should be well worth it.

Thoughts on Paperwork

2010-04-21T16:57:00.000-07:00

Today I spent a few hours working on paperwork. Why is this significant? The paperwork didn't involve the use of my computer.

As a registered charity, the Tumbler Ridge Public Library has to submit an annual return to Canada Revenue Agency. [As a brief aside, I think it was a stupid decision to change the agency's title from "Revenue Canada" to "Canada Revenue Agency." I had to walk out to the front of the library to ask library staff members if the word "the" was required in front of "Canada Revenue Agency". Their response? "No."]

I started working on the forms, printing everything in block capitals to keep my writing legible, and things went smoothly for a minute or two. Then disaster struck! I was writing "Tumbler Ridge" when it happened. I wrote the T and, thinking about the U next, ended up writing a backwards J.

I swore quietly to myself (this is a library after all -- nobody needs to hear me using that kind of language), and walked out front to retrieve a bottle of white-out. After a brief waiting period while the white-out dried (during which I amused myself with a hockey puck I keep on my desk), I carried on.

I started filling out a description of the programs conducted by the library, and decided to split them into two categories: children's programs and adult/family programs. I wrote out the children's programs, then started writing the adult/family programs on the next line. A moment later, I remembered another children's program. I squeezed it in with small writing and congratulated myself on making it fit, until a few seconds later when I thought of another.

Muttered swear. Big sigh. Globs of white-out. More time with the puck while the white-out dried.

And I carried on until I reached an area where I had to fill in the details of the library's board members in 2009. This area required the addresses of every board member (including the town name), so I had to write "Tumbler Ridge" multiple times and........

I did it again. Another backwards J.

More muttered swearing. Even bigger sigh. More white-out.

Later on when I ranted to Sharon about how stupid I was, she stopped working for a moment, looked up at me, and said "That's why I use pencils for paperwork Jacob."

And in writing this, and re-reading it, I finally have a response for her.

"That's why I use computers for everything Sharon."

A big thank you and AGM news

2010-04-10T11:57:00.000-07:00

It's time for a two-for-one sale. Two topics in one blog post!

The Big Thank You

To everyone who took the time to sign a letter to town council supporting the library,

Thank you.

Because of your efforts over the past three days, we were able to submit over one hundred letters to town council requesting that they do not proceed with the final cut to the library's budget.

The library staff and board have been overwhelmed by the support from the residents of Tumbler Ridge, and the knowledge of this support will help us carry on regardless of the final outcome.

Once the town's budget has been finalized, the library will be posting notices regarding any changes to library hours and programming.

Please keep watching for posters around town and on the library's website: http://tumblerridge.bclibrary.ca

AGM News

It's taken a little longer than we had hoped, but we're ready to have our AGM.

Tumbler Ridge Public Library

Annual General Meeting

Wednesday, April 14th

7pm at the library

Agenda

2009 in review
2010 and the year ahead
Trustee nominations

Of Books and Budget Cuts...

2010-04-07T16:23:00.000-07:00

If you haven't already heard, the library's budget is going to be cut again. Without going into too many details, our grant-in-aid has been cut twice now (first our budget for capital expenses was cut entirely and then our operating expenses were cut), and is slated to be cut again. The total amount of the cuts to our operating expenses is around 17%.

If this final budget cut is made official, the library *will* have to make changes to its operating hours, staff hours, and programming to balance the budget. There is a very real chance that the library will no longer be open on Sundays, Saturday mornings, or after 6pm Tuesday-Thursday.

Nothing is official yet. However, if the final cut remains when budget numbers are set in stone, we will have to make some very hard decisions.

So what can you do about it?

Let town council know. Be polite, but let them know that the library is an important part of Tumbler Ridge, and that its budget shouldn't be cut any further than it already has been. If you're ambitious, feel free to write a letter to town council in the next few days. Otherwise, we have pre-written letters available at the library for this purpose. Just drop by, sign one of them, and the library will deliver all of the letters to town council.

Thank you,

Jacob Fehr
Interim head librarian

Chris Walker is coming -- mark your calendars!

2010-03-18T19:35:00.000-07:00

As many of you probably know, CBC personality Chris Walker was interested in doing an Itchy Feet presentation at the library. Some of you have also probably heard that I nixed the idea. It's partly true.

On my first day as interim head librarian, I was asked about scheduling an Itchy Feet presentation for him this season. At that point, I was completely overwhelmed, desperately did not want to take on any extra obligations for myself or the library, and it never occurred to me just how many people would be disappointed (WNMS members, library patrons, other members of the community, and even Chris Walker himself). So I had a staff member send him our regrets by e-mail.

Later that day, a member of WNMS called me, and very kindly connected the dots for me. She expressed how disappointed everyone would be if Chris didn't get to make an Itchy Feet presentation, and showed an amazing willingness to help if logistics were a problem. In response, I had the same staff member e-mail Chris back and re-open the conversation.

Since then, I've heard from many different members of the community, and it's been unanimous. Everyone wants to see Chris Walker's presentation. There are people who I'd never expect to see excited who are absolutely thrilled he's coming. In short, there was no way we could turn him down. So we've been in touch with Chris, and agreed on a date for his presentation.

Mark your calendars!

"Building Blocks: Architecture and Religion in the Middle East"

with Chris Walker

Friday, May 7th

Interim Head Librarian: Week One

2010-03-06T13:23:00.000-08:00

It occurred to me that today is the final day of my first week as interim head librarian of the Tumbler Ridge Public Library. In recognition of this, I thought I'd give everyone a little bit of insight into what has happened in my first week on the job. If this seems somewhat egotistical to you (and to be fair, it probably is), please feel free to continue on to my older blog posts.

Before I go on, I'd like to clarify my first sentence. I am still a library technician, and I've become the library manager at the Tumbler Ridge Public Library. I refer to my position as "head librarian" because I like what the term implies. It harkens back to the days before I knew the differences between library clerks, community librarians, library technicians, and librarians (people who hold a master's degree in library science). I really think there's something to be said for a child's belief that everyone who works in a library is a librarian...

Tuesday, March 2nd

Spent a fair bit of time talking with the library's board chair about the job
Had a mini-staff meeting with all the library employees to inform them about my new role
Was invited to a Success by Six meeting (had very little to contribute)
Attended a library board meeting (had very little to contribute)
Requested an interlibrary loan of Managing for Dummies

Main thought: "Wow... How in the world did my life change so much between Friday at 4:30 and now?"

Wednesday, March 3rd

Finished inventory of junior paperbacks with Sharon
Divided up the tasks from my old position as head of technical services
Started training staff members on their new tasks
Had Melissa and Rebekah start working on the next phase of inventory (computer work)

Main thought: "We're just about done the inventory! I can see the finish line!"

Thursday, March 4th

Had another meeting with the library's board chair to get me up to speed on the budget and its status
Created a farewell card (with a verse I wrote) for the outgoing library manager
Discussed my weekly schedule with the library staff
Enjoyed Sarah Gamble's Itchy Feet presentation

Main thought: "Am I going to need to take an accounting course? I hope not..."

Friday, March 5th

Worked on the library's budget
Finished the inventory of the audiobook cassettes
Received my interlibrary loan copy of Managing for Dummies

Main thought: "Should I assume the fast delivery of Managing for Dummies is some kind of a sign?"

Saturday, March 6th (today)

Continued working on the budget
Wrote this blog post
Hoping to work on my origami (in preparation for the second week of Spring Break and my origami workshop)

Main thought: "I really should blog all this stuff..."

So that's sort of what happened in my first week as interim head librarian. I'm still sitting at the same desk I've been using for the past eighteen months, but the view has changed drastically in the last five days.

I'm working hard to learn the ropes of this new position, but it's going to take some time before I've got everything figured out.

In Japan, there's a phrase used when meeting people: "doozo yoroshiku." It roughly translates as "Please be kind."

Minna-san [everyone], doozo yoroshiku.

Endnote: For those of you wondering, the title of this blog post *is* a reference to the fantastic graphic novel (which just happens to be available at the Tumbler Ridge Public Library), Batman Year One. However, as you've read, this blog post did not tell the story of a masked vigilante, a police detective, and the formation of their odd friendship/working relationship.

In Memory...

2010-02-23T09:10:00.000-08:00

In memory of Robert Felonious Sharkington,

aka. "Fireball Bob"

Library Mascot

Summer 2008 -- February 23, 2010

May you swim eternally in a tank free of algae and

far from children who insist on tapping the glass.

Sometimes plans change...

2010-01-28T15:50:00.000-08:00

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

2010-01-20T09:47:00.000-08:00

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!

2010-01-06T10:33:00.000-08:00

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!

Plans for the new year

2009-12-19T12:48:00.000-08:00

Like everyone else in the world, we're well into planning for 2010 at the Tumbler Ridge Public Library. From the sounds of things, patrons and staff alike are in for a very good beginning to the year.

First, Sharon and I have been ordering books like crazy since we received the go-ahead from the library's accountant late last month. A handful have been delivered (in record time no less), but the majority of them will be arriving in early 2010. These books comprise our choices from *two* quarterly hotlists published by United Library Services (our main book supplier), a dozen smaller brochures from various publishers/distributors, and titles we've stumbled upon over the course of the last few months. While the books from these orders arrive, Sharon and I will be going through our non-fiction section to identify gaps in the library's collection and then ordering books to fill the gaps.

Second, I received a call from IT North (the library's tech support company) yesterday. Our new patron computers are ready to be installed. Regular users of the library probably know that our current patron computers are getting pretty old (the majority of them are still Pentium-IIIs) and that it's definitely time for an upgrade.

