Arggghhhh--Pirates

“It's better to swim in the sea below
Than to swing in the air and feed the crow,
Says jolly Ned Teach of Bristol.”
― Benjamin Franklin

SOPA, PIPA, what are they?  Well, for one thing, they're the reason Wikipedia was black yesterday.  SOPA is the House of Representatives version of the Senate's PIPA.  The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA) are both attempts to curb online piracy.  Specifically, piracy facilitated by “foreign rogue websites,” meaning sites that are hosted outside of the United States, and thus outside the reach of US law.  I've heard that statement many times, and I still don't know what it means or how it would affect me.  So, I've been doing some reading.  

Pirates are bad.  Many of us love the romanticism of Pirates of the Carribean, but that's not the kind of pirates Congress is trying to squelch.    We all agree that it isn't right to download a movie and then pass it on to others for a fee, right?  We all know that most music you download isn't free, right?  We all know that it isn't right to copy something that belongs to someone else and use it as our own, right?  We all know this.  We all know that you can get in trouble for this.  The Digital Millenium Copyright Act covered this.  Many of us remember the woman from the Duluth area that was fined an excruciatingly large fine for downloading music from Napster.  It's wrong, don't do it.  If you do, someone will come after you and demand money. 

We had wireless here at the library for a while.  And then we got a notice from Mediacom stating that there had been a copyright infringement.  Someone used our wireless to illegally download a movie.  How?  I don't know.  I don't even want to know.  Who?  We don't know, and probably never will.  Long and short, we could be fined up to $250,000 for each copyright infringement.  Well, that's more than 10 times our annual budget.  For a movie we didn't get to see.  Our wireless has since been shut down. 

One person sure can wreck things for everyone else.

Piracy is bad.

That being said, it seems Congress is going a bit over-board with this.  SOPA and PIPA would make it even easier for copyright holders to shut down sights that they feel are misusing their material.  From what I've gathered, it would make it very easy for them to shut down a website that wasn't working the way they wanted it to.  If a company in Xepanislovakia has copies of your favorite song available for download for free, and a Google search pops up with that company; Google would be held liable.  Copyright infringement.  I'm put in prison because my cousin committed a crime.  Wikipedia links to a site that in some way violates copyright infringement laws, and Wikipedia gets shut down. 

Piracy is bad.

The majority of us aren't pirates.  Most of us are good, upstanding, law abiding citizens of the world.  SOPA and PIPA are an attempt to help get rid of people who aren't law abiding citizens of the world.  Unfortunately; at the same time, SOPA and PIPA put us onto the slippery slope of censorship, with a bit of Big Brother thrown in for good measure.

Mixed metaphors abound.  I'm all for giving credit where credit is due.  I would hope other people would be as well, but not everyone is.  Lots of people want something for nothing, and there are lots of people out there that will provide it.  Generally there's some hidden cost, but nothing up front.  Your favorite song from Xepanislovakia may be free along with a cookie that will introduce you to a bunch of spam.  SOPA and PIPA are kind of a way to get rid of that.  Except they've gone a bit too far with it.

Now that Wikipedia and the rest are back up and running, does that mean the fight over SOPA and PIPA is over?  No, it isn't.  The vote on PIPA is scheduled for January 24th.  I'm hoping that Congress got the idea that this isn't a good idea.  But, it might be a good idea to send them a reminder.

“There is no shortage of well-known pirates, including: Henry Morgan, Captain Kidd, Blackbeard, Blue beard, Yellowbeard, and Yellow beard with Black Roots, who surmised that, if blondes have more fun, then blond pirates must have a heck of a lot more fun.”
― Cuthbert Soup, Another Whole Nother Story

Happy Birthday to you, you belong in the zoo.

How old would you be if you didn't know how old you are?  ~~Satchel Paige

Next week is my birthday.  My last year in the 30s.  Here's hoping I don't get a lot of snickering "How many times have you been 39?" over the course of the following year.  I've never been one to lie about my age.  I own my years.  That being said, I'm not sure how I feel about being almost 40.  It works for other people, but I'm not sure how it works for me.

Of course, age is relative.  Thirty is OLD, until you hit it.  Each decade marks a decline in how old old is.  Really, you're only as old as you feel.  I like that quote by Satchel Paige, and it did get me thinking about what age I feel that I am.  I know for awhile I would automatically answer "27" when asked my age, if I didn't give myself time to come up with the right answer.  I'm not sure why, but that was the age I subconsciously thought I was for many years.  Now if I had to unthinkingly answer the same question I would probably put myself at 32. 

