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

20 August 2014

Labor Day is early this year, September 1. This is the earliest that Labor Day can occur because by law it is set as the first Monday of September. The Library will be closed for Labor Day and our Sunday hours will begin on September 7 from 1-5.-------Coming in September will be the Brown Bag Classic Book Club and our first selection will be John Steinbeck's East of Eden. This is a great American classic and a great read. Other books this coming year will be Frankenstein, Anna Karenina, and The Great Gatsby. At the first meeting we will decide if we want to continue meeting at noon or if it would be better to move it to the afternoon or evening.------- The Library is looking for someone to be a janitor. The duties would be the cleaning of the library, setting up for programs, as needed, and dumping trash and taking out recyclables. Apply in person at the library. We would like to fill this position by the first week of September.------- Tomorrow we will be holding the preliminary fundraising meeting. We encourage people to come in and ask questions, make suggestions on fundraisig activities, and volunteer to work on the committee. The board meeting is at 6:00 p.m. in the basement meeting room.------- This September the Library will begin hosting some programs geared to adults and children on financal management. The first program will be on September 13, at 10:30 in the morning. This program uses the Hasbro boardgame, The Game of Life, to guide people along the road of life from childhood through retirement. It will cover saving, investing and budgeting. This is a free program presented by New York Life. There is no obligation or sales pitch attached to this program. We do ask that you register with the library so that we will know how many tables and chairs to set up. We will limit attendence to 30 people. Future programs will include teaching your child on financial management and awareness of fraud against senior citizens. All programs will start at 10:30 and will last about 1 hour and be on Saturday mornings in September and October.------- Our west window display this month features true crime. From the pursuit of John Wilkes Booth after he assassinated Lincoln to the life and legend of Jesse James. Learn "Isabels Secret" or how two drifters could murder a farm family "In Cold Blood." The truth is more intriguing than fiction. ------- You may have noticed that there is a card in the movie carrels that have the new movies we have received listed. While looking for movies don't forget some of the older ones. John Wayne in Hondo or The Wizard of Oz or even the Birds. Maybe you would rather catch up on a TV series like Breaking Bad, Sons of Anarchy or the Brady Bunch. For the children we have Bob the Builder and Barbie movies as well as Disney films. ------- If you volunteered to work at any library program or the book sale this past year, please contact me at the library at 649-1648 and let me know. We are having a reception at the library on Thursday, August 27 at 3:00 p.m. in the Library meeting room. ------- As the summer ends, the library staff is getting ready for the children's programs that will start. More on the start days, times of programs and times will be in next week's blog.-------Until next week, keep reading and support your local library. John

13 August 2014

13 August 2014 I want to say thank you to all our patrons for being patient with us as the new circulation system continues to vex the library staff. When we purchased the new program we had talked with several libraries throughout the state and it was given glowing reports. So what went wrong? You may ask. The program issued a new version when they loaded the new system in May. Every new version of a program will have bugs, take for example Windows Vista or Windows Millenium as examples of a good program with a new version being wild for the first five or six months. Every week Verso installs new fixes for the problems that are in the new version. Libraries all over the country are running into problems, it isn't just Vicksburg. The programmers are working on fixing the bugs but it takes time to write a repair program so continue being patient as it may be October before all of the bugs are addressed.-------The Library will be holding a reception for all the people who volunteered to help at the library this past year. We will be having punch and cake. The reception is going to be on 27 August 2014 at 3:00 pm in the Library's meeting room. If you have volunteered at the Library this past year please phone the Library at 649-1648 and leave a note for John that you will be attending. I will need to know how many people will be there so I can order the right size cake.-------Parents please let know if you want you child to check out R rated or MA rated video games. When we changed the circulation system not all of the notes were copied over. You will have to come in and personnally tell us to put a note on your child's record that they can check out materials with the above mentioned ratings. Our policy states that we will follow video store guidelines on checking out R or MA materials to minors 17 years of age or younger. I know that in the past we have let some videos and games slip through especially when we are busy we are not very vigilante. Remember, next time you are in the library and your minor child has a card, tell us if you are okay with your child checking out R and MA materials. I know it seems silly especially if your child is in high school but it is in that gray area that deals with childhood safety. -------On Thursday, 21 August at the regular board meeting, the board will be discussing the formation of a fundraising committee. The public is welcome to attend all board meetings but if you have any ideas on how to make the library better or you want to help us upgrade the library building please attend. The library staff have already made suggestions and we are looking for more. The fund raising committee will be meeting with professionals in library design, phone systems, construction and internet technology among others to establish needs and costs so we can set a fund raising goal. The Library has been putting money into funds over the years to help pay for upgrades of the physical library building. We are also looking to raise some extra money to add to the Vicksburd District Library Foundation which is operated by the Kalamazoo Foundation. The Vicksburg community has always been generous with the needed time and monetary resources to maintain the library and I believe that community spirits lives on today.-------Until next week remember to read to your children. John Sheridan, Director

6 August 2014

6 August 2014 ---------- August already and less than a month before the start of the school year. The Summer Reading Program parties were well attended and fun for everyone. At the children's party, New York Life was there providing free child I.D. photos and fingerprints for parents. This is a safety benefit for the parents as it provides a way for officials to identify and search for a lost child. I want to thank the United Methodist Church on Main St for making their community room available for us. Over one hundred children and their parents or guardians attended plus our staff members and volunteers. For two hours the children enjoyed games and treats. At the end many hated to leave. Also a big thank you for Miss Kristy who worked so hard putting the Summer Reading Program together. ------ The last party for the summer will be on August 7 for 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. It is the Doctor Who party which had to be cancelled in July due to the power outage in town at that time. There will be treats, a Doctor Who trivia contest and the showing of s Doctor Who movie. ------- I want to remind everyone that there will be a library wants and needs discussion at the next Library board meeting. The needs are to repair the front steps and the brickwork on the building, replacing the carpeting and the furniture re-roofing the library, and replacing the phone system This will be the first major work done on the libray since the addition was put on in 1986. The wants of the library are? This is where you the public are needed. Do we need more computers? Maybe more audio or large print books. Should we be getting more movies or ebooks for Kindle and other electric readers? Does the public want more programming for adults, evening programs? We need your imput. We also need people that will help set up a fund raising committee and to serve on it. The committee would decide what kind of fundraiser to have. An auction or perhaps a pledge drive or maybe a community challenge? The library has been ear-marking some of our income every year in anticipation of the major work updates updates but we can only estimate that we might have 25% of the needed funds. The library will engage architectss, builders and library design firms to get a solid estimate so that we can see what we will need for the upgrade. Once we have the estimates we can see what we will need. The Library Board has decided that a fund raiser would be the best way to accomplish financing of the needed work instead of going for a millage. This way the project will be paid as the work is done and any excess funds can be dedicated to the Vicksburg District Library Foundation which would generate funds to help with future renovations. ------- This September and October we are planning three workhops on finances. These will cover Senior Fraud Protection, Teaching children financial management and the game of Life, which previews the differenct financial issues that nearly everyone faces as they grow up through retirement. These workshops are free and run about an hour. They are presented by PNC and New York Life. ------- The Brown Bag Book Club will be starting again in September and we will read East of Eden by John Steinbeck. It is an American classic and still reads strong today. We will met at noon on September 22. I know it isn't the third monday but the first Monday in Labor Day so we won't count that.------- Until next week, keep reading and remember to come to the Board Meeting on August 21.---------- John