May 2005 Newsletter

Director's Corner

by Kay Zaharis

The automation project is still moving at high speed.  Dozens of volunteers are helping the staff with the numerous tasks.  Nearly 50% of our collection can now be seen in the Finger Lakes Library System online catalog.  Several additional projects have resulted from the review of our material. Many of the children’s books now have spine labels; and the adult mystery books are being moved downstairs for easier access. Some people have commented that when they came in to find a book, it had been moved to another location. However, they found books which they didn’t know were here!  If you don’t see what you need, please ask. In the meantime, enjoy looking around the stacks; you never know what you may find.

Children's Room Notes

 

Can you believe our annual summer reading program will be beginning soon? The “Tune In @ Your Library” program runs from Monday, June 27, through Saturday, August 6. Children may register beginning June 27.  Reading 10 books entitles participants to 1 prize; 20 books to 2 prizes.  We will have a variety of prizes from local businesses and special prizes will be raffled off after the program ends. 

 

Special events are 1:00 p.m. on Wednesdays in July: 

 

July 6 - Musician Jim McCarthy will bring his “Celebrate Summer Reading” program

 

July 13 - Aaron Isaacs (our big hit from last year) returns with his “I Love to Read” magic show

 

July 20 - fun day with face painting, crafts, and a mystery guest

 

July 27 - Rosamond Gifford Zoo brings its “Zoo to You” program

 

Everyone is welcome to join us!

 

If you have been in the Children’s Room lately, you may have noticed that the public computers have been moved to the front of the room. We are very excited about this change! 

Continued from previous column…

Both computers are now Internet accessible and print to a printer in the Children’s Room.  No more walking upstairs to make sure your report printed correctly!

 

The Children’s Room book club continues to meet at 7:00 p.m. on the last Thursday night of each month.  In June, we will be discussing Roald Dahl’s “The BFG.”  Parents are more than welcome to stay, and we would love to have more young people attend our meetings. 

Display of the Month

We have several displays in Adult Services, all near the periodical section. Our continuing display of “The Good Earth” now features books on perennials, annuals, and gardening.

We also have a display for Memorial Day, and one for Flag Day on June 14.  Please come in to see the displays, and check out some of the books.

 

We do this for you, our patrons; and hope you enjoy the books.

Library Summer Hours

for the entire building

July & August

 

 

Monday & Thursday

10:00 a.m.-8:30 p.m.

 

 

Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday & Saturday

10:00 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.

 

 

Library SUMMER Hours

For ENTIRE building

 

Monday & Thursday

10:00 a.m. – 8:30 p.m.

 

Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday & Saturday

10:00 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.

 

Who works in a library? and

What do they do?

Director – selects the books, supervises the staff, makes decisions on library operations

Librarian – organizes and makes the library’s information available for users

Clerk – orders the books, help patrons find material, assist patrons with use of equipment, prepare magazines, check material in and out, prepare Interlibrary loan and reserve material, maintain various statistics

Technical services – prepares books for patrons by attaching cover, card, pocket, labels, and library identification stamp.

Page – shelves books in proper place so they can be located by patron

Bookkeeper – pays bills, solves invoicing problems, prepares catalog cards, orders supplies

 

Reminders

 

The Library will be closed Tuesday and Wednesday evenings at 5:30 p.m. from July 5 through August 30.

 

The Children Room will be open Monday and Thursday evenings until 8:30 p.m. during July and August.

 

Book Sale

 

We are planning a Sale of the Arts some time in June.  The sale will include cookbooks, gardening books, craft books, copies of Antiques Magazines, and also images of world reknown paintings, architecture, pictures, etc., suitable for collages, decoupage and other crafts.

 

Please call the library  for date and time.

Do you know what’s here?

We receive a different collection of 40 large type books from the Finger Lakes Library System every 3 months.  They are located in the aisle near the copy machine.

We receive a different collection of 40 videos from the Finger Lakes Library System every 3 months.  They are located on the bookcase attached to the circulation desk. Only adults may borrow videos.

We receive a different collection of 30 audio books from the Finger Lakes Library System every 3 months.  They are located in front of the circulation desk.

We have begun purchasing books on CD.  We also have a small collection of music CDs.  They are located behind the circulation desk. There is a list on the counter of music/books on CD; please ask for the item you wish to borrow.

Reminder – When we borrow items from the Finger Lakes Library System and we are not able to return them, not only do other patrons miss out on these items, but we must pay for them. We have already experienced several videos and CDs not being returned.

Please remember to return all of your items to the library.

What’s a Mystery?

(taken from ‘Publishers Weekly’ April 18, 2005, p. 30-31)

“A mystery is any fictional work in which a crime or the threat of a crime is integral to the theme.”  There are detective stories, private eye stories, and hard-boiled detective stories. Then there are police procedural stories which feature official police work  (examples are authors Ed McBain, James Ellroy, John Sandford, and Michael Connelly); crime stories, which rarely have happy endings (examples are authors Elmore Leonard, James M Cain, and Cornell Woolrich); thrillers, which in England could mean any mystery, but in the U.S. means a tale of espionage, international intrigue, political, religious or medical adventure (examples are authors Tom Clancy, John Grisham, David Morrell, Clive Cussler, and James Patterson); and cozy stories, which feature murders generally committed off-camera (examples are authors Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, Laurie B. King and Alexander McCall Smith).  When is a crime story not a mystery? When the criminal is telling the tale.

Although these writers are the usual ‘suspects’, many distinguished writers of the past 100 years were left out of the article. Some other mystery  writers were: William Faulkner (Sanctuary, Intruder in the Dust), Norman Mailer (Tough Guys Don’t Dance), Ernest Hemingway (To have and Have Not), and Joseph Conrad (The Secret Agent).

What type of mystery do you enjoy?

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