But I'm not.  I'm 38, soon to be 39.  That means I've got a year to plan the big party.  Or maybe find a zoo to visit next year.  A zoo somewhere warm.  Since I'll be turning 40 on a Wednesday, I think perhaps I'll have to take a week long vacation.  

But that's next year.  This year I'll just have to enjoy the cake and ice cream.  And candles.  I love blowing out the candles and making a wish.  You can't get a wish to come true if you don't blow out the candles and make one.  I'm thinking that I'm going to wish to spend my 40th birthday at the zoo.  Or maybe not, I can't tell or it won't come true.

Happy birthday to you, you belong at the zoo. 

There are three hundred and sixty-four days when you might get un-birthday presents, and only one for birthday presents, you know. 

~~ Lewis Carroll



“What an excellent tool the internet is for freaks.” ― Stieg Larsson, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest

“Don’t ever fight with Lisbeth Salander. Her attitude towards the rest of the world is that if someone threatens her with a gun, she’ll get a bigger gun.”
― Stieg Larsson, The Girl Who Played With Fire

I read the book a couple months ago and really enjoyed it.  I read the second in the series a few weeks later and stopped there.  I didn't want to read The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest because then it would be over.  So, I waited.  Last weekend my husband and I saw the movie.  I loved it.  It had been long enough since I read the book that I didn't remember exactly what had happened, and could relax and just enjoy it instead of picking apart the differences between the two. 

Of course, as soon as we got home I had to hurry to finish the book I was reading so that I could read The Girl Who Played With Fire again.  I didn't remember much of it.  I suppose that's what happens when you are an avid reader.  I remembered some key scenes, but couldn't remember how they all fit together.  I stayed up entirely too late pretty much every night this week.  I was sad to see the book come to an end.  There's only one book left in Stieg Larsson's trilogy.  I started it this morning.

It's going to be awhile until anything gets done around my house. 

I also got the Swedish version of the film via inter-library loan.  I don't know how interested my husband is in watching it, but it's on my list of things to do this week.  (Laundry; bah, it'll still be there next week.)   

Stieg Larsson had planned to write ten books.  His death in 2004 came before his books became the huge commercial hit that they have become.  At the time, he had three completed manuscripts.  It was only shortly before his death he had tried to get his books published. 

I had heard that the book was a little difficult to get into.  You have to read the first hundred pages or so before you can really remember who all the characters are.  So, I downloaded the audio version (thank you Arrowhead Library System for making that possible!)  I listened to the first part of the book and only started reading the actual book when I had trouble understanding part of it after listening to it a few times.  From that point on, I was hooked. 

If you haven't read the series, it might be something to consider.  Sure, the first hundred pages or so are kind of hard to get through (from what I've heard), but after that it goes along pretty quickly.  If you have no desire to read it, go see the movie.  It may be a bit graphic in parts, and a bit dark; but it's a mystery/thriller that will leaving you wanting more of Lisbeth Salander.

“Consider this a fair warning.”
― Stieg Larsson, The Girl Who Played With Fire

New Year's Revolutions

Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each new year find you a better man.  ~Benjamin Franklin

It's about time to change over to a new calendar.  (Which means that I need to get one.)  A new year, a fresh start, and a large portion of the population is making resolutions.  Resolving to do things to be healthier and happier.  No one makes resolutions to eat more french fries or watch more TV.  At least, no one I know.  I make the same resolution every January 1st.  To floss more.  Generally by this time, I've fallen off the flossing wagon.  But that's about the only one I make.  I'm not going to resolve to do something I hate doing and thus have no chance of changing.  Maybe I should resolve to change my attitude.  Ahhh, but I've done that.  Prozac helps.

I know what needs to be done in my life to improve it, I just can't find the motivation to get going on any of it (exercise, eat right, exercise, organize, exercise).  I do things in bits and spurts and it rarely lasts longer than a week.  If I joined a gym for the new year I would only last a few weeks.  I know that about myself, so I don't join. 

While scrolling through Flickr to find some pictures to add to this posting I saw a jar of resolutions.  I think I might try that.  Every day I can pick something new.  Things that are small and manageable.  Things that I can do in less than an hour.   I think pulling a new thing out of a jar each day might make the whole thing more do-able.  If it's kind of fun, I might keep it going.  If I can come up with 20 things or so, I might get some positive changes going bit by bit.  I think I'll also put in some stuff that are like easy passes.  "Give yourself a manicure."  If I pull it out of the jar, I have to do it.  That means that I have to make some time to do something for myself. 