Third, the library's seventeeth Itchy Feet season will begin in the new year. We had over a dozen Itchy Feet presentations last year (including a stellar one by yours truly), and they provided an excellent respite from the winter doldrums.

Finally, the library's children's programming will start up again in mid-January. Wednesday Club, Lapsit, and Storytime will return to provide the weekly recommended allotment of library fun for children.

We've got an exciting start to the year ahead, so stop by the library early and often in 2010.
Merry Christmas folks!

--Jacob Fehr

=====Coming Attraction=====

Stay tuned for A Very Special Storytime on January 29th.

Featuring the King of Itchy Feet 2009, the Illustrious Impresario of ILLs, the Overlord of Overdues, the Charismatic Captain Amazing, the library's Head of Technical Services himself:

Jacob Fehr

in his first storytime ever with Sharon in attendance.

The Theme: Hockey (to coincide with the Olympic torch passing through TR that weekend)
The Books: The best hockey books in the library's children's collection PLUS Jacob's favourite children's story
The Craft: a Jacob original craft

9:30am - Daycare Storytime
10:30am - General public Storytime (pre-registration for 2010 storytime sessions is on now)

Thoughts on NOT spoiling Christmas for children

2009-12-04T14:35:00.000-08:00

[Please note, the opinion expressed in this blog post is my personal opinion as a human being, not a library technician, and is not endorsed or approved by the Tumbler Ridge Public Library, its staff, manager, or board.]

I recently heard about the kerfuffle at the Christmas concert last night. For those who are unaware, a man stood up unannounced (and indeed, was not part of the program) and began reciting a lengthy poem describing how Santa Claus is a marketing creation while event organizers tried to figure out who this man was and what he was doing.

This did not occur during an adult conversation of the over-commercialization of Christmas, or during a roundtable discussion about the cost of Christmas. This occured at a Christmas concert where Santa was seeing children down the hall...

Here my response to that man:

*Beginning of extreme sarcasm*

Fantastic! Would you like to kick some puppies for an encore?

*End of extreme sarcasm*

Even if the modern view of Santa was a marketing creation as this man claims, Santa STILL represent an ideal that we can and should aspire to. Santa is an unselfish person who works extremely hard to bring joy to others and asks for nothing in return. That's something we should be celebrating, not denegrating, particularly during this time of year.

Now, I fully acknowledge the rights of this individual to have his own opinion. I also acknowledge his rights to pass his beliefs about Santa and Christmas on to his own family.

However, this man does not have the right to attempt to destroy Christmas for children in Tumbler Ridge. We live in an age when children seem to lose their innocence younger and younger every year. A belief in Santa Claus is one of the precious few things that allow children to remain children for a few brief years, and to try to take that away from these children and their parents is inexcusable.

--Jacob Fehr

Various Announcements

2009-12-02T11:50:00.000-08:00

There are quite a few things going on in the library in December, so I thought I'd write a quick post about them. If you're a regular visitor to the library's website (tumblerridge.bclibrary.ca), you've probably already read about them, and may feel free to skip down to my previous blog post.

Holiday Hours @ the Library
Thursday, December 10: 10am-5pm (closed early for staff + board Christmas party)
December 24 - December 28: Closed
December 29 - December 30: 10am-5pm
December 31 - January 1: Closed

Food + Fun for Fines
December 1st to 15th

The library is continuing its holiday tradition of forgiving overdue fines in exchange for a donation to the Tumbler Ridge Foodbank.

1) Bring in non-perishable food items or a new, nonwrapped toy to the library

2) Ask a library staff member to clear your overdue fines.

Please note: Fines related to lost books, damaged books, or processing fees will not be forgiven due to the nature of these fines.

Musical Christmas Pajama Party
Join us on Tuesday, December 15th at 6:30 for the library's annual Musical Christmas Pajama Party. The evening will include

Music with

Brian Bray
Kelly McManus and Georgia LaPrairie-McManus
The Top of the Hill Gang
Crys White and her marmots

a Craft with library staff

a visit from Santa

Pajama attire is strongly encouraged.

Book Launch + Sale

On December 17th at 7pm, the library will play host to the book launch and sale of

The Forgotten Explorer:
Samuel Prescott Fay's 1914 Expedition to the Northern Rockies
by Dr. Charles Helm and Mike Murtha

Children's Books and Programs at the Library

2009-11-26T14:29:00.000-08:00

I've recently heard through the grapevine that a patron or two has complained about the amount the library spends on children's books and programs. Here is my response to that: (please note that my response is my personal feelings on the matter both as an individual and as a library technician, but is not and should not be taken as the library's official stance on the matter)

:-P

I recently joked to Sharon that library staff are like drug dealers. We try to get our customers hooked young. In fact, that's not all that far from the truth. If we catch children while they're young and get them interested in reading, the chances of them becoming life-long readers is much higher.

Does it work on all children? Of course not. But it seems to work on quite a few. Look back to the salad days of cigarette advertising. Cartoon characters such as Fred and Barney from the Flintstones appeared in cigarette ads. There was a reason for that.

Ideally, children start visiting the library for Sharon's lapsit program while they are still babies. Lapsit establishes a routine of visiting the library and having fun. Sharon's rhymes and songs are all intended to help develop early literacy skills.

When the children get a little older, they can start to attend storytime. The mix of stories and songs continue to develop literacy and help to create a habit of visiting the library. Children start to read and sing along with their favourite books and songs, and most drag their parents over to the shelves to borrow some books before they leave the library. At this point, the children have already become weekly library users!

Finally, Wednesday Club and the library's Summer Reading Club mostly cater to school-age children. Sharon can read books to them that explore more complicated ideas and introduce them to a wider range of books and ideas.

We are in a time when literacy is a stated goal of the government. There are a large number of people who never read a single book once they graduate from school. Children who go through these programs (and have access to a wide variety of children's books) literally grow up in the library, and these programs increase the odds that they will continue to use the library for the rest of their lives.

In short, to suggest that we should be spending less money on this goal is absurd.

--Jacob Fehr

Book order with many graphic novels

2009-11-26T10:09:00.000-08:00

The library received information from our accountant this week that allowed us to begin ordering books again. On Tuesday, Michele gave Sharon and I the good news and told us to go ahead and order books post-haste. Needless to say, she didn't have to tell us twice.

Sharon and I agreed that I'd place the first order because

I already had a list of books to order (some requested by Michele) that had been accumulating.
My order would be much smaller than hers and it would be easier to check her order against mine to avoid ordering duplicates.

Before Tuesday was over, I'd placed an order for around 40 items. Shortly after I placed the order, Sharon handed me a catalogue she had been saving called "Fiction K-12 Graphic Novels 2009-2010". I told her that I had done my order and it already included twenty or so graphic novels, but she said that I should take a look, and order more if I felt the need. I ended up making a smaller order (only another six items) just before I left the library last night.

Sharon spent the last two days digging through two hotlists from ULS (the company we order most of our books from) checking books that she'd like to order. When she's done with the hotlists (later today, she hoped), I'll be going through them to see if there's anything that I'd like to order that she hasn't already marked.

So, what did we order?

There are a few highlights for me. I ordered The Golden City, the final book in John Twelve Hawk's Fourth Realm trilogy and Sharon will be ordering Pirate Latitudes written by Michael Crichton shortly before his death.

The other highlights of the order (for me anyway) are mostly graphic novels and manga. Here's a list of what we ordered:

Amelia Rules! vols. 3-5 by Jimmy Gownley

If you've been following this blog or my Twitter, you'll already know that Sharon and I absolutely love Amelia Rules! We're thrilled to be getting the next three volumes of it, and I am really looking forward to reading volume 5, The Tweenage Guide to not being Unpopular.

Amulet vols. 1-2 by Kazu Kibuishi

I borrowed the first volume of Amulet through an ILL on a whim, and thought it was a fun, fantastical story.

Bleach vols. 7-8 by Tite Kubo

Bone vols. 1-9 by Jeff Smith

The library already owns the complete Bone collection. The problem is that it's one extremely large paperback volume that has been in and out of book repair repeatedly. As a result, Sharon suggested that we order the individual volumes which will be smaller and less prone to damage.

Death Note vols. 7-9 by Tsugumi Ohba

We're closing in on the finish line with Death Note. After this we'll only have three more volumes to purchase to finish the story, and a fourth volume that helps explain the series which we may or may not purchase.

Death Note: Another note by Nisioisin

Another note is a prequel novel for Death Note that explains and expands on the history of L. I enjoyed the book when I borrowed it through an ILL, and I hope that it will serve as a literacy gateway. If Death Note readers enjoy the manga enough, hopefully they'll read this novel, and will continue on into other mystery novels.

Manga Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet by Richard Appignanesi

I found this in the graphic novel catalogue Sharon passed to me. In this version, Romeo and Juliet live in Tokyo and belong to different warring Yakuza families.

Phoenix vol. 2 by Osamu Tezuki

The library has had Phoenix vol. 1 since before I started, and I've put off buying any more because of the price (it's twice as expensive per volume as Bleach or Death Note). But when we're trying to order the number of books we normally would have in the last few months, it isn't as big an issue.

Star Wars Legacy vols. 1-2 by Jan Duursema

We try to keep up with some of the Star Wars books (the Darth Bane trilogy, etc.), and thought that it might be neat to try one of the graphic novel series. Instead of going with a series that just rehashes the movies, Sharon and I chose Star Wars Legacy, which takes place over 100 years after the movies and focuses on the exploits of one of Luke Skywalker's descendants who has left the jedi.

More graphic novel/manga news as it happens. Stay tooned!

