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 Selections
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The newsletter of the Sarasota County Library System |
~ August 2009 ~ Volume 4, Issue 4 | |
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Read Selections online each month or sign up here to have it delivered to you by email.
If you have difficulty reading the newsletter in your email, read this issue here. |
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In this Issue:
This month's issue is brought to you by the Venice Library.
National Library News:
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At the American Library Association Conference
Budgets are being cut, staff numbers are shrinking and libraries all over the country have to do more with less, while their usage is booming. More people are coming to their local libraries for books to read, movies to check out, Internet access for job searches and entertaining and educational programs. This was the message heard over and over at the recent American Library Association Annual Conference in Chicago.
Despite the somewhat gloomy predicaments many libraries find themselves in right now, most of the 20,000 plus conference-goers felt that we could become even more valuable over the next few years because of the bad economy and that, when things improve, people will realize how important libraries are in their lives.
There were many sessions on marketing, selection of materials, reference sources, the Internet and so many more topics. During one session librarians discussed how their users are taking advantage of their electronic resources and their print collections at the same time.
Many authors spoke at the conference including Michael Connelly, Lisa Scottoline, Cokie Roberts and others. Author Judy Blume had an enormous line of people waiting for her to sign one of her books for them. One booth featured our favorite friend The Cat in the Hat. Needless to say, he had long lines of people waiting to pose with him, too!
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Community Connection:
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Friends of the Venice Library win Business Award!
At the recent 30th Annual Business of the Year Awards luncheon of the Venice Area Chamber of Commerce, the Friends of the Venice Library won the Non-Profit/Not-for-Profit category. The Friends of the Venice Library has been nominated before, but this was the first time they won.
The Friends of the Venice Public Library has been dedicated to enhancing the services offered by the Venice community since 1962. The organization raises funds, recruits volunteers, and is an advocate for the library and its services in the Venice area.
The Friends of the Venice Library was founded in 1962 by a group of concerned Venice citizens including author Walter Farley--author of the "Black Stallion" series and many other books--and his wife Rosemary. The original goal of the group was to establish a public library in Venice. At the time, the only reading material was available through the Venice/Nokomis Women’s Club, which housed the original collection later donated to the Venice Library.
Now the Friends of the Venice Public Library has expanded its support for the library in many ways: it provides funds for expansions renovations, furniture, equipment, new technology, programs for adults and children, library materials and other needs not allocated in the county budget.
The Friends office and used bookstore are located inside the Venice Public Library. The used bookstore offers thousands of inexpensive titles from fiction to cookbooks. The group also provides a service that delivers library materials to the homebound within the community.
Serving the public is really the main goal and true purpose of this organization. The young, the old, all income levels, all education levels and all races enjoy and benefit from the library.
Learn more about the Friends of the Venice Public Library on their website: www.venicefriends.org.
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Events:
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Intellectual Freedom Festival comes to Selby Library on Saturday, August 8
Selby Library will offer an evening of free musical entertainment for all ages with the Intellectual Freedom Festival, 5-11 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 8. The event is being held to promote libraries and demonstrate how intellectual freedom encourages creativity within our community.
The schedule includes music for children from 5-6 p.m., followed by music for all ages. Library staff will be on hand to answer questions about the library, accept library card applications and help concert goers find a good book or movie to take home. Food from several local vendors and restaurants will be available for purchase.
The event will bring performers with varying interests and causes together. A few of the featured bands described why playing at the event will be important for them.
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Adrianne Pezzella of APKidzSongs, who will perform children’s songs said, “We are excited to bring music, education, and fitness together in our performance at the Intellectual Freedom Festival.”
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David Brain of the band Passerine said the value of libraries cannot be understated, “We look forward to playing in support of intellectual freedom and our public library system in particular. The public library is crucial to maintaining broad and equitable access to the widest possible range of the world’s culture, literature, art, music and information in every medium from print to digital.”
In addition, local bands MeteorEYES and Villanova Junction as well as the Rainmakers Dance Company will perform at the festival. See all the bands scheduled to perform on the Intellectual Freedom Festival Web site: www.sclibs.net/IFF/main.aspx.
Librarian Heather Tweed said local musicians jumped at the chance to perform in support of the festival and library. "The bands were very excited because Selby Library is such a great venue for music, especially in the heat of summer. These artists are very aware of the significance of libraries and the intellectual freedom they represent, and they are all excited to promote this cause."
Sarasota County’s eight libraries offer a variety of services including free internet access, books, movies and a variety of educational and cultural programs for all ages. “Libraries across the country continue to adapt services to better meet the needs of the community. Citizens rely on their libraries for help with online job searches and completing applications for services, as well as borrowing books and media for education, enrichment and entertainment,” said Sarabeth Kalajian, general manger, Sarasota County Library System. “The Intellectual Freedom Festival will bring together people of all ages, backgrounds and interests to celebrate the right to seek information at their public library.”