After writing that paragraph, I got out a piece of heavy paper and a permanent marker and wrote up a list of things to put in my jar of daily resolutions.  It wasn't as difficult as it first seemed.  Once I got going, I really got going.  I've got more than 30, so it's enough to do something a day for over a month.  Then I can put all those pieces of paper back in the jar and start all over again.  If I think of another something, I can always add it to the jar. 

One little tiny step at a time.  Something; no matter how small, has got to be better than nothing.  Every day, my own little revolution. 

Always remember that the future comes one day at a time.
Dean Acheson

Ho, Ho, Ho, Scary Christmas!

"Did you ever notice that life seems to follow certain patterns? Like I noticed that every year around this time, I hear Christmas music." ~~Tom Sims

It's the crack down to Christmas.  Time to crack down and make those gifts I've been procrastinating making.  Time to crack down and wrap those gifts I bought.  Time to crack down and bake those Christmas goodies that everyone is expecting to eat over the holidays.  Time to crack down and clean the house, so Santa isn't tripping over miscellaneous things as he deposits the stuff the good people in my house are recieving this year. 

I guess that means I'm going to have to put off starting Stephen King's 11/22/63. 


I've never read a Stephen King book.  The only movie based on one of his books that I've seen is Misery.  First impressions are hard to break.  My first impressions of Stephen King include movie posters of The Shining and It.  Much too scary for me, even if the rest of his books haven't all been along those lines.  And it's not like I haven't enjoyed other creepy novels.  I read a fair number of Dean Koontz's books and some of those were pretty scary.  Some of Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child's books have been scary and I've enjoyed all of them.  

So, this latest book by King will be my first.  Here's the couple sentences that made me want to read it:

ON NOVEMBER 22, 1963, THREE SHOTS RANG OUT IN DALLAS, PRESIDENT KENNEDY DIED, AND THE WORLD CHANGED.  WHAT IF YOU COULD CHANGE IT BACK?

Sounds intriguing, doesn't it?  Yep. Once Christmas is over I'll be able to give it my full attention.  Until then, it will only get bits and pieces of my time.  I should have waited a bit to order it.  Oh well, who could have guessed that this inter-library loan request would go through so fast?

Happy Holidays!  Here's hoping you get a good book to read, among all the other gifts under the tree.  If not, the library will be open again next Tuesday, and you can come and check out one of the good ones we got!
  

I still find each day too short for all the thoughts I want to think, all the walks I want to take, all the books I want to read and all the friends I want to see. ~John Burroughs

Not your average snowman

“Getting an inch of snow is like winning 10 cents in the lottery.”
― Bill Watterson





The gray gloomy days with no snow are just right for settling down under deep layers of blankets with a good book and a cup of hot cocoa.  The gray gloomy days with snow falling down from the sky are also good for settling down under deep layers of blankets with a good book and a cup of cocoa. 

I'd rather have the snow right now.  This slushy rain/snow mix that we've gotten is not my idea of a good time.  We live in northern Minnesota, we're used to snow.  We can handle it.  Some of us even enjoy it.  I enjoy it (at least for the first few months.)  Even most snow haters want a white Christmas.  But, we may be looking at a brown one this year.

I guess if I can't be out enjoying the snow, it's good that I've got a couple books to read.  The library has been a busy place lately, with lots of books going out.  

The teenaged boys who spent a good part of the evening in the library last night didn't leave with any books, but they left a gift for me.  A tiny snowman on my car.  He fell off as soon as I turned the wipers on, but I appreciated the thought.  Kind of.  What made me laugh was the snowman in the middle of the street with another laying in front of it.  It was a snowman sculpture straight out of Calvin and Hobbes.  I wish I had a picture of it.  If you aren't familiar with Calvin and Hobbes, here's one of many featuring snowpeople creations: 

They say laughter is the best medicine.  Find a Calvin and Hobbes book and that will cure what ails you.  It's been 16 years since Bill Watterson quit his daily comic strip.  The adventures of a precocious 6-year-old boy and his stuffed tiger are one of the best examples of imagination at work that I've ever come across.  Bill Watterson quit while he was ahead, leaving a stack of work that never grew stale. 