Office 2007 Compatibility at the Library

2009-11-20T14:25:00.001-08:00

We're still using Microsoft Office 2003 on our computers at the library. There has been no real impetus for us to upgrade to Office 2007. It's not cheap, and it would offer no tangible benefits to the library staff in day-to-day use. I have Office 2007 on my notebook at home (I required Microsoft Access for some of the classes in my library technician program), and based on my experience with it I don't believe the UI changes justify an upgrade at the library at this time.

As far as staff use goes, the version of Office we use really doesn't matter. We all use Office 2003, so we have no problems sending files back and forth. When we send files to recipients outside the library, they're generally able to open them without any trouble (Office 2007, OpenOffice.org, and even Google Docs can open Office 2003 files). If we're sent an Office 2007 file from an outside source, we can usally contact them and request that the file be re-saved as an Office 2003 file.

The problem occurs when a patron comes to the library with an Office 2007 file and needs to open it. We can't help that patron. We have to suggest that the patron find someone who has Office 2007 and re-save the file as an Office 2003 file so it can be used at the library. In effect, Microsoft's change to a different default file format (and in part, the people who use the default file format assuming that anyone can open it) are punishing our patrons because we have chosen not to upgrade so far.

At this point, many people may be tempted to point out that Microsoft offers an Office compatibility pack that can be installed to allow Office 2003 to open Office 2007 files. Those people would be correct. However, it's not especially easy to justify the expense of installing that pack (any installation of that kind would have to be done by our tech support company whose hourly rates are not excessively cheap) when

The number of patron comptability problems is fairly low (I'm aware of less than one a week on average)
The lack of compatibility doesn't cause any real problems for library staff
There is a simple work-around for the people who create the files (File-->Save As-->Office 2003 format)
An upgrade to Office 2007 (or Office 2010 depending on when our next upgrade cycle is) may be considered in the future

Where does this leave the library now? Right here:

An Open Request

To all patrons of the Tumbler Ridge Public Library and their friends, families, and associates:

If you plan to open, edit, print, or otherwise use a Microsoft Office file at the Tumbler Ridge Public Library, or are creating a Microsoft Office file on behalf of someone who may want to open, edit, print, or otherwise use the file at the Tumbler Ridge Public Library, please take a moment to save the file as an Office 2003 file.

This step (select File-->Save As, and select "Office 97-2003" from the pulldown menu before saving) will ensure that the file you create will work properly on the library's computers.

Thank you.

Sporadic Greatness

2009-11-13T08:58:00.000-08:00

What's been going on at the library lately?

The short answer is "Nothing worth a full-blown blog post."

The real answer is much lengthier and more complicated. Since none of these topics is worth a full blog post, I'll write a little bit about everything.

New Graphic Novels
The library has received three new graphic novels in the last two weeks.

Last week we received Lost at Sea (by Bryan Lee O'Malley, also author of the Scott Pilgrim graphic novels). I originally ordered Lost at Sea in May, and had basically given up hope by the time it came in. I previously read Lost at Sea via ILL and I recommend it. It's a little odd at times (the main character believes a cat stole her soul), but very entertaining nonetheless.

On Tuesday, we received the first two volumes of Amelia Rules! (by Jimmy Gownley). Ever since I borrowed the first volume through an ILL, Sharon and I have been chomping at the bit to get Amelia Rules! for the library. In fact, I enjoyed Amelia Rules! so much that I dressed as Captain Amazing for Halloween (photos available here)

New CAP Youth Intern
The library hired a new CAP Youth Intern last week. Melissa will be available to help patrons with their computers and to train patrons on various computer skills (using Office software, searching the Internet, using Library2Go to download audiobooks, etc.) If you'd like to make an appointment for some training/assistance, you can call the library at 250-242-4778 or e-mail Melissa directly: mstclaire@tumblerridgelibrary.org

My Illness
My ironman streak ended last Tuesday. I went home sick part way through the day, breaking a streak that started when I began working at the library last August. For the record, it was not H1N1 -- just an industrial strength cold.

10000 Villages
The library will be hosting the 10000 Villages craft fair from Wednesday, Nov. 18 to Sunday, Nov. 22. Fair trade items from countries around the world will be available, and we encourage everyone to come take a look.

So those are a few of the things that have been keeping us busy at the library lately. I'm hoping that I can start updating this blog more frequently, but it really depends on how much inspiration is available. ...or if inspiration is unavailable, it'll depend on how much access I have to the desks of my co-workers so I can describe their workspaces in detail.

The Appeal of Paperbacks

2009-10-16T14:07:00.000-07:00

I had a patron come in today and ask why the library has so many pocket books (he meant paperback fiction). He said that many of ours were in bad shape and that they took up too much space in the library. I was caught offguard by the question and his arguments. So I told the patron that

We don't really purchase that many of them
Most of the library's paperbacks have been here for years
Patrons donate more paperbacks than hardcovers
Paperbacks are handy for travelling patrons.

At this point, the library manager wandered by, and the patron started asking her.

I thought about it some more, and there are many good reasons for the library to have an extensive collection of paperbacks.

Cost

1) A new paperback usually costs $12-13 dollars, while a new hardcover can cost over $35. We can just about buy three paperbacks for the same price as a single hardcover book. If the library had $1000 (random convenient number) to spend on new fiction, we could buy around 28 hardcovers, or over 75 paperbacks.

2) If we aren't generally convinced of a book's merit (if it received mediocre reviews, was overly esoteric, etc.), we will not purchase it in hardcover. Spending $35 on a book that won't be read is fairly painful. However, it might be worth spending $12-13 on a book to see if people will like it.

3) In a town (such as Tumbler Ridge) where the population is in a constant state of flux, there's always the worry that patrons will move without returning their library books. It's happened a few times this year alone, and I have not been able to bill those patrons for their books. If those patrons had borrowed paperback books, the library would have taken a smaller financial hit.

Space
[[Brief definitions for this section: "width" = width of spine, "depth" = width of cover]]

1) The limited height of paperbacks (even the annoying tall paperbacks) allows more shelves of them to fit in a limited amount of space. The bookshelf frames in the library are all roughly the same height, but the paperback shelves have two more shelves per frame (7 versus 5). Because paperbacks are generally no wider than the equivalent hardcover edition, it means that far more paperbacks can fit in a given shelf frame.

2) Because paperbacks also have a shallower depth than hardcovers, paperback shelves can be built narrower to take up less space than shelves for hardcovers.

Convenience

1) Because of the smaller, mostly standardized size of paperbacks, patrons can easily carry 7-8 of them without any trouble. A stack of 7-8 different sized hardcovers can be somewhat more awkward.

2) Paperbacks don't have dust covers to fight with. Library staff don't have to tape covers on paperbacks or deal with patrons who insist on removing dust covers and forget to return them with the book.

3) Travelling with a stack of hardcover books is often not an option. A pile of paperbacks however, can easily fit in a carry-on bag and keep patrons entertained throughout a lengthy flight.

4) Our library has a rack meant for holding paperbacks, so when we have to weed and sell some, we don't have to borrow every table in the library for the purpose.

Now, paperbacks are not perfect. They are easy to damage, hard to repair (cannot realistically be re-bound, etc.), and look shelf-worn much faster than hardcovers. However, a library without paperbacks would have far fewer books, a more homogenized collection, and many more frustrated patrons.

Definition of a Five Minute Warning

2009-10-03T13:26:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd take a moment to explain what a Five Minute Warning is.

I give patrons a warning five minutes before I have to turn the computers off and again five minutes before the library closes.

Let me make this clear. A five minute warning in the library is like the last minute of play warning in the NHL. As soon as the final minute ticks down on the clock, the game is over. Is there a shot in the air? It doesn't matter. The game is over. Thanks for coming. Bye now.

Similarly, when the five minute warning is up at the library, all patrons should be gone, the lights should be turned off, and the door should be locked.

When I'm wandering around giving patrons a five minute warning at the library, I would appreciate it if you would do the following:

Quickly finish up your current thought on anything you're working on (an e-mail, a paper you're writing, etc).
Log out of any website you're using (if applicable).
Shut down your notebook computer (if applicable).
Pack up all of your things, including any garbage.
Proceed directly to the circulation desk with any library materials you'd like to check out.
Leave the library.

If you begin this process as soon as you hear my five minute warning, you should have ample time to leave the library before it closes.

After a five minute warning has been given, the following comments/request may be met by wild laughter or an icy glare (depending on the staff member):

"I need to look something up online for a school paper"
"I just need to log into Facebook for *one* minute"
"This is a matter of life-or-death!" [this doesn't apply to any circumstances that are *literally* life-or-death. However, a library probably shouldn't be your first choice in those cases.]

Book Sale Ending Soon

2009-09-29T12:46:00.000-07:00

Well folks, it's time for the library's book sale to start winding down. I talked with Sharon and Michele today, and we planned its end.

Because I'm being lazy, I'll just repeat the text from the posters (including my spiffy rhyme):

The Tumbler Ridge Public Library
Book Sale

Ends Oct. 9th

These tables of books are a total frustration.
Bring a bag! Fill it up! Pay by donation!

Nearly October already...

2009-09-22T15:30:00.000-07:00

Library staff members tend to notice the passage of time for one simple reason: every time we sign books out we see the date due slip that shows what the date will be in three weeks. As a result, we've known October was on the way since September 10th.

Why does this matter?

October is kind of a big month around the library. For one thing, October is Canadian Library Month. That means we'll have spiffy posters around the library to remind you to appreciate libraries. ...And if you feel like appreciating the staff members at the library (small, unmarked bills are always appropriate), that would be okay too.