For more information on the Intellectual Freedom Fesitval contact the Sarasota County Call Center at 941-861-5000 or visit the Intellectual Freedom Festival Web site at www.sclibs.net/IFF/main.aspx.
Find out what else is new at your Sarasota County library on Twitter at twitter.com/scgovlibrary. | |
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Featured Databases:
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Fantastic Fiction (www.fantasticfiction.co.uk) is one of the best free databases available on the Web on the subject of books and authors. Although this database is maintained by Fantastic Fiction Ltd., a small family-run company in Lancashire, UK, it contains information on English-language books written by authors from all over the world. This database has information on over 300,000 books and bibliographies of over 25,000 authors. The information on this site is targeted mainly to USA and UK audiences.
From the homepage you can search for authors or books by keyword or browse the authors by last name. You can also look at new hardbacks, new paperbacks, and new audio books in several genres: science fiction, fantasy, horror, mystery, thriller, romance, mainstream, and historical. There are also listings for books that will be coming out soon in those genres. There is a link on the homepage to the “Awards” section of the website. Major book and author awards are listed, and what books and authors won those awards for the past several years are given.
Some of the information on the authors’ pages includes a picture of the author, the author’s birth and death (if applicable) dates, country of residence, other names the author has written under, brief biographical information, a list of the books the author has written, a link to the author’s personal website (if there is one), and a list of books the author recommends. If the author has written books in a series, then the name of the series is listed and the books in that series are listed in order. This is where I go if I need to know what the third book is in Jan Karon’s “Mitford” series and other questions like that.
The information included on each book’s web page is extensive and varied: a picture of the front cover, a brief synopsis of the story, similar books by other authors, where the book is for sale, and each time a different edition or format was released. There are pages and pages of listings of where the book is available for sale in bookstores and on websites around the world. There are even Amazon.com, Amazon UK, and eBay listings for purchasing new or used copies of the book!
Another great free database on the Web is The Mystery Reader (www.themysteryreader.com). It contains reviews and ratings of mystery books. The reviews and ratings are provided by a group of 10 contributors. Brief biographical information is provided for most of the contributors--more than a few of whom are librarians!
Each book review contains a lengthy plot synopsis, a “star” rating, a violence rating, and the date it was reviewed. A book can receive from 1 to 5 stars: 1 star = Don’t Bother, 2 stars = Think Twice, 3 stars = Acceptable, 4 stars = Recommended, and 5 stars = Outstanding. The violence ratings are interesting: NV = Non Violent, V = Standard Violence – but nothing too graphic, and GV = Graphic Violence – descriptive and potentially disturbing. The mystery books are divided into 6 sub-genres: Police/Detective, Thrillers, Suspense, Cozy/Amateur Sleuth, Historical, and Romantic Suspense. The reviews are listed by the authors’ last names rather than by book title. So if you know what you’re looking for and know the author’s last name, you can quickly get right where you want to go. But if you just want to browse, then you’ll be browsing by author’s name. Archives of previous reviews are available; they go back to the website’s inception in 1998.
From the homepage, clicking on the “Features” link brings up a menu of some really great options. Some of the features are “Eagerly Awaited,” “Author Address Book” and “Author Freebies.” “Eagerly Awaited” lists upcoming mystery paperback releases. “Author Address Book” provides links to the official websites of many mystery authors. “Author Freebies” lists things that a few authors are giving away for free. Most of the giveaways are subscriptions to online newsletters, signed bookplates, signed bookmarks, and postcards.
(Note: The Mystery Reader has a sister site, The Romance Reader. That is not reviewed here because it does not appear to be current or updated frequently.)
Find more databases on the library website's Electronic Information Resources page: sclibs.net/resources.aspx.
A Sarasota County Library card is required to access subscription databases from computers outside the library. |
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Featured Internet Sites:
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August is National Inventors Month!
Are you a budding inventor, curious about inventors or wonder what it takes to patent your invention? Check out these sites for more information.
Lemelson-MIT Program, web.mit.edu/invent/:
The Lemelson-MIT Program in the School of Engineering celebrates those inventors who have turned their ideas into accomplishments. Includes a handbook on patents and intellectual property.
Smithsonian’s Lemelson Center,
invention.smithsonian.org:
The Lemelson Center is dedicated to exploring invention in history and encouraging inventive creativity in young people.
National Inventors Hall of Fame,
www.invent.org:
Celebrates inventors and has indexes of inventors with brief biographies. Search by name or subject.
