6 July 2015 It has been awhile since I have written to my blog but it has been a busy time.-----First, we are almost at the halfway point in the Summer Reading Program. There is still plenty of time and lots of fun to be had.-----This Wednesday we have the robotics club coming in for demonstration. Phone the library at 649-1648 for the show times and to see if there are still openings. Due to the popularity of this show we are forced to restrict the number of attendees to 100. ---We have kicked off our renovation project. This project includes: A new roof for the library and new carpeting on the main floor. The front steps are going to be repaired and we will be replacing any furniture that is in bad repair. As far as technology, we are going to upgrade our phone system, upgrade the routers and junctions for the Internet replace all of the computers except for the ones at the circulation desk as they were replaced last year. We will also be adding to more computers for the adult area. We are also going to bring in a professional firm to help us reconfigure the floor plan for the library as the current configuration was done before libraries had computers for patron use. We are also going to replace two of the furnaces and upgrade some of the cabling and electrical wiring. The reason for such extensive work is because of age. The roof, carpet and furnaces are all nearing 30 years of age and they are at the end of their effective life times. The computers are running either Windows XP or Windows 7. There in no support or upgrades for Windows XP and so it is obsolete. Part of the reconfiguration of the library floor plan will include putting a catalog workstation in the adult area so that patrons can search our catalog without having to walk up to the front of the building. This project will run approximately $208,000. The library has set aside $60,000 and grants have been written to cover most of the other expenses. The thing to remember about grants is that they cannot be considered in the project budget until the check arrives. So we are asking our patrons to consider donations toward this project. If grants and local donations exceed the amount needed for the project, the excess of local donations will be deposited in the Vicksburg District Library Foundation. ------Our grounds keeper, Bill Brumley has retired and he has moved to a townhouse in Vicksburg. He was a pleasant addition to our staff and we will miss him greatly. Cheryl Lee, one of the Library Board members, is a Master Gardener and she is taking over the library landscaping as her project. -----This fall the library will be hosting an Osher Life-long Learning Institute (OLLI)class on writing. More details will be made public when the Fall class schedule comes out.-----I will keep you updated on the renovation project in future postings. Until next time, remember,"Outside of a dog a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it is too dark to read." Groucho Marx.

10 February 2015

10 February 2015----------There is a lot of good news this month. First off we are now in the second half of winter. The sun rises earlier and sets much later. The second part of the good news is we now have a new Children's Services Librarian! Stephanie Willoughby is a Vicksburg resident and is leaving her job at the Kalamazoo Museum. She is looking forward to working with the children and officially starts on 16 February. Over the rest of the month she will be learning the procedures of the library, planning storytimes and preparing for Summer Reading. Stop in and say hello to her beginning next week.----------Speaking of storytimes, they are scheduled to restart on Monday, March 2. More details about the storytimes will be publicized as soon as the programs are put together. We are also getting near the mid-point for the Adult Winter Reading program. There is plenty of time to register and get a slip in for the main drawing. It is very easy, read, listen or watch a book, audiobook or movie from the Vicksburg District Library and score a point for each book, movie or audiobook. After 15 items checked out, you get a slip for the big drawing. For every five books, movies or audiobooks you read after that and you get another chance for the drawing. The more materials you use from the Library, the more entries in for the big drawing. The prizes this year are gift certificates for the Main Street Pub, the Vault and Rise n' Dine. Enter now and get reading, watching and listening.---------- This year we are in an awkward situation as far as tax forms. We have received the Michigan Tax Booklets which include the most popular Michigan tax forms and we also have the home heating credit forms. The Federal Tax forms are a totally different situation. We had placed our annual order back in November but late last month we were informed that because the IRS mailing and distribution program had been cut by $300 million. The message we received told us not to expect any tax forms to be delivered this year. Since the first of February we did receive 100 1040 Forms but no instruction books. We have printed off three copies of the instruction books for forms 1040, 1040-A and 2040-EZ. Two of the copies are available for checkout for one week with a $1.00 fine per day if not returned on time. The third copy is for use in the Library. We ask that you be patient with staff this year when looking for tax forms because we may not have received them----------For February the Library is once again inviting you to go on a Blind Date With a Book for Valentine's day. There are many books wrapped in red paper, pick it up take it home and read it. Let us know what you think of the book and if you would read anything else by the author of the book you chose. These books have been donated to the library so you do not need to check them out and you can keep them if you so desire.----------The annual budget meeting of the Library will be held on February 19. The budget meeting is part of the regular meeting. The meeting starts at 6:00 p.m. and the public is always welcome to attend.-------Until next time, keep warm and keep reading.-----John