Halloween also comes at the end of October, and it's always fun at the library. Like last year, we'll be taking photos of everyone's costumes during the week of Halloween. We still have to work out all the specifics, but we still have a few weeks to do that.

Halloween is a chance to see your friendly library staff members in costumes of their own. Last year our costumes included a hippy (Rebekah), a princess (Sharon), Daniel Boone/Davy Crockett [I can never remember which is which] (Michele) and Dr. House (Jacob).

I have my costume already planned out for this year. It's currently a secret, but here are a few clues.

My costume will be amazing.
I could make the costume myself, but will probably visit my parents to use my mom's sewing machine to make it easier (and neater).
I can buy all the supplies to make the costume at Wal-Mart.

Are those clues enough to guess my costume? Probably not, but that's sort of the point.

Eight more days until October. Let the countdown begin.

Thoughts on corresponding with an author

2009-09-16T12:50:00.001-07:00

I'm in quasi-correspondence with an author right now. His name is Jimmy Gownley, and he's the author and illustrator of the graphic novel series Amelia Rules! (which Sharon and I both love).

How did it start? Well...

I've been using Twitter since late April to post about my job at the library. When I first borrowed Amelia Rules! volume 1 ("The Whole World's Crazy) through an interlibrary loan, I posted a few messages about it, and how much I enjoyed it. Then a few weeks later, I did the same regarding volume 2 ("What Makes you Happy")

At some point along the way, I noticed that a kgownley was following me on Twitter, commented about it, and then started following her on Twitter. It turned out that she was Jimmy Gownley's wife.

When I received volume 3 ("Superheroes") and tweeted about it, she asked how I liked it. I replied "one word review: fantastic."

A few weeks later, I was reading kgownley's posts, and noticed that she followed jimmygownley. I put two and two together (and got four), and started following him as well. Yesterday he posted a link to the cover of the newest volume of Amelia Rules! (volume 5 "The Tweenage guide to not being Unpopular" -- Amazon has it listed for sale in April). I retweeted it, and then posted a comment that said "I showed the cover of AR 5 to Sharon and we both loved it. It's going to be a long seven month wait for it. :-( "

So when I came in to work this morning and logged in to Twitter (to complain about doing overdues), there was a message to me from Jimmy Gownley. He said "@jake_fehr I'm glad you both like the cover. I'm really happy with how the book turned out - I'm excited to get feedback on it!"

I've got to say that I was really impressed. He could've easily ignored my tweet (though he is following me on Twitter, I didn't specifically direct the tweet at him), but instead he took a brief moment to acknowledge me. As far as I'm concerned, Jimmy Gownley is a class act, and I'll continue to be a fan of him and his works for a long time to come.

That being said, if I'm disappointed by Amelia Rules! volume 4 when it arrives via ILL later this week, he'll be hearing about it.

Working Left-Handed (sort of)

2009-09-15T14:29:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd change things up a little bit today. I moved my mouse to the left side of my desk and switched the mouse buttons in the control panel. I've done it before, but this is the first time I've done it while working at the Tumbler Ridge Public Library. It seems like a small change, but it has really made me think about how computers are set up.

As a rule, I'm a very keyboard-oriented computer user. I suppose that's a result of my early years of programming on an Apple II. When I need to access something through the start menu, I almost always do it by using the keyboard (pressing the windows key, then using the arrows to move through the menu). When I switch between running programs, I almost always use Alt+Tab.

The end result is that normally I keep one hand on the mouse, and one on the keyboard while I'm doing most work (other than typing). That method falls completely apart when I use the mouse left-handed. Stretching my right arm across to press Alt+Tab (or Ctrl+Tab for that matter) while I'm still holding the mouse is downright awkward. It occurred to me that keyboards have two Shift keys, two Ctrl keys, two Alt keys... Why can't they have a second Tab key to make life easier for left-handed users?

The (seemingly) logical place for a second Tab key would be where the oversized backslash key is (just above the Enter key) because it would mirror the position of the first Tab key. However, if keyboard manufacturers replaced the backslash key with two keys, they'd each be far too small to be useful.

My suggestion is to narrow the right Shift key. I have reasonably large hands, and I never even touch the right half of the right Shift key. What if keyboard manufacturers lopped off one key-width of the right Shift key and made a second Tab key? The distance between the right Alt and Tab keys would be about the same as the distance between the left keys.

Or I suppose I could reprogram the Menu key (between the right Windows and Ctrl keys) to work as a second Tab key, but that sounds like too much work...

Book Sale at the Tumbler Ridge Public Library

2009-09-08T15:18:00.001-07:00

We've been weeding adult fiction for a few weeks now, and the books are really starting to pile up. We've overfilled the normal book sale carts, just about filled three of our study cubicles, and have overloaded an extra table. That means it's time for a book sale!

Book Sale at the Tumbler Ridge Public Library

Starts: Immediately.

Ends: When we're tired of having so many tables occupied by books.
(The sale will last until September 16th at least)

Cost of books: 3 for $1.

Note: We're not finished weeding, so there will be new books added as the sale goes on.

Weeding Adult Fiction

2009-08-27T11:42:00.000-07:00

If you've been in the library lately, you've probably noticed how stuffed the shelves are. Sharon and I have been working on weeding adult non-fiction on and off for the past few months, and it's finally having some impact. We focused on non-fiction because it's much easier to weed than fiction. Fiction arguably never goes out of date and does not get replaced by a newer (but different) book on the same topic. As a result, our adult fiction (hardcover) shelves became fuller and fuller.

I started playing with ReportTool, which is one component of our ILS (integrated library system). It had a report that allowed me to enter a number to see which books had not circulated in that number of days. I started small, and worked my way up. At some point between 900 and 1000 days, every adult fiction book was circulated, probably during inventory. So I decided to search for every adult fiction book that hadn't circulated in 900 days (approximately 2 1/2 years).

Sharon and I went through the resulting list and crossed off many of the books that we wanted to keep. I crossed off some of the books in Arthur C. Clarke's 2001 series and a few Douglas Adams books, and Sharon picked some more to keep. At that point, the list was still really long (by my rough calcuations, it was still over 2000 books). So we decided that we'd keep newer books regardless of their circulation. I chose 1998 as an arbitrary year.

So last night, Mackenzie (one of the library's pages) went through the shelves to find the books on the list that were published before 1998 that Sharon and I hadn't crossed out. When we arrived this morning, there were stacks of books surrounding my desk. Sharon and I went through the piles and picked some books to save (either because they were part of a series, were written by a very popular author, or because the book sounded too interesting to weed).

We ended up with around 75 books to delete from the catalogue, and we're not even halfway through the Bs. We'll be working on this for the next few weeks, and we're tentatively scheduling a major book sale during Mass Registration in September. So when the time comes, please come out and buy some.

Funding cuts less than expected

2009-08-26T12:48:00.000-07:00

On August 20th, 2009, the provincial government announced that it would continue to support BC public libraries with $13.7 million in funding, which is ~78% of previous funding levels. Nobody is ever happy with a 22% funding cut, but even two weeks ago, the libraries of British Columbia worried about a total loss of provincial funding. The details still have to be worked out, but on the whole this is good news.

The staff members of the Tumbler Ridge Public Library would like to thank everyone who sent letters, mailed postcards, and signed the online petition. You let the provincial government know how important public libraries are, and they listened.

On that note, we would also like to thank Blair Lekstrom (our MLA), Margaret MacDiarmid (Minister of Education) and Gordon Campbell (Premier) for listening to everyone's concerns.

Jacob's Desk

2009-08-22T14:43:00.000-07:00

[begin stupid parody]
Today on Behind the Spine Label:
It's a place where decisions are made and instantly regretted.

Jacob's desk.
[End stupid parody]

If you walk by my desk at the library (and see me hard at work), it'll probably look pretty messy. Random papers are strewn about the desk and floor, and there are piles of books, post-its, and envelopes everywhere.

I just completed a (semi) major cleanup of my desk and shelf section today, and they're looking pretty good. So what's left? Well....

One of our phone handsets has a semi-permanent home on the back left (from my perspective) corner of my desk. It's as far away from me as it can be without leaving my desk. As the most junior full-time staff member, I get stuck with the phone quite often for a few reasons.

First, Sharon doesn't want it, so she only takes it when she needs it or is feeling very generous. Second, our circulation clerk Rebekah is only here for four hours each day, and her schedule overlaps the time I need the phone (to call people about books that have come in, overdues, etc.) Third, my desk is the closest (regularly-inhabited) staff desk to Michele's office and the back room. So it's become second nature for everyone to drop the phone off on my desk on their way by regardless of where the phone was to begin with.

Underneath the phone is a pad of paper. Right now I've got a scribbled list of notes on it about authorized Library of Congress subject headings. I could put the list into a notepad file, but I have to switch between three different windows when updating subject headings as it is. Adding a fourth would just slow things down even more. If you take a quick look at the pad, you'll see that I switch between handwriting and printing at random. (Well, maybe it's not random, but I haven't been able to identify a pattern, and I'm the one doing it!)

Next to that is my monitor, with some papers on its base. One stack is some ILL request forms for a particular patron. He has asked me to request the books around August 25th so that (hopefully) their arrival will coincide with his schedule. I have a strategically placed post-it note on the front ILL request form to cover the patron's name so that I'm in compliance with FOIPA (the Freedom of Information and Privacy Act).