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, www.uspto.gov:
For the serious inventor or the inquisitive -- search existing and pending patents online. | |
Local Library News:
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Sarasota County Libraries:
Popular and Busy*
Statistics for All 8 Libraries from January to May 2009
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Traditional Library Services
1,190,517 Visitors/Users
336,730 New Cards Issued
1,407,563 Items Borrowed
595,983 DVDs/CDs Borrowed |
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Computers
209,344 User logons
127,386 Hours of computer use |
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Programs
1,715 Programs Offered
50,679 People Attended |
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*Priceless to County Residents
To calculate the worth of your Sarasota County Library System to you click on www.sclibs.net/library_worth.aspx.
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Reference Question of the Month:
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What is the dew point and why would it matter to me?
The dew point is the temperature to which air must cool to reach its “saturation point.” Saturation is the point at which air, at a given temperature and pressure, is holding its maximum possible amount of moisture.
The reason this matters is that when the air is at saturation point, evaporation will stop until a change in temperature causes the saturation point to change. If the point increases, evaporation will resume, if it decreases, condensation will take place.
Two sources were used to answer this question: "The Weather Sourcebook" (call number 551.5 WAG) and weathersavvy.com/Q-dew_point1.html. |
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Your Feedback:
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Last month
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Did you realize the new SUNCAT debuted a little over a year ago?
Happy Birthday, SUNCAT!
Last August, we asked if you would share your opinions of the new library catalog, SUNCAT. We're still interested in your opinion of the library catalog, even though the new SUNCAT isn't so new anymore.
Please tell us what you like and don't like about the library catalog.
Submit your comments through the library website's "Suggestions and Comments" page, sclibs.net/comments.aspx, or send email to librarywebmaster@scgov.net.
Please be sure to write "SUNCAT" somewhere in your message. |
| ** Important Notice Regarding privacy and e-mail.SB 80 effective July 1, 2006: Under Florida law, e-mail addresses are public records. If you do not want your e-mail address released in response to a public-records request, do not send electronic mail to this entity. Instead contact this office by phone or in writing. |
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"Classic": A book which people praise but don't read.
- Mark Twain
Book -- what they make a movie out of for television.
- Leonard Louis Levinson
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Featured Story:
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Going Green at the Libraries
Did you know that buildings are the major source of demand for energy and materials that produce greenhouse gases (GHG)?
Did you know that a group of architects has called for all new buildings and major renovations to be carbon neutral by 2030 (www.architecture2030.org/home.html)?
Did you know that Sarasota County has made a powerful positive response to this 2030 Challenge? County resolution #2006-157 directs that all county buildings be carbon neutral (requiring no fossil fuel) by 2030.
Did you know that, to begin the task of accomplishing this goal, all government building energy usage must be 10% below 2005 levels by the end of this year and 20% below these levels by the end of 2010?
In fact, did you know that the Board of County Commissioners has made Sustainability a core value for Sarasota County government?
Finally, did you know that a number of folks in the library system have already decided to help bring about the accomplishment of the 2030 Challenge by becoming “Energy Champions”?
These folks have begun to take a series of classes on sustainability for county employees. In fact, we should feel good that the library system was very well represented in the two core classes given so far. Each library now has a sustainability representative to the energy reduction task force.
Why don’t you ask around and discover the “energy ambassador” for your library?
Wouldn’t it be nice to have Libraries leading the county in this admirable and necessary goal of energy reduction?
Let’s make every day Earth Day.
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Volunteer Spotlight:
Operation Lap Wrap*:
Knitting for the Troops with Barbara Topper
A group organized by long-time library volunteer, Barbara Topper is meeting at the Venice Public Library to knit, crochet and/or quilt lap wraps for the troops. After seeing Operation Lap Wrap on one of the morning shows, Barb researched the non-profit group and reserved a meeting room in the Library. Barb advertised the meeting in the local papers and the response has been overwhelming. There are over 30 knitters currently working on Lap Wraps. A local yarn shop, The Knitting Place on Miami Ave. in Venice has donated a big box of wonderful skeins of yarn.
The Operation Lap Wrap mission is to bring a piece of the outside world to wounded warriors. The Lap Wrap is a symbol of warmth, security and caring. Service members are sometimes flown into the hospitals in a gown; some go home with a hospital gown, and some with lost limbs. These Lap Wraps are a way to show that we are out here and we care.
Barb, an avid knitter, retired librarian and nurse, says that her most rewarding job has been raising her 5 children. When she is not knitting, you may see Barb shelving DVDs and new fiction two days a week in the Venice Public Library.
*For more information on the Lap Wrap program visit www.usacares.org. |
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Staff Picks:
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I find that a great part of the information I have was acquired by looking something up and finding something else on the way. ~Franklin P. Adams |
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