7 January 2015

7 January 2015----------It has been nearly two months since I have written on my blog and a lot has happened. First, Kristy has taken the position of assistant director/tech librarian at Parchment. This is a big move for her and we wish her great success in her new position. This of course means that we are without a Children's Librarian. We have posted the job position and we have 8 applicants so far. The application period ends at 5:00 pm on Friday, 16 January 2015. We will interview the week of the 19th and hope to have a new person starting no later than 2 February 2015. Kristy was an excellent children's librarian and we all miss her.----------The Library Board is organizing a Fund Raising Committee to raise funds for some renovations to the Library. The addition was completed in 1986 and in the 29 years since we find that the Library needs to replace and upgrade the building. The two major projects are for a new roof and new carpeting. Between the two the cost is approximately $125,000. The next level of upgrading is in our computer network. Most of the computers are over five years old and when the addition was built the idea of having computers in the library was the stuff of science fiction. We want to not only upgrade our network hardware but also replace the current computers so that we will have 10-12 public access computers instead of the eight we currently have. The phone system was also installed in 1986 and the technology is not compatible with the new phone technology. To upgrade the phone and computer systems is about $30,000. The front entrance to the Library has to be repaired. You may have noticed that the center guardrail is loose and we have yellow tape and warning signs on the railing. Over the years the mortar and caulking on the brick work has come out. The stairs will need to be replaced as pieces of the stairs have broken off. While we are having the work done to the front stairs we are also going to have the brickwork on the stairs and ramp areas repaired. The estimate for the work is about $15,000. This is a rough estimate as the weather turned bad before the engineers could get a more precise estimate. Finally, we will need new computer carrells to place the additional computers as well as new chairs. Other furniture will be examined and pieces that need to be replaced will be ordered with the new computer stations. Depending on how much furniture we need the costs are pegged at $10,000. From experience it is always wise to add and extra 10% to the costs to cover unexpected expenses which would be $17,000 for a grand total of about $187,000. We are looking for people to work on the fundraising committee. We need everyone from those who can stuff envelopes, people who know of organizations that donate to community projects, people who would like to speak to groups and people who are available to help in any way they can. This is a community effort to do some repair and renovation work on the Library building.----------Andrea has become our new head of circulation and adult services. She will be ordering adult fiction materials as well as running the book discussion group. She is also the Library Webmaster or is it Mistress? She will continue to write articles for the South County News and continue to help patrons work with their wireless devices.----------So here is to the start of a new year may it be happy and prosperous.-------- John