The other paper on my monitor is a post-it note reminding me that I need to make a folder in the vertical file for 338.40971187. Michele has asked me to make a folder for the tourist trade in Tumbler Ridge. I believe (I looked it up a while back and can't remember off the top of my head) that that number corresponds to Tourism-Canada-BC-Northern BC-Peace River region. [I did check. It refers to Northeastern BC, and names cities and towns that are mostly from the Peace River region]

Beyond my monitor and speakers is where I keep the pens I've received for various things. I've got one from a LawMatters training session, a few promotional ones from a company that tries to sell them to the library, and one from the Credit Union's grand reopening. I keep these pens separate because they aren't the cheap $0.39 pens the library purchases. What do I use on a daily basis? A cheap $0.39 papermate pen with the cap on the end (they feel unbalanced otherwise). I use black ink because blue ink looks too friendly on overdue notices.

Moving on I've got two containers of quick-ties (thin ones used for sealing cloth mailing envelopes), the empty plastic ring from a roll of tape (which is handy if I feel the need to keep my hands busy), a few CDs from when Kristen was here (3 blank, 4 used), a pile of rubber bands (some libraries use them to hold books together in shipment but I generally don't), and a few blank ILL forms.

My water bottle (Dasani, refilled with TR tap water) is also sitting on my desk right now, as is one of the library's books that a co-worker put in an ILL request for (but clearly didn't check the catalogue first).

I've got a storage container on the upper level of my desk that holds a few handy things (date stamp, highlighters, staple remover) alongside some shipping label slips. There's a nearly empty post-it note tower (it was much cheaper to buy one and hand out post-it notes to everyone as necessary than to buy individual packs for everyone), a paperclip holder (filled *only* with standard paperclips. no oversized, plastic-coated, novelty coloured, or ridged), a box of tissue, a stack of message and note pads, and a stapler that looks like it's army surplus from the 70s.

I've got a couple of souvenirs (given to me by co-workers) on my side shelf, along with a printer used almost exclusively for printing spine labels and envelopes for overdue notices, a roll of removeable tape (used underneath temporary barcodes) and a few DVDs I need to catalogue. The shelf also holds two binders -- a thin one for patron bills that couldn't be mailed and a thick one that holds my copy of AACR2 (Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules) -- which are covered in a stack of books that I need to ask other staff members (mostly Sharon and Michele) about.

The lower shelves hold our office supply catalogues (one from Corporate Express for standard office supplies, one from Brodart for library supplies) and all the things I need for ILLs (temporary barcodes, folders to hold request forms, a scale, etc.)

Finally, the floor around my desk is pretty much always a mess. I keep spare padded envelopes for ILLs (cloth and paper) to the right of my chair (because it's much handier than keeping them in the back room), and spare mail bags next to them. I usually have a pile of papers to the left of my chair that will all end up in the recycling bin. It's generally easier to keep an ongoing pile that I remove once a day than it is to walk over to the bin with every little piece of paper.

So that's the official tour of my desk. I'm afraid on-site offical tours will generally not be given during library hours.

Thoughts on standardization

2009-08-20T12:33:00.000-07:00

I like standardization. We drive vehicles that have a fairly standardized layout (steering wheel, two pedals for an automatic, three for a standard), use keyboards with standardized layouts (either Qwetry or Dvorak) and refer to weights and measures in either the metric or imperial system. In short, standardization makes life simpler.

My goal in updating the library's cataloguing was not to fix or correct it, but to standardize it. Libraries have a reference called AACR2 that describes how to catalogue items. In theory, following AACR2 perfectly should result in a "correct" record. The cataloguing done at this library over the past 20+ years has deviated from AACR2. I've been fixing some bad cataloguing (skipped fields, incorrect information, etc.) but in cases where the deviation is helpful, we've kept it and standardized it.

For instance, a book from a popular series like the Babysitters Club should be catalogued like this:

100$a Martin, Ann M. [author]
245$a Welcome back, Stacey [specific book title]
...
490$a The Babysitters club [series title]
490$v v. 28 [series number]

The problem is that our OPAC (online public access catalogue -- the card catalogue) only shows the title, author, and publication information. When searching the catalogue, library patrons could not tell what volume number they were looking at.

Things become even trickier with series without volume numbers (Harry Potter, Twilight, etc.). Many times patrons will come in and want "the third book in the series", and unless we have a personal knowledge of the series, we're not able to answer without checking an external source (Amazon, Wikipedia, etc.)

The records in our catalogue had a few different ways to deal with this shortcoming, but Sharon and I eventually agreed on a standard to follow. After being fixed to conform to our new local standard, the record looks like this:

100$a Martin, Ann M.
245$a Welcome back, Stacey : #28
...
490$a The Babysitters club
490$v #28

It seems like a small change, but it does two things. First, it includes the volume number in the book's title, making it much easier for patrons and staff members to find a particular book. Second, this record standardizes how the volume number is recorded (the number sign, followed by the volume number).

According to AACR2, this record is incorrect. However, it conforms to a standard, and the record is extremely usable. Patrons can easily understand that the #28 means that the book is the 28th volume. Future staff members should also be able to look at a few records in the catalogue and understand this particular system.

The library's standardization efforts are proceeding very well... at least, they were. As I previously posted, we found out that we will have to convert our subject headings to Library of Congress (LoC) subject headings before we transition to Sitka. So for the past week, I've been digging through LoC authority files to make sure our subject headings are accurate.

Guess what? The LoC subject headings contain just as many inconsistencies as our catalogue does. The LoC subject headings aren't standardized nearly as well as they should be. The biggest problem is the complete lack of guidance for singular versus plural subjects.

The following are all LoC authorized subject headings. My notes are enclosed in square brackets.

dogs [plural]
cats [plural]
walrus [singular]
giraffe [singular]

winds [plural]
water [singular]
water-power [with a hyphen]
wind power [without a hyphen]

This lack of standardization is causing me no end of problems.

For instance, many of the library's books had "handicrafts" [plural] as a subject heading. When I looked at the LoC authority records, there was no listing for "handicrafts"[plural] , and at "crafts" there was a link to "crafts & decorating". So I changed all the records with the heading "handicrafts" [plural] as I got to them. I've fixed the subject headings on 930 records now, and I just discovered that "handicraft" [singular] *is* an authorized subject heading.

It's getting frustrating. If LoC had standardized subject headings, my subject heading cleanup would be relatively easy. But right now, it isn't.

Sitka News

2009-08-11T14:39:00.000-07:00

We just learned today that Sitka (the integrated library system most libraries in BC will be transitioning to) has an interesting cataloguing requirement. Apparently all subject headings in the 650 field in Sitka will have to be official Library of Congress subject headings.

So what's the problem? Our library uses Sears subject headings. We're currently waiting to find out if Sitka will also support Sears. If it doesn't, we'll have to double-check the subject headings on all 36000 records (including the ~2200 I've fixed already) to make sure they're official LC headings.

This project (especially this latest problem) is making me feel more and more like Sisyphus (I had to look up the name -- just knew the reference) every day. Well, I guess there is one difference. Sisyphus didn't get paid to push the boulder up the hill for eternity.

Don't Pull the Plug on Libraries

2009-07-28T10:07:00.000-07:00

We've received indications that the provincial government is considering cutting operating grants for public libraries in British Columbia. These grants support many library programs, including

Interlibrary loans
BC OneCard
Summer Reading Club
Online databases
AskAway (the online reference service)

If the operating grants provided at the provincial level disappear, these services will simply disappear. Individual libraries cannot afford to subsidize interlibrary services without provincial funding. And if these services cease to exist, there is the distinct possibility that the staff members responsible for them will see their hours cut, if not eliminated outright.

These funding cuts are inappropriate for a few reasons:

1) Library usage increases during an economic downturn.

Patrons turn to libraries during times of economic trouble for two major reasons: help, and inexpensive entertainment. The help comes in the form of a place to apply for employment insurance and other government programs online, type resumes, look up online job postings, and do other research. The entertainment comes from the library materials (books, videos, etc.) and programs (Summer Reading Club, book discussion groups, author visits, etc.) Both of these services (assistance and entertainment) are desperately needed when the economy is failing.

2) The amount of money saved would be a tiny drop in the bucket.

According to some sources, the BC budget deficit for this year is $3-5 billion, and will probably be $2-4 billion next year (figures from "Gov predicts B.C. deficit to reach billions" on Canada.com). The total amount of provincial grants to public libraries is around $18 million annually.

Even if the deficit ends up at the low end of the estimate, cutting library funding from the provincial government will only cover 0.6% of this year's deficit and 0.9% of next year's. If the deficit is at the upper end of the estimate, library funding from the provincial government will only be 0.36% of this year's deficit and 0.45% of next year's.

3) These grants account for up to 10% of a library's total funding.

The Vancouver Sun noted that the Fraser Valley Regional Library Association "receives $2 million in grants each year, about 10 percent of its total revenue." (figures from Vancouver Sun, July 24th, online). Provincial funding represents a smaller percentage of the Tumbler Ridge Public Library's revenue, but it's still significant enough (over 5%) to cause drastic changes in service levels if the funding is cut.

4) These cuts will affect patrons and libraries in other ways as well.

Patrons will no longer be able to borrow books from other libraries. This means that smaller libraries (including Tumbler Ridge) will be stuck in a tough place. Our town really does not have a large enough population to justify the purchase of books for a niche audience. If we can no longer rely on interlibrary loans we will be forced to either purchase obscure books that only one or two patrons will ever read, or abandon these patrons and their interests.

Patrons will no longer be able to borrow and return books outside of their local library system. Travelling and vacationing patrons will no longer be able to borrow books from one library and return them to another.