If you have a reluctant reader among those you give gifts to, you might think about giving them a Calvin and Hobbes book.  Before you wrap it up, give it a read.  You won't be sorry.

Pin your interests to the wall.

When you dream alone, with your eyes shut, asleep, that dream is an illusion. But when we dream together, sharing the same dream, awake and with our eyes wide open, then that dream becomes reality!  ~~Source Unknown

Source: google.com via Yvonne on Pinterest

Well, last weekend's shopping excursion was a success.  I bought pretty much everything I'm going to buy.  Now, to get the tree up and the gifts wrapped and put under it.  I am not done with all the things I need to make for Christmas.  I've got some knitting and sewing to do.  I plan on making our Christmas cards again this year with some help from the children.  So far, I've bought the paper. 

I discovered Pinterest a couple weeks ago, and finally got my invitation to join last Tuesday.  I've spent a lot of time looking at all the favorite things people are posting there.  Now that I'm a bona fide member, I can post my own things as well.  Whoever thought of this website is brilliant.  I now have a place to put all those ideas I get from various websites along with a picture to give me an idea why I saved the site to begin with.  I've used delicious for years, generally for sites that I've found helpful or of interest.  I've never really known what to do when I've found one thing on one site that I want to remember.  I've saved those miscellaneous things in my favorites tab on my computer; but my favorites tab is getting a bit crowded, and I often don't remember exactly why I saved a site.  Pinterest is a solution to that problem.  A picture is saved along with a link to the site you're saving.  That super cute fleece hat that I've got saved in my favorites but can no longer find because I have no idea the website associated with it?  No longer a problem. 

On one hand, pinterest can be seen as:

Source: google.com via Alex on Pinterest

And on the other hand it's:

Source: thevintageapple.com via Sheryl on Pinterest

It's pretty much all of the above.  It's a lot of interesting things.  And I could spend the rest of the evening searching for things to create instead of finishing something I've already started crafting. 

There are so many amazing people and things to discover.  I may copy their ideas, but their ideas are there for sharing.  Sharing is great.  Of all those ideas I had saved in various places there are only a few that will actually make it onto my "done" list.  But; if I share those ideas around, maybe someone else will get inspired to create it and cross it off of their own "done" list.   
  

Source: Uploaded by user via Jane on Pinterest

Only how many more days?

The color of springtime is in the flowers, the color of winter is in the imagination. ~Terri Guillemets

Today is the first day of December.  Today I can start decorating for Christmas.  (I guess I should take down the Halloween stuff first.)  The children have made their wish lists, and I have made plans to go Christmas shopping with one of my girlfriends this weekend.  Here's hoping I can get it all done.  Okay, that's an unattainable goal for me.  It would be better to say here's hoping I can get half of it done.  I've made a plan and that's a step in the right direction.

I need to get to work crafting some gifts.  Homemade gifts are it for the name drawing presents with both my family and my husband's family this year.  It's always amazing to me what people can come up with.  Have you heard of pinterest?  Basically, it's a website where people pin things they are interested in.  Take a look, and see all the crafty things people have created.  I'm getting to the point where I really should have a plan for what to make for the name draw on my family's side, but I don't.  I should have cheated when I had the chance.  (Cheating is allowed, we're very open and honest about that.)  I don't know why I didn't.  I should have cheated last year too, but didn't.  It's ALLOWED.  Next year I'm cheating for sure.  Every three years I should cheat in order to get the name of a person I already have an idea for.

The library has been a fabulous resource when searching for things to make people for Christmas.  I don't have near as many books checked out as I did a couple weeks ago, but my library book area is still pretty full.  You can find books on how to create just about everything.  If you can find a website on how to make a bomb, you should be able to find a book on how to make something much less dangerous.  (Although, I have a nephew that would probably love to get a bomb for Christmas.)  Type "making" into the subject search, and see how many books pop up.  I request them through inter-library loan, peruse them, and get ideas.  Even if I never use those ideas, it helps get the creative juices flowing.


There's only a smidgy bit of snow on the ground.  I'm ready for a bit more.  It would be nice to take a snowshoeing break from holiday creating/wrapping/baking/decorating.  A walk through the woods is one of the greatest ways for me to get inspired.  Something about the quiet stillness and the snowbound trees lets my mind sift through all those ideas that have been converging in my brain.  Until we get some more of the white stuff, I guess I'll be left to my own devices.  Yep, I ordered a few more books this morning.

My mind contains many good ideas, but it's not always easy to squeeze one out.  ~Ashleigh Brilliant
 

We gather together, now please get lost.

We're only a day away from the holiday where it is perfectly acceptable to eat your weight in pie.  Okay, maybe that's just my family.  Somehow this holiday snuck up on me.  I haven't even finished off the kids' Halloween candy yet.

So, today is baking day.  A pumpkin pie, because it just wouldn't be Thanksgiving without one.  I'm also bringing a chocolate cream pie for those who aren't lovers of fruit pies.  I volunteered to bring sweet potatoes, because I love them.  I don't know that anyone else in my husband's family does, but I do.  A lot.  My mouth is watering just thinking about them.

We're fortunate in that we never have to travel very far for holidays.  This year we're only going a couple hours east to Duluth, MN.  Besides the food, it's a day to spend time with family.  Games and conversation with people other than the people who live in your house. 


This year is a little different.  Lots of stores are opening their doors at midnight.  Oh good, I don't have to go to bed for a few hours before waking to get the Black Friday deals.  Or not.  I'm not a huge Black Friday shopper to begin with.  Not much of a shopper at all.  I've gone the past couple years, lured in by great deals.  It's the thrill of getting something for closer to nothing.  Whether you need it or not.  It's kind of fun.   


But, I don't really care for this opening at midnight business.  Some stores are open on Thursday.  Talk about cutting into family time.  Sure, you may be getting things for your family for Christmas; but what about time spent with family?  Shouldn't that be worth more than the material gift you're giving later?  I suppose if you aren't spending Thanksgiving without your family, this would be a great time for joining in with a throng of people to fight over the hottest selling items. 


I think I'm going to skip Black Friday shopping this year.  I don't need anything that bad.  I'll just sleep in and have a piece of pumpkin pie for breakfast instead.



But see, in our open clearings, how golden the melons lie;
Enrich them with sweets and spices, and give us the pumpkin-pie!
~Margaret Junkin Preston

It is preoccupation with possessions, more than anything else, that prevents men from living freely and nobly. ~~Bertrand Russell

Lost Treasures: Not Ramona, James, Henry, or Laura

 I ransack public libraries, and find them full of sunk treasure.
-Virginia Woolf

When thinking back on your younger years, what book memory is forefront in your mind?  Which book was not an enduring classic that everyone around you read?  Which book do you remember reading that perhaps no one else in your class read?  What book did you love that disappeared?

Last winter I ordered a book for my mom that she loved as a kid.  The Diamond in the Window by Jane Langton was a fun read for me and an even more fun read for her.  I had never even heard of the book; but she read it more than once as a kid, and never forgot it.  

On Tuesday I placed a request for the book a man read when he was in 5th grade.  There is one copy in the whole state of Minnesota.  How fun to sit down with a book you haven't seen in over forty years.  It's fun even when it's only been a decade.  This patron talked about another of his childhood favorites, but I didn't have to order that one for him.  He had found it at a book sale.  It was obvious the joy he has to have found this treasure from his youth.

I have a missing book.  I know exactly where it stood on the school library shelf.  I have no idea the name of the book, but the author's last name starts with a letter at the beginning of the alphabet.  I only vaguely remember what the book was about.  It had something to do with a garden gazing ball with some sort of mysterious power.  I suppose I should harness my super human book finding abilities and try to track that book down.  I know I've looked for it at used book sales and never found it.  It was a book I read while members of my class devoured James and the Giant Peach and Deenie.

I would have another missing book if I hadn't been fortunate enough to get it when they weeded it from the school library.  Time at the Top by Edward Ormondroyd.  Never heard of it?  No, I suppose not.  This book may have something to do with my love of houses with towers.  A girl travels back in time when the elevator at her building goes a bit crazy.  Magic, mystery, a problem solved, and a happy ending.  What more could a 4th grader want?  I read it many times.  When I read it again last year, it had been at least 25 years since my last read.  It still held all the charm as it did when I was ten, but maybe with some different nuances to it.  A little nostalgia, a little flashback to the kid who read it for the first time, a little added sweetness to the story.


I'm often found reading books that are off the beaten path.  I've been doing that almost as long as I've been reading.  After reading my mother's lost book and re-reading my own treasure from the past, it was interesting to see how similar the stories were.  I read hers first and kept thinking of mine.  The same magic appealed to us both as young girls. 

How does your lost book compare to the books you read now?  In what way/s did it influence your life?  Have you looked for that lost book?  Have you found it and re-read it?  If you are a kid, have a kid, or know a kid; ask them if they've discovered a book to treasure.

See if your librarian can track down a copy of one of the treasures of your youth.  Ask me, please.  I'd love to see if I can find a copy for you.  I'd really love to see your face when it's placed into your hands; like a lost treasure, found.

Would you persuade, speak of interest, not of reason. ~Benjamin Franklin

Let one who wants to move and convince others, first be convinced and moved themselves. If a person speaks with genuine earnestness the thoughts, the emotion and the actual condition of their own heart, others will listen because we all are knit together by the tie of sympathy.  ~Thomas Carlyle

I just started reading this book a few days ago.  It's one of a few non-fiction books I'm currently reading, so I'm only about half way through it.  It's a great book so far.  I keep thinking that everyone who is in any way involved with children should read this.  If you are a teacher, you should read this book.  If you are a school administrator, you should read this book.  If you make policies for/about children, you should read this book.  If you are a parent, you should read this book.  Everyone else should read it too.  If you don't consider yourself a reader, read this book.  If you can't read, get an audio version.

I've only read the first half, but from what I've gathered so far, it's a book about sparking children's interest in reading.  Donalyn Miller is a 6th grade reading teacher. You may not be a reading teacher, or one with 6th graders; but the lessons she's learned and shares in this book can be applied to anyone, anywhere.  Most library workers have been doing a version of what she's talking about for years. We talk up a book and peak the interest of perspective readers.  If you're a reader, you've probably done it yourself.  It's talking about this great book you read.  In my case, sometimes I'll even talk about books that have piqued my interest but I haven't had a chance to read yet.  The best part about that is that I can get some feedback to prompt me to remove it from my list of want-to-reads or to move it up on my list. 

Donalyn Miller also states her opinion that reading shouldn't be linked to rewards:

     "I have never observed a student who developed a long-term reading habit because of an incentive program.  Even if the students are somehow motivated to read because of the ticket, free pizza, or other prize, odds are that they will abandon reading as soon as the incentive is earned.  Unfortunately, the only purpose these programs serve is to convince students there is no innate value in reading and that it is only worth doing if there is a prize involved." 

That's pretty much been my experience in my 12+ years of winter and summer reading programs.  The kids who are avid readers rack up points like nobody's business and those "reluctant" readers read a few books and take home some cheap trinkets.  The playing field leveled once I started valuing the time spent reading vs. the number of books read.  But again, the avid reader already has a habit of reading.  It's just a matter of writing it down in order to get a prize.

I pick out the prizes for the winter and summer reading programs.  You would think that with the avid readers I have at my house I wouldn't buy junk.  But, you'd be wrong.  Money is tight and we want to make sure we have something for everyone.  I run a prize store.  The kids get a library dollar for every 20 minutes they read.  Some kids come on prize day and earn $3 while others earn $60.  Guess what they all look at?  Yep, my kids have brought home all kinds of $1-$5 things.  Guess what I stick back in the prize box at the end of library store.  Yep, a lot of "good" high ticket items.  You would think that after 12+ years I'd know what the kids would want.  But, as soon as I figure it out, it changes.

This year our winter reading program's theme is Curl Up With A Good Book.  Yep, there's a bookworm curled around a book on the ice at the curling arena.  I don't know much about curling.  But, I've got left-over polar bear, penguin, snowmen/snow-women and snowflake stuff from past years.  I started looking over the trinkets available last week and just couldn't get myself excited about it.  So, this year we're going to do something a bit different.  Bigger set prizes for each minute of reading goal met.  Yep, incentives.  They're expected for the library reading programs.  And, I'm happy to hand them out.  Every year I hope to turn on the bulb and light someone's way to a life-long reading habit.  I don't think the incentives have ever sparked that, but perhaps the repeated reading and talking about books over the course of the program points some kids in the right direction.

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The young mind is pliable and imitates, but in more advanced states grows rigid and must be warmed and softened before it will receive a deep impression. ~Joshua Renolds

Where did you find that book?

“It is not enough to simply teach children to read; we have to give them something worth reading. Something that will stretch their imaginations--something that will help them make sense of their own lives and encourage them to reach out toward people whose lives are quite different from their own.”   --- Katherine Patterson


No, this isn't a posting about AWOL library books found in weird places.  Although I have a lot of experience with that.  This is one about books for kids.  My