Missed October

10 November 2014 ------October is a busy month and it is easy to forget to write a new post on the blog. Among the exciting activities this past month was filing the State Aid report. The State provides about .37 per person that is served by the Vicksburg District Library. It isn't much aid from the State but the compilied State Aid reports contain a lot of information that is useful for the library when writing grants, looking at internet speed, types of operationg systems, size of collection and so on. By law public libraries are to receive .50 cents per person but since the law was passed in the 1980's that amount was only realized in two years of the Engler's tenure as governor. So I was filling out the State Aid report and I noticed two things on the report. First, the number of people signing onto our WiFi connection has increased a lot in the past year and the number of downloads from our ebook collection is rising. These are good signs as it tells me that we are meeting the needs of our patrons and that our selection policy is working. The challange is that we need to increase the size of our available band width and we will need to dedicate more of our resources to the purchase of ebooks. With the new budget year,which begins on March 1, we have budgeted enough funds to double the bandwith next year but we will not be able to increase the amount we spend on the ebook collection. ----- Over the next year or two, we will continue with needed renovations to the library. From the bids we have received so far, we are looking at an amount between $170,000 to $200,000 dollars. As we are finding grants to defray some of the costs, we are asking our patrons to be generous in making donations to the library for the renovations. The addition to the library was made in the late 1980's which means that the phone system is a mix of analog and digital, the wiring for computers is dated and needs to be expanded to add extra computers, half of our computers are running Windows XP and the rest are using Windows 7. The carpet is stained and holes are in it by the adult reading tables and the seams are starting to come up. Our roof hasn't been replaced since the addition and the brickwork and stairs need to be repaired. Yes, I am appealing for generous donations as the roof and the carpeting are the two most expensive elements of this project. The people living in the Library District have been generous in the past and we are hoping that they will continue in their generousity. ---------- Since I wrote last, Miss Rachel has retired from the library. As you may have seen from our home page, Beth Dowson has come back to take over her duties as head of circulation. Beth will be ordering adult fiction books as well as audio books. We are sharing Beth's expertise with Comstock Library. She is here on Wednesday and Thursday and every third Sunday. Beth is also taking over the Adult Book Discussion Group on the first Thursday of the month. As she becomes familiar with our current operating system, she will be taking over as the manager of the circulation system. -----------The Library will be closed on Thanksgiving Day, 27 November. We will reopen at the regular time on Friday.----------The Library is holding an amnesty program for patrons under 18 years of age. They may return overdue items and have all overdue fines forgiven if they bring in a canned food item or personal hygene item for the South County Community food bank. ---------- The Village Council will be meeting in the Library meeting room on the first and third Mondays each month. There is a lot happening in Vicksburg and I would encourage the public to come in and attend the meetings. ---------- Hopefully I will not be so long between posting on the blog. Until next posting, remember read a good book and for parents, read to your children. John

29 September 2014

29 September 2014 I know that this is not Wednesday when I usually write this blog but this is a special week for us at the Library. Rachel is leaving the library after nearly 18 years of service. She is retiring but will still be in the area. We will be having an open house for her on Thursday, 2 October, from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Come in and say good-bye to Rachel. If you are unable to come to the open house, we have a memory book on the circulation desk for patrons to sign. She will be missed by the readers in the monthly book club and by staff as she was the head of circulation. You will be familiar with the lady taking over Rachel's position, Beth Dowson. Last year she was our reference/Young Adult librarian. Beth will be taking over the selection of fiction materials, take over head clerk duties and the book discussion group. She will be splitting here time between here and her position in Comstock Library. You will also see more of our weekend clerk Emily as she will be taking 14 of Rachel's hours. Emily has been here for two years and has worked as a circulation clerk and has also helped in the processing of new library materials.--------Remember that Storytimes have begun and Miss Kristy has got them working and learning. On Monday at 10:15 a.m. there is Toddler Time this is for the children from 2-4 years of age. Wednesday is a busy morning with Babytime starting at 9:30 a.m. This is for children under 2 years of age. Also on Wednesday morning starting at 10:30 a.m. we have Preschool/Family Storytime. This is for children from 4-5 years of age. Each program is geared to the age levels and includes singing, stories and other activities. These programs are free of charge and now sign-up is required. Andrea has begun her Teen Scene program for grades 8 through high school. Finally there is the Tween hangouts for the 5th through 8th grade students. There are crafts, games and group activities and they are held after school. The teens on Turesday at 3:00 p.m. and the Tweens on Thursday from 4:00 p.m. -------- The Brown Bag Classic club is reading Dracula for October. A good scary book for Halloween is the quintessential horror book. Second only the Sherlock Holmes as a character portrayed in film, Dracula still apppeals to public a 115 years after being published. Like other books made into movies, the book is better as it takes you into the thoughts of the main characters. Copies can are being held at the circulation desk. -------- Until next week, keep reading John Sheridan, Director