Reference capabilities in smaller towns will be reduced. Larger libraries may have a designated reference librarian, but most smaller libraries do not. AskAway (the online reference website staffed by library staff members from across the province) helps to cover this gap. Funding for AskAway comes from the provincial government. In addition, some reference sources used by library staff (such as online databases) are also funded by the provincial government. In short, if provincial funding for libraries is eliminated, reference services at smaller libraries will be hobbled by lack of access to reference sources and staff member availability.

So what can we do about it?

1) Visit www.stopbclibrarycuts.ca. It has more information about the potential funding cuts and has a link to an online petition asking the government to refrain from making these cuts.

2) Write your MLA. In Tumbler Ridge, our MLA is Blair Lekstrom.

Hon. Blair Lekstrom
10300 - 100th Street
Dawson Creek, BC
V1G 3T6
e-mail: blair.lekstrom.mla@leg.bc.ca

3) Write to the Minister of Education, Margaret MacDiarmid

Hon. Margardet MacDiarmid
PO Box 9045
Stn Prov Govt
Victoria, BC
V8W 9E2
e-mail: margaret.macdiarmid.mla@leg.bc.ca

4) Write to Premier Gordon Campbell

Hon. Gordon Campbell
Premier of British Columbia
Box 9014
Stn Prov Govt
Victoria, BC
V8W 9E1
e-mail: premier@gov.bc.ca

In short, we have to let members of the provincial government know that it is *not* acceptable to cut funding for libraries. Please take a moment to tell them exactly that. Don't let them pull the plug on libraries.

Thanks.

www.stopbclibrarycuts.ca

OPAC Computer at the Library

2009-07-24T10:56:00.000-07:00

When you walk into the library on your next visit, you might notice a minor change. We now have a computer set up next to the photocopier.

This computer will serve three purposes:

1) OPAC
This computer is our library's card catalogue computer. If you'd like to look up a book, feel free to use this computer to do so. Library staff members, as always, will still be available to help if you are unable to find a particular item.

2) ServiceBC Access
Patrons may use this computer to access services available through the ServiceBC website (http://www.servicebc.gov.bc.ca)

3) Online database Access
For short time periods (under 15 minutes), patrons may use this computer to access the library's online databases. For longer periods of time, patrons will be asked to use an Internet station.

Note:
This computer is not for open Internet access, e-mail, Facebook, or any other activities not listed above. The library has six computers available for non-OPAC/reference purposes.

Cleaning up the Library's Catalogue

2009-07-11T15:46:00.000-07:00

For the past few weeks I've been working on a major project: cleaning up the library's catalogue. It started as a fairly minor project. When signing items out for a patron, I noticed that a few items had really odd loan lengths (a book was only loaned for one week, while a video was loaned for three).

In each cataloguing record, there's an entry that tells our circulation program what type of item it is, and how long it should be loaned for. The items in our catalogue fall into a few categories: general collection, adult video collection (being consolidated with juvenile video collection), reference, periodicals, etc. So one by one I've been opening a list of all items in a particular category.

These lists includes the title and author of the library's materials, but also the information that's on the item's spine label (which would look something like "ANF 054.35 JAC") So I can scan down the list looking for things that don't belong (such as a video in the periodical list). I fix the item, then move on.

While doing this quick fix, I stumbled on some other problems. Some items in our collection have screwy entries for the spine label information. Because spine labels on books are just there to help patrons find books on the shelves, they're only supposed to include three capital letters to indicate the author. A few of them had extra punctuation (L'CA), more than three letters (MACK), or a mix of upper and lower case (McL or Mcl). As a result, I expanded my catalogue clean-up to fixing the spine label information in the records.

And I continued on my merry little way. ...until I found another recurring error. Some records had information in the wrong fields. To many people, it probably doesn't matter that much whether the call number prefix is in field 852$h or 852$k. But the programs we use at the library require that information in the right fields to parse it properly. If a staff member wanted to see a list of all the adult paperbacks in the library, many items would be left out because "APB" was in the wrong field. So I expanded my fixing operations. I worked away at it until two days ago. I'm not done, but I became extremely tired of switching back and forth between programs fixing the same things on many records.

The whole time I was doing my "minor" fixes, I kept thinking about the larger picture of the library's catalogue. I saw a lot of poorly entered records and annoying cataloguing practices (many records are entered in all capital characters for instance). In addition, there are some records that are simply incomplete (they include little more than the title and author of a work). As a result, I took a break from my fixing operation and moved onto the overhaul.

Before I started, I had a series of talks with Sharon about what our catalogue should look like. Now, there is an official standard called AACR2 that outlines how things should be done. Unfortunately, AACR2 is often less than helpful for real world use. As a result, Sharon and I talked about a number of topics, all related to standardizing entries the library's catalogue. We also discussed updating our catalogue records (replacing an obsolete MARC tag with a newer one for instance.)

On Thursday evening, I started at the final item of an alphabetical list of the library's materials: a ZZ Top CD. I opened the cataloguing record, fixed the errors, standardized some fields, saved it, and moved onto the next record. I worked on it for maybe an hour and a half yesterday, and around two and a half hours today.

I'm going to be at this for a very long time folks. Our library has approximately 36000 items. The last record I finished today was 344th in the list. I'm less than 1% done. At the rate I'm going (rounded down a bit, it's approximately 60 records per hour), it'll take me nearly 600 hours to finish.

So if you see me staring intently at a list of library items on my monitor, clicking and typing intermittently, please take a moment and say a brief prayer to the deity of your choice on my behalf.

Canada Day Fireworks

2009-07-02T14:27:00.000-07:00

I'd like to thank the firefighters of Tumbler Ridge for the show they put on last night. It seems kind of silly to thank them for a light show when their everyday job involves risking their lives and being heroes, but I have a particular reason.

As many of you know, I returned to Tumbler Ridge late last August after moving away in 1994. The town I lived in for fourteen years, Williams Lake, does not have fireworks on Canada Day. It's partly due to the timing of the Williams Lake Stampede (usally encompasses Canada Day), and the fear of spooking the horses and cattle.

So last night, for the first time since 1993, I got to see fireworks in my town on Canada Day. And they were fantastic.

Thanks!

Beyond Hope Conference

2009-06-17T12:16:00.000-07:00

On June 8-9 I attended the Beyond Hope Conference in Prince George. It's a library conference that is held every two years, and seems to be meant (especially from the name) for northern library staff that may not be able to attend the big BCLA (BC Library Association) conference in Vancouver every year.

While there, I attended a variety of workshops which hopefully prepared me for upcoming changes in the library world and will help me to better provide services to library patrons. I'm going to limit this entry to three of the workshops I attended, and may write more about the others in the future.

RDA what's that?
This workshop focused on teaching library staff about RDA (Resource Description and Access), a new cataloguing standard.

Libraries currently adhere to AACR2 (Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules, 2nd edition) for cataloguing. AACR2 tells library staff exactly how to record information about books and other library materials in a standardized manner. In short, it's the foundation that the library's catalogue is built on.

One of the shortcomings of AACR2 is that it was created to help librarians to catalogue books, and has been adapted to help catalogue other materials. As a result, AACR2's primary focus is the form of the format of an item. That means that the book and audiobook for a particular title (say, J.R.R Tolkien's Fellowship of the Rings) are treated differently.

RDA (Resource Description and Access), the successor to AACR2 focuses more on cataloguing the work (Fellowship of the Rings) and keeping it separate from the work's container (book/audiobook/video/etc.) The only real difference to library patrons is that RDA should help the same work be lumped together in catalogues and be presented as a single entity.

If you search most library catalogues for "Fellowship of the Rings", you'll get a list like this:
Angled brackets are notes I've written to explain the entries.

Fellowship of the Rings (J.R.R. Tolkien) [audiobook]
Fellowship of the Rings (Peter Jackson) [video recording]
Fellowship of the Rings (J.R.R. Tolkien) [video recording]
Fellowship of the Rings (J.R.R. Tolkien) [text]
Fellowship of the Rings (Peter Jackson) [text]

In a RDA-based catalogue, a similar search will look more like this:
Fellowship of the Rings (J.R.R. Tolkien)
Fellowship of the Rings (Peter Jackson)

and users will click on the work they're searching for to see the specifics.

DIY accessibility
We're all familiar with the idea of accesibility. It's easy to think of things that increase accessibility in the physical world: ramps, signs with internationally recognized signals, etc. In the digital world, what constitutes accessibility isn't quite so clear. Arguably, the biggest challenge is to blind users who cannot see what is displayed on computer monitors.

This workshop had two main purposes. First, the presenters showed us programs that are available to increase accessibility. Screen readers are one such program. These programs read the text on the screen out loud so blind or other visually impaired users can use computers. Second, the presenters taught us how to make documents that are compatible with accessibility programs.

Making a document attractive and readable to a visually impaired patron and a sighted patron are two different things. An accessible document uses the built-in heading levels available in word processing programs. Other ways of denoting headings (different fonts, or using italics) do not cooperate so well with screen reading programs. Accessible documents as a rule do not contain tables, because they also cause problems for screen readers.

At the moment, most of the documents I create at work are for internal use only. Accessibility isn't a large concern for those documents. But if I can get into the habit of making all my documents accessible, it should serve me well in the future.

Yoga
I had hoped this session would be about little things I could do during the work day to relieve stress. I was wrong, and I ended up in pain. The presenter (a certified fusion workout instructor) worked our butts off and proved one thing: I am completely out of shape.

Getting a library card

2009-05-29T13:49:00.000-07:00

Getting a library card at the Tumbler Ridge Public Library is fairly easy. There's no charge. We just ask the patron to sign a statement of responsibility and show library staff two things:

some kind of identification (we prefer photo ID like driver's licenses, etc)
proof of the patron's mailing address in Tumbler Ridge

The library requires proof of mailing address for a simple reason. We need to be able to contact patrons. We send overdue notices and bills by mail on a regular basis, and other library notices sporadically.

