Daily Thoughts 03/12/2014

Reading in the Garden, 1910, Ipolit Strombu

Daily Thoughts 03/12/2014

I checked the Twitter and Facebook for the library this morning.  I had an interesting time with the trains.  I was at Grand Central station I got on the train to go to work and found it was not moving.  There was announcement that there was a police action on 125th street in Harlem.   I got off the train told my work I was going to be late.  I waited on the train for another half hour reading.  Then there was an announcement that a building had blown up on 116th street in Harlem.   I was glad that I was not on the earlier train.  I can imagine being evacuated onto the elevated tracks.  When this kind of thing happens it is scary, because there is no context and reason that is clear initially. http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Park-Avenue-116th-Street-Fire-Collapse-Explosion-249730131.html

I got off the train called work, and got on the subway took it to the end of the line and took a taxi the rest of the way to work. http://yonkers.dailyvoice.com/news/metro-north-announces-alternate-service-plan-after-explosion

  I got plenty of reading on The Good Spy.  I read a very detailed description of a political assassination of a PLO member, about the civil war in Lebanon from 1975 to 1979, and about many details of the establishment of the Islam Republic of Iran. 

I checked the displays when I got in, spent some time talking with a colleague about Adult Summer Reading, and worked a little bit on preparation for a poetry program during the summer.  We are thinking of doing a book and film program where you watch the film and talk about the book and film together.

Another article on Sterling Cleveland who will be at the Mount Vernon Public Library on Saturday, March 15, 2014 from 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. to talk about his diabetes walk.  http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/bronx/man-walks-nation-diabetes-awareness-article-1.1437507

I spent a little time working on the oversize books.

I am drinking tea and doing a bit of desk clearing.

Web Bits

Breaking Out of the Library Mold in Boston and Beyond
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/08/us/breaking-out-of-the-library-mold-in-boston-and-beyond.html?_r=1

Daily Thoughts 03/11/2014

Robert Browning, Poet and Playwright, Between 1880 and 1910

Daily Thoughts 03/11/2014

I have been reading an advanced reading copy The Good Spy The Life and Death of Robert Ames by Kai Bird which is coming out in May of 2014.  The book is very interesting because it is describing the day to day life of a CIA operative in the middle east.  What is amazing is that the story is written in a positive tone, even though the subject matter is quite dark.  There is quite a bit about the origins of the PLO as well as the history of the oil companies.  The book has a fairly patriotic conservative tone to it.

We had a staff meeting this morning.  The fire marshal came to talk about what to do in case of a fire.  He also gave away smoke detectors.

This morning, I checked the displays.  I also checked the Twitter and Facebook for the library. They are putting up posters of local people who support the library as part of our marketing campaign for the vote.

I spent some time putting an order in for bestselling fiction and nonfiction.  We also got a donation of new books that came in that were given to the director.

I did a little planning for Adult Summer Reading.  The name of the program is Literary Elements.  Hoepfully, we will some poetry programming during the summer.

The computer lab was open from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. today.  There are two computer classes tonight, a Beginning Microsoft Word class from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., and a Fundamentals of Computer Operations class from 6:45 p.m. to 7:45 p.m.

There is a photography exhibit opening reception tonight for "Scenes from Four Square Miles."
http://www.mountvernonpubliclibrary.org/node/275

The book, The Second Machine Age Work, Progress, and Prosperity in a Time of Brilliant Technologies by Erik Brynjolfson and Andrew McAfee has come in for me to read.


Web Bits

Think We No Longer Need Libraries? Think Again
http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20140309223444-2906843-think-we-no-longer-need-libraries-think-again

What Do Americans Say About Public Libraries
http://www.cecil.ebranch.info/your-community/americans--public-libraries/

Daily Thoughts 03/07/2014

Pencils, Mikhail Vrubel, 1905
Daily Thoughts 03/07/2014

I finished reading Learning to Breathe this morning on the way to work.  The final section is on the acceptance of death.  It is sometimes hard to write about religious or spiritual books because it is much like politics.  There is often an idea that librarians are part of a public institution which makes them not partisan during their working hours.  The book becomes even more mixed pulling from Judaism, more varieties of buddhism (zen, Vietnamese, and Tibetan), Ayurveda, a bit of the new age, and cognitive psychology.  The author, Priscilla Warner does achieve some peace of mind through meditation in the end which is what she was hoping for.

This morning, I checked the Twitter and Facebook for the library.  I also checked the displays.  This month is Women's History month.  The Friends of the Mount Vernon Public Library Book and Bake Sale is on May 2 and May 3 from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

I spent a little time taking pictures of the computer lab, the cybercorner, and the children's computer area.

I am showing the different databases and online learning resources from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. in the computer lab.

I spent a little more time weeding in the oversize books.

Web Bits

Mount Vernon Public Library Holds Open House by Tamara Stewart
http://www.mvinquirer.com/library-open-house.html

The Networked Librarian Video and Slides

http://www.pewinternet.org/2011/05/06/the-networked-librarian-video-slides/

Great Posters For Free

http://themwordblog.blogspot.com/2014/03/great-posters-for-free.html

Daily Thoughts 03/06/2014

Bashkirtseff, Marie At A Book, 1882

Daily Thoughts 03/06/2014

On the way to work, I read a little more of Learning to Breath by Priscilla Warner.  The author is changing the subject a bit and moving beyond just breathing meditation to the concept of compassion in meditation.

This morning, I checked the Twitter and Facebook for the library.  I also spent a little time going over Mailchimp with a colleague which allows us to send out an email letter.

I also checked the displays today.  We are working a bit on the Women's History display.  I put in an order for books on autism.  A colleague is planning on doing a display on autism in April and part of this is having some material ready and processed by April.

I did a little bit of weeding in the oversize books.  I also put together the monthly report which is a single page to a page and a half of what my department had done in the previous month.  I am gathering the monthly statistics right now as well.  I have a bit more this time with some statistics from the cybercorner and the computer lab.

Web Bits

Oldest Public Library in the Americas?

http://libraryhistorybuff.blogspot.com/2014/02/oldest-public-library-in-americas.html

Daily Thoughts 03/05/2014

Portrait of Rodo Pisarro Reading, Camille Pisarro, c1899-c1900

Daily Thoughts 03/05/2014

This morning, I checked the Twitter and Facebook for the library.  I also made sure some flyers were printed for two programs, a talk about a Diabetes Walk Across America on March 15, 2014 from 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., and a Biography Book Discussion on Wednesday, March 26, 2014 from 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.

I spent a little time discussing ordering with a colleague.  I also checked the displays and did a book display on books related to Downtown Abbey, the television show.

The book, No Ordinary Time by Doris Kearns Goodwin came in for me to read.  I also read the latest copy of the New York Times Book Review and Baker and Taylor Forecast.  I noticed there is a new book called The Zero Marginal Cost Society:  the Internet of Things, The Collaborative Commons, and the Eclipse of Capitalism by Jeremy Rifkin coming out on April 1, 2014.  It should be provocative reading.  It is a subject that is at best difficult and controversial.

On the way home, I read some more of Learning to Breathe by Priscilla Warner.  Each chapter seems to focus on some different kind of buddhist meditation or therapy.  The author visits various retreats where she does drawing meditation, walking meditation, gets a massage which features some kind of body work to remove trauma, or takes in a therapy session with guided imagery.  Mixed in with this are various traumatic childhood experiences from her fathers bankruptcy to her mothers breakdown.  It is not what I usually read.

Web Bits

The Digital Comics Museum
http://digitalcomicmuseum.com/