10 September 2014

10 September 2014-----------This is the kick-off week for our fall programs. Toddler Time is for 18 month olds to 3 year olds. This program is held Monday mornings and starts at 10:15 in the basement meeting room. The baby time is for babies from infants to 18 months old. It starts at 9:45 and runs on Wednesday mornings in the basement meeting room. Finally we have the Preschool/Family program for children 3 to 5 years of age. This is also on Wednesday mornings in the basement meeting starting at 10:30. Miss Kristy has the activites planned out and they include singing, dancing and crafts for the preschool children.----------Miss Andrea will also be starting her Teen and Tween programs on Thursday afternoons after school.----------This past Sunday was the first Sunday that we will be open for during the school year. The hours for Sunday are from 1:00 to 5:00.----------A reminder on the checkout time for movies. You can check them out for three days and you can renew them one time before they become overdue. The overdue fee for DVD's is $1.00 per day until the replacement cost of the DVD plus the processing charge is reached. This means that if you do not return a DVD on time and the DVD replacement costs $25 plus the processing charge of $5 a total fee of $30 is levied and your borrowing priviliges would be suspended until your fees are paid down below $5. This charge is for each DVD you have overdue. So if you have 2 DVD's more than 30 days overdue the charge to you would by $60, for three it would be $90 and so on. Remember to return you materials on time.----------The next offering for the Brown Bag Book Club will be Dracula, just in time for Halloween. We meet at noon on the third monday of the month in the basement meeting room.----------That is all for this week, remember to keep reading.

27 August 2014

27 August 2014-------This year Labor Day is the earliest it can be, 1 September. This means that school will start on Tuesday, 2 September. Less than a week away and with the school year will be the start of the children's programmming. It all begins on September 8, Miss Kristy is getting everything organized and will be ready to go.-------The Library is looking for someone to work as a part-time custodian. The work is one or two days a week in the morning. The starting time is 8:00 a.m. and it starts at minimum wage. For more details please come into the library as we have a detailed job description and application form on the circulation counter.-------On September 13, the Library will be hosting a program for adults and families called the Game of Life. This program addresses the decisions and problems people encounter while working for financial stability by using the board game, Game of Life. The program is presented in cooperation with New York Life Co. This is not a solicitation for business by New York Life. We at the Library do ask you to register for the program so that we can know how many people plan to attend. The information will not be shared with the New York Life representative. The program will be on September 13, at 10:30 a.m. and will last about one hour.-------The Brown Bag Classics Club returns on Monday, September 22, at noon. This month we are reading East of Eden by John Steinbeck. I personally prefer this novel to his Grapes of Wrath. For October we will be reading Dracula by Bram Stoker, to help celebrate Halloween.-------Did you know that our meeting room downstairs is available to rent? The Library meeting room is used for most of the Library programs yet it is made available for public use. We have had baby-showers held there, every March we have Tax Preparers come in and use it to help seniors make out their taxes and the local Girl Scout troops use it for their meetings. Ask at the circulation desk for the terms and conditions for reserving the meeting room. There may be a charge for the use of the room. Charitable organizations are allowed to use the room for free. Library programs do have priority over any other program.-------The circulation times for library materials is as follows: Adult, teen and children's books and audiobooks circulate for 28 days, Magazine, music cd's and new adult books circulate for 14 days, Video games circulate for 7 days and DVD's (Movies) circulate for 3 days. If you return what you check out after the due date is $1.00 per day for video games and for DVD's (Movies) and all other materials is $0.10 per day. When fines or fees exceed $5.00 then borrowing privilages are suspended until the fines and fees are paid down.-------Thank you all again for being patient with us as we transition to the new circulaton system. Unfortunately for us, we changed over just as a new version was being released so we are not only learning a new system but have to wait for patches to be applied to the bugs in the new system. Bottom line, we taking longer to learn the new system than we anticipated when we did the change over. ----- Until next week, keep reading. John