At one point in the past someone registered a particular patron without a mailing address. A few months back that patron had an overdue book, her phone number was out of service, and I had no way of contacting her. The book was never returned and I've been unable to bill that patron. The library is simply out the money for the book with no way of recovering it.

For that reason, library staff members will not give a patron a library card without proof of their mailing address in Tumbler Ridge. Please don't ask.

There are three alternatives if a patron cannot provide a mailing address in Tumbler Ridge.

1) BC OneCard

If a patron has a valid card at a public library elsewhere in BC, we can issue that patron a BC OneCard. The OneCard serves as a limited membership at the library. At the Tumbler Ridge Public Library, OneCard patrons may only borrow five books at a time, may not request interlibrary loans, and may not borrow other library materials such as audiobooks and DVDs.

A OneCard membership also allows patrons to borrow books from the Tumbler Ridge Public Library and return those books to any other public library in BC.

*NOTE* BC OneCard policies vary from library to library. The policies described here apply to the Tumbler Ridge Public Library and may not be universal.

2) Temporary Card

If a patron does not have a mailing address in Tumbler Ridge and does not have a library card elsewhere in the province, a temporary library card is available. A temporary card costs $70, $40 of which is refundable upon return of the card if the patron is in good standing.

3) Go without a card

This sounds like a ridiculous option, but there are basically only two library services at the Tumbler Ridge Public Library that require a card: borrowing library materials and requesting books through an interlibrary loan. The following library services do not require a library card

reading library materials in the library
using the public Internet computers
asking reference questions
attending library programs (Itchy Feet, Storytime, Pageturners, etc.)
photocopying/printing/faxing (we do charge for these services, but they do not require a library card)

To sum everything up, if you've got proof of your mailing address in Tumbler Ridge, we're happy to issue you a library card. If you don't, but you've got a library card from a different public library in the province, we're happy to issue you a OneCard. If you don't, but are willing to pay to access the library, we're happy to issue you a temporary card. If none of these apply to you, we encourage you to take advantage of all the library services that do not require a library card.

Summer Reading Club 2009 - Follow the Reader

2009-05-27T19:27:00.000-07:00

We've all heard the old joke about how kids have ten months of the year to learn and two months of summer vacation to forget what they've learned. The sad part is that the joke has some truth to it. Two months away from school can have an impact on learning and literacy.

Summer school isn't a popular option, but there is a middle ground: the Summer Reading Club at the Tumbler Ridge Public Library. This seven week program is free, designed for toddlers to teens, and is intended to help keep their minds active over the summer.

Summer Reading Club Schedule

Wednesday, June 17th at 3pm -- Opening Ceremonies
Registration
Face painting
Musical entertainment
Craft
Door prizes

Every Tuesday and Thursday at 3pm -- storytime and a craft

Every Wednesday and Friday at 3pm -- storytime

Tuesday, August 18th -- Reading Records due

Thursday, August 20th at 3pm -- Closing Ceremonies

Weekly Themes

Week 1: July 7-10: Readers are Leaders
Week 2: July 14-17: Ring Around the World
Week 3: July 21-24: On the Sunny Side
Week 4: July 28-31: Read for the Top!
Week 5: Aug. 4-7: Bring it on!
Week 6: Aug. 11-14: Readers Unite!
Week 7: Aug. 18-20: Step Out, Into Books

Parents who are reading this, please sign your children up for the Summer Reading Club. They will

have some fun at the library four days a week
get to make a neat craft twice a week
be exposed to some wonderful books
have endless reading material for (similarly) endless car rides during vacations
win prizes at the end of the summer for completing their reading record

End of the Itchy Feet Season

2009-05-26T12:36:00.000-07:00

When the projector screen is raised later tonight, it will signal the end of the 16th season of Itchy Feet at the library. This season we started in the schools of Nicaragua and ended on the other side of the world -- Kruger National Park in South Africa. In between, we covered nearly a dozen countries spread across six continents and visited with authors and artists from our own part of the world.

Highlights included wild animals, beautiful landscapes, exotic temples and peace memorials.

Everyone at the library (and I'm sure all the people who've enjoyed Itchy Feet this season) would like to give thanks to:

Captain Eric Blackburn (Nicaragua)
Ben Gadd (author)
Don Pettit (author)
Kevin Sharman & family (Belize, Wild Flowers in Macro)
Larry and Crys White (USA)
Charles and Daniel Helm (USA)
Peter von Tiesenhausen (artist)
Jeanette Johnson (Ecuador)
Vickie Davis (Thailand)
Sarah Gamble (archaeology update/ice climbing)
Craig Waters (archaeology update/ice climbing)
Jacob Fehr [me] (Japan)
Jim Way (Ice Roads)
Joe Cramp (Peru)
Moire Jones (Cuba)
Mike Nash (author)
Betsy Trumpener (author, CBC radio personality)
Vicky Bye (Elephants)
Jean Pawlucki (Australia/New Zealand)
Charissa Tonnensen (Australia/New Zealand)
Larry Jacobsen (author)
Bert Schalekamp (South Africa - Kruger National Park)

We couldn't have done anything without you folks!

Peace Region Palaeontology Symposium

2009-05-20T18:23:00.000-07:00

On May 23rd the Peace Region Palaeontology Symposium will be taking place in the Tumbler Ridge Community Centre as well as the Public Library. The symposium will include a number of different activities throughout the day:

Rich McCrea, Lisa Buckley, Charles Helm, Sean Robson, Paul McNiel, and Bruce Archibald will all be giving lectures.

From 12:30pm-1:30pm, the 4th Annual Fossil Road Show will be taking place. I encourage people to bring in small fossils they've found for identification.

Finally, the Library will have four sessions of children's activities during the day (10-10:45, 11-11:45, 2-2:45, 3-3:45). Children are limited to participating in one session (all the sessions will contain the same activities), and pre-registration is required.

We look forward to seeing everyone at the Community Centre for the Palaeontology Symposium.

Itchy Feet South Africa: Kruger National Park

2009-05-20T14:04:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday, May 26th, the Tumbler Ridge Public Library will play host to the final Itchy Feet presentation of the season. Bert Schalekamp will present Itchy Feet South Africa: Kruger National Park. It starts at 7pm, May 26th at the Tumbler Ridge Public Library.

Author Visit: Larry Jacobsen

2009-05-13T18:04:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday, May 19th at 7pm, the Tumbler Ridge Public Library will play host to author Larry Jacobsen. Larry came to Canada as a baby in 1929, the third in a family that eventually numbered 12 childen and retired for the final time at age 78. Larry will be talking about his third book, Jewel of the Kootenays.

Library Book Purchases

2009-05-13T14:39:00.000-07:00

I just thought I'd write a bit about the book purchasing process at the library. I've already written about one part of it in the post about expanding our graphic novel/manga collection, but there's more to it than that.

The process Sharon and I followed when expanding our graphic novel/manga collection was what we do in general if a particular area in the library is lacking. We identify the gaps, try to find a selection of good books that will fill the gaps, and purchase some of them. Previously library staff have done this with computer books (shortly before I began last August) and law books (a few months ago).

If we aren't trying to fill a particular gap in the library's collection, Sharon and I look for books that are informative, interesting, or entertaining. For every book we're interested in, we consider a few factors:

1) What the library currently has in its collection

If the library already has a number of books in a particular area, a book in that area has to be very good or unique for us to consider purchasing it.

An example of this happened when I was looking for a new book about programming websites (the books that were in our collection were around ten years old). I came across a book called The Baby owner's manual that looked pretty interesting. Sharon reminded me that we already had many books in that area. We took a closer look at our collection, and realized that the tone and audience of this particular book are quite different from the other books about babies in the library's collection, so I ordered it after all.

2) The price of the book

Nomatter how wonderful a particular book is, there are limits on how much we're willing to pay for it. While researching graphic novels for the library, I found that we could purchase a hardcover edition of the complete Death and Life of Superman for around $70. That was one of the biggest comic book storylines of the last two decades, but that price was (sadly) too much for a comic book. When Sharon and I discussed expanding our graphic novel collection, we agreed to spend around $100, so spending $70 on one book was not a practical choice.

3) The expected popularity of the book at our library

The library has already pre-ordered Dan Brown's newest book based on the overwhelming popularity of his previous book The Da Vinci Code. We also recently purchased The Dark River, because it was the sequel to The Traveler by John Twelve Hawks, which had circulated a relatively high number of times for a library of this size.

4) Reviews of the book

We often check the reviews for a particular book on amazon.ca before purchasing it. We're well aware that the reviews there do not represent everyone, but they give Sharon and I something to consider.

5) Patron suggestions

Sharon and I both welcome purchase suggestions from library patrons. If possible, give us the title and author (the ISBN is also welcome), and we'll take a look (at the items listed above) and consider our options.

A word of warning: if the book is overly esoteric or expensive, we probably will not purchase it unless there is sizable and continuing demand for it. If that demand never materializes, we'll likely suggest you wait and then request the book through an interlibrary loan.

If you think you've found a book the library should purchase, consider the things I've typed above, then suggest it to Sharon or me. You can do it in person or by leaving a comment after this post (a Google account is required)

Itchy Feet: How to Eat Kangaroo Pizza

2009-05-08T09:36:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday, May 12th, Jean Pawlucki and Charissa Tonnensen will be at the Tumbler Ridge Public Library for Itchy Feet: How to Eat Kangaroo Pizza. They recently visited Australia and New Zealand and (presumably) sampled some native cuisine.

Did this cuisine really include kangaroo pizza? You'll have to come down to the library at 7pm on Tuesday to find out.

The Overdue System at the Library

2009-05-07T17:37:00.000-07:00

I take care of overdues at the library. Lately I've noticed that many people aren't aware of how the overdue system works, so I thought I'd write a post detailing the system from front to end.

Every Wednesday, I process the overdues. One of the components of the library's ILS (integrated library system) is a report program. On Wednesdays, I use the program and one of its report files to print a report of books that have been overdue 7-90 days, sorted by patron. I compare this list to the previous week's list and note a few things. Any new items are starred, and any previous contact between me and the overdue patrons is noted.

I search the shelves for any new items on the list. Sadly, mistakes do happen (everyone who works here is human, after all), and this search allows me to catch most of them. If I happen to find a book, I check it in and remove the accompanying fine from the patron's account. After my search, I continue with the paperwork portion of overdues.

I produce two different kinds of print notices for patrons. The first is called an overdue notice, and is created when the patron has items that are 14-21 days overdue. It is accompanied by a short letter that outlines the library's overdue policy. The second is called an overdue letter (for items that are 28-35 days overdue), and is the final print correspondence between the library and a patron before the patron is billed. I print out and stuff envelopes to the patrons, then mail them out.

Later in the day (usually after I've finished my supper break), I start calling patrons about their overdues, and make brief notations on my list for what kind of contact was made on a particular date:

-C ("called" -- talked to person listed)
-LM ("left message" -- either with another person in the household or on an answering machine)
-NIS ("not in service" -- phone number gave me a "not in service" message)
-MN ("mailed notice" -- the first written notice)
-ML ("mailed letter" -- the second written notice)

If a patron insists that the item was returned, I search again for the item (on some occasions, it has been returned after I printed the list for the week, but before I started calling).

And the next week the process continues.

The final aspect of the overdue process is billing. Until now it's been done sporadically (I held onto the belief that nobody could have items overdue for three months until just recently), but now that I've started, it will be done every week for items that are 91-97 days overdue.

When items are three months overdue, I search for the items again. If I find an overdue item, I check it in, and adjust the patron's fines. If I cannot find the patron's items, I suspend the patron's account and bill the patron as follows:

the replacement cost of the item
the full amount of fines accumulated to date on that item
a five dollar processing fee for each item(to cover the time and materials required to process a replacement copy)

If the patron can find the missing items, the processing fee and replacement costs will be removed, just leaving the original overdue fine.

Overdue Schedule Summary
0-7 days: nothing
7-14 days: phone call
14-21 days: mailed notice, phone call
21-28 days: phone call
28-35 days: mailed letter, phone call
90+ days: suspension, bill

That's the unpleasant side of things. Here's the more pleasant side.

First, the library allows patrons to renew items. As long as the item doesn't have any holds or reserves on it, we're happy to renew items up to two times by phone or e-mail, even if the item is already overdue (though the fines up to that point will remain). After those two renewals, we require patrons to bring the item into the library for subsequent renewals. This is to prevent patrons from renewing a lost item over and over again instead of telling us it has been lost.

Renewals on Interlibrary loan items (ILLs) are a little trickier because I have to contact the lending library. But if a patron requests a renewal before the item is due, I'm more than happy to do it.

Second, all the money collected from overdue fines goes into the library's budget, which allows us to spend more money on new books and other materials for the library.

Third, I'm not a mean person. I don't enjoy calling people about their overdues, but I'm never rude or angry on the phone. So don't worry if you answer the phone and I'm calling about overdues. I won't start yelling unless you do first.

Weeding the stacks

2009-05-05T14:39:00.000-07:00

I spent a few hours weeding on Saturday. For the uninitiated, weeding (in a library) refers to removing books from our collection based on a number of criteria including age, circulation, relevance, and obsoletion. I started with a list of books that had not been circulated in 500 days. This seems arbitrary, but it was a nice round number, and gave me a good-size list of books to work with.

The resulting list of books was simply a place to start from -- not the list of books to be weeded. I went through the list of adult non-fiction, and checked the list to see if the books were duplicates (there are times when the library ends up with two copies of a particular book), outdated (science and health books in particular), obsolete (if we had a newer edition of the same book, or a newer book on the same subject), or just not used (a few of the books on the list had never been circulated).

If a book hadn't circulated in 500 days and failed another criteria for keeping the book, I pulled it from the shelves, and put it into a stack near my desk for further review with Sharon. We ultimately kept five of the books (there were around sixty in the stack) because of high overall circulation (one or two of the books had been signed out 9-10 times overall) or relevance (a book about the history of the Peace region that we had two copies of). The rest were deleted from our catalogue and will be sold.

Some of the books I weeded include
extremely dated medical books (AIDS, the medical mystery [1983])
old financial books (Chand's top 50 mutual funds [2002])
general out of date books (The Complete guide to Canadian universities [1992])

There are quite a few benefits of weeding, and most of them apply here. First, weeding removed out of date books that could contain incorrect, if not dangerous, information. Second, weeding allowed Sharon and I to identify some gaps in our collection. Finally, our shelves are extremely crowded at the moment, and weeding helped to give library staff a little more space to work with.

Graphic novel/manga collection

2009-05-02T09:24:00.000-07:00

For the past few months, Sharon and I have discussed expanding our graphic novel/manga collection. We had some very good graphic novels such as Watchmen, Sandman, and various DC superhero stories, but we really didn't have that many of them and they were stuck in a poor location in the library. Since the graphic novels were moved to the very end of the adult fiction section, I'm not sure how many people have even looked at them. So Sharon and I discussed the situation and agreed on a four part plan.

First, I made a (fair sized) order of new graphic novels and manga. We agreed on an amount of money to spend, and I did the research. I picked a mix of graphic novels (mostly superhero stuff) and manga (continuing one series we already have, and starting a new one), and talked about my suggestions with Sharon. She agreed that they sounded good, and I ordered them.

Second, we talked about making a new home for the graphic novel/manga collection. The library manager had commented that we could probably box up much of our foreign language collection, because the books were either out of date or were written during communist regimes and were propaganda. I had a page box up many of the foreign language books, and I shifted books around until we had a vertical section (4 shelves) that could be dedicated to graphic novels and manga.

To make life easier for the pages, I relabelled all of the graphic novels with the prefix GN. This labelling replaces the hodgepodge of AF, APB, JF, JPB labels that were previously on the graphic novels/manga. It also helps set apart this collection from the rest of the library. Previously, they were books that belonged to different sections of the library but just happened to be shelved together.

Finally, Sharon and I agreed that we'd continue to develop our graphic novel/manga collection gradually, by adding another title or two to every book order we make. Sharon just completed a very large book order, and included another four titles (three manga, one graphic novel) in it.

As it currently stands, the titles I ordered have been backordered (Sharon's order is still being processed), but here is what will be coming to the Tumbler Ridge Public Library:

Graphic novels
Batman Year One
Green Lantern: Rebirth
Infinite Crisis
Serenity: Better Days
Serenity: Those Left Behind
Superman: Birthright

Manga
Bleach volumes 3-6
Death Note volumes 1-5

Itchy Feet: The Elephant School

2009-04-30T12:27:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday, May 5th, the Tumbler Ridge Public Library will play host to Vicky Bye and her Itchy Feet presentation. During her travels in Thailand, Vicky saw many elephants, and elected to make them the focus of her presentation.

I urge everyone with a hidden (or not-so-hidden) fondness for elephants to come down to the library at 7 pm on Tuesday to see these photos.

Barbara Adler cancellation

2009-04-28T09:55:00.001-07:00

Library staff have learned that Barbara Adler has come down with pneumonia, and will be unable to perform tomorrow night.

Betsy Trumpener, CBC Radio personality, reporter, documentary producer, and writer (author of The Butcher of Penetang) will still appear, but library staff have changed the schedule to the following:

Book signing: 7:00 pm
Performance: 7:30 pm

CBC personalities do not visit Tumbler Ridge often, so we encourage everyone to come down to the library and meet Betsy Trumpener tomorrow night.

Betsy Trumpener and Barbara Adler tomorrow night

2009-04-28T09:19:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow night (April 28th) at 7pm, Betsy Trumpener and Barbara Adler will be visiting the Tumbler Ridge Public Library. Betsy Trumpener is a CBC reporter and is the author of The Butcher of Penetang, and Barbara Adler is a noted performance poet.

More information is available on the library's website.

CBC Radio mentions TRPL

2009-04-23T14:41:00.000-07:00

CBC Radio One mentioned our library this morning in reference to Betsy Trumpener's upcoming visit. They even mentioned our website and gave the URL, which was pretty spiffy. In fact, the only downside was that as of this morning, the poster for Mike Nash (tonight's Itchy Feet author visit) was occupying the main page of the library's website, and the Betsy Trumpener stuff was off to the side in the Events bar.

I updated the main page to feature the poster for Betsy Trumpener and Barbara Adler (after all, if CBC is going to give us publicity, we should try to coordinate matters), and removed Mike Nash's poster. I felt a little bad, but later rationalized it. I have the next four days off, so it was a choice between cheating Mike Nash out of a few hours of website advertising and cheating Betsy Trumpener and Barbara Adler out of four days worth.

Library 2.1

2009-04-23T14:24:00.001-07:00

This is the first of (what could be) many posts from the staff and board of the Tumbler Ridge Public Library. Of course, the blog is waiting for library manager+board approval, but I'm sure they won't mind me getting a head start on it. (especially after the library's Wikipedia page was marked for speedy deletion, then deleted).