Daily Thoughts 06/19/2012

Woman Reading, oil on board painting by Eastman Johnson, c. 1874, San Diego Museum of Art

Daily Thoughts 06/19/2012

On the way to work, I read some more of The Object Oriented Thought Process. Object oriented thinking covers programs like Java, Javascript, C, C++, UML, CSS, and XML.  It is helping me understand the basic instructions on how to learn Javascript.

I also read a bit more of Online Community Management for Dummies.  It is about how to manage communities online from the perspective of a person who is working for a company.  A lot of it is about how to promote a community, communicate to people in a professional way, and handle difficult interactions.

This morning, I updated the Facebook and Twitter accounts for the library, checked the gift books, and picked out some more books for the current events and biography display.

I spent a little time thinking about the Adult Summer Reading program.  I am starting to gather books for the "book lovers bag,"  and have started work on a display for Adult Summer Reading.

I also spent some time looking through bestseller lists and double checking the collection management sheets for patron requests.

The computer classes are tonight.  They are having very solid attendance.

Web Bits

Special Report Public Library Funding & Technology Access
http://www.americanlibrariesmagazine.org/archives/issue/summer-2012-digital-supplement-0

Birth Of A Book-- How A Hardback Book Is Made Youtube Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuFV5196dYQ&feature=youtu.be&goback=%252Egmp_4120895%252Egde_4120895_member_125620418

Daily Thoughts 05/22/20122

Fairy Garden in Ludwigsberg Germany
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Maerchenerzaehler_Maerchengarten_Ludwigsburg.jpg

Daily Thoughts 05/22/2012

On the way to work, I read a little bit of Javascript The Missing Manual.  It has the feel of learning a new way of thinking about the world that is very precise.

I updated the Twitter and Facebook for the library this morning and checked the displays.  I also talked to the career counselor today about her program.  She comes every Tuesday.

I spent some time this morning talking to a colleague about the Summer Reading Program.  I am focusing on adults. The Adult Summer Reading Program name is Between the Covers and the theme this year is Dream Big.  We were going over Evanced which is the content management system for the summer reading program put together by New York state.

I have a copy of Baker and Taylor Forecast and Publishers Weekly to read through as well as Booklist.

I put the book, Legions of Rome: the Definitive History of Every Imperial Roman Legion by Stephen Dando Collins on hold.  It is supposed to be the only complete history of the roman legions and it is illustrated.I also put the book, The Living Dead: the Beginning by George A.  Romero on hold.  George A. Romero directed the horror movie, Night of the Living Dead.

I finished doing a little bit more on CSS on Codecademy.  On the way home, I read some more of Javascript the Missing Manual.  I think I will be soon be able to restart the Codecademy section on Javascript.

I also read some more of Alexander Pope's version of Ulysses.  I am at the point that Ulysses deceives the cyclops and escapes.

I have an e-reader and I read books.  The advantage of the e-reader is that it is very light and much easier to read on the subway.  A book is often big and gets in the way.  I find that I read the e-reader much more when I am on publiic transportation than at home.  The content is the same for the most part.  The only real difference is in short form content, the Kindle Singles like Jeff Jarvis, Gutenberg the Geek are not available in print.  The e-reader is actually ideal for short form works like novellas or fifty page articles.  These make sense.  There are not that many short books produced.

I prefer to read books when I am at home or inside a building somewhere.  They are touchable and easier to read.  I also like the feel of books.  One of the biggest factors of course is whether or not I can get it for free.  I borrow lots of library books.  A lot of people just want the content.  They are willing to take it either as a book or an e-reader if it is free or cheap.  There is of course the new strategy of E & P, where there is an electronic edition first and if you want the book, it gets printed on demand. For me, the book is often a container much like the e-reader is a container for the content which I'm interested in.

I also prefer large art books, graphic novels, and heavily illustrated books to be in book form.  I rather like idea of the book as an accessory where big coffee table books both make the home more welcome and are forms of art.  I think there will always be large decorated and photographic books.  I also think as e-books are more prominent to stay competitive the quality of art books and illustrated books will improve.  You will see things like metalwork, excellent slipcases, signed interior prints, improved typography, acid free paper, and better quality cover illustration more often.

I believe that 3D printing and print on demand for books will eventually integrate allowing for the creation of some very unique media items.  This is an excample from Shapeways http://www.shapeways.com/model/48858/full-bookhinge-dae.html   This is another example, a bookmark.
http://www.shapeways.com/model/572052/elemental-bookmark.html 
Another example, a bookend. http://www.shapeways.com/model/232594/bookends-for-paperbacks.html
Shapeways allows people to create customized 3D printed objects.


Web Bits

ACRL Urges Librarians to Sign Research Access Petition
http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2012/05/legislation/acrl-urges-librarians-to-sign-research-access-petition/

Daily Thoughts 8/17/2011

Part of the collection: Bookplates. Inscription on bookplate: "Lionel Lindsay ex libris". Handwritten in pencil on bookplate: "Proof". "1933"--on album page. Title supplied by cataloguer

Daily Thoughts 8/17/2011

This morning I read a little bit more of Stand And Deliver.  Right now the book is writing about persuasion and emotion.  It reminds us that everyone is interested in themselves.

I spent some time getting raffle tickets ready for the Adult Summer Reading Tea.  I also checked the displays, and looked over the Facebook page.  I also checked on Twitter.  I bought some tea this morning and cookies.  We are also going to have some small sandwiches. 

I spent some time in the computer lab from 2:00-3:00 p.m. helping a few people with job searching.

We had the Adult Summer Reading Tea today from 4:00-6:00 p.m.  We raffled off a bag of books for people who participated in the Adult Summer Reading program.  We also served tea, coffee,  and cookies and discussed the library.  Part of the discussion centered around creating a Biography book club in September.  Quite a few of the attendees were from the Friends of the Mount Vernon Public Library.  They are going to have a meeting soon.

We also discussed a variety of books which we had been reading.  Some of them were The Reader by Bernhardt Schlink, Happy All the Time by Laurie Colwin which is a romantic comedy of manners, No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy, and American Gods by Neil Gaiman.

This was the finish for the Adult Summer Reading Program.  It is the second Adult Summer Reading program which we have run.  It went better than last year.  We had more people who were interested in the program.  It also had more involvement with the Mount Vernon Public Library Friends of the LIbrary.

The graphic novel, Feynman written by Jim Ottaviani, illustrated by Leland Myrick, and coloring by Hilary Sycamore came in for me to read.  

Daily Thoughts 8/11/2011

Kannazuki Print shows a man sitting on a veranda, reading, an incense urn next to him, and a woman standing at a door looking over his shoulder.  Date Created/Published: [1770, printed later] 

Daily Thoughts 8/11/2011


I finished reading Nonprofit Management  101 this morning on the train to work.  I still have to go through a lot of links to various resources from http://www.youtube.com/nonprofits%20to http://www.techsoup.org/  This afternoon, I had a chance to look at some of the links in the recommendations section.  There were a few which I liked; http://wearemedia.org/ We Are Media, http://www.futurefundraisingnow.com/ Future Fundraising Now, and http://www.idealist.org/ Idealist. 

This morning, I checked the displays, updated the Twitter and Facebook accounts, and checked the gift books.  There were some classics which were worth adding; The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, White Fang, and Wuthering Heights were a few of them.  We always seem to get a lot of classic paperbacks in our donation.

 We had our Adult Summer Reading Book Chat today at 1:00 p.m.  People were talking about The Help by Kathryn Stockett, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows.  I also had a chance to read a few haiku poems.   One of the patrons requested the Rhonda Abrams, Successful Business Plan from me when I showed it to them.

The people attending expressed an interest in having a biography book club.  It would be interesting to focus on different books on a particular person each time.

 We are having our Adult Summer Reading Tea on August 17, 2011 from 4:00-6:00 p.m. in the community room for people who participated in the Adult Summer Reading program.  There will be a raffle, tea and cookies, and a chance for the participants to chat with each other.

We also opened the Computer Lab for several hours for research, business, and job search.  We should be getting some volunteers soon to help with the lab.

I checked out Heartless An Alexia Tarabotti Novel by Gail Carriger today.  I like the cover blurb, A novel of vampires, werewolves, and teapots. 

Daily Thoughts 3/31/2011 (Poetry, Adult Summer Reading)

"Le premier livre des cachets, marques et monogrammes" (inside title page, p. vi)by George Auriol (Paris: Librairie centrale des beaux-arts, 1901)

Daily Thoughts 3/31/2011

This morning, I spent a little more time reading The Wise Man's Fear. 

Today, I checked the displays, updated the Twitter account, and spent a little bit of time making sure that the display for old photographs of the library was in order.  I also put up a display for National Poetry Month which is in April.  On April 14, 2011 we are doing a Writers Networking event from 6:30-8:00 p.m. focused on poetry.  I also picked out a few poems for the Poem In Your Pocket event on April 14, 2011.  http://www.poets.org/page.php/prmID/409

We had a meeting this afternoon focusing on summer programming.  We are going to have an Adult Summer Reading program.  I am thinking about two events for the program, a Scrabble hour, and a Lunch Hour Book Chat where we talk about books which we are reading.  This is part of a program where we sign up people to read books.  At the end we have a celebration where we raffle off a gift basket and some books for people who participated in the program.  Last year The Friends of the Library helped us with this.

This afternoon, I printed up some more flyers for a few programs in the library.  I also spent some time typing the paper surveys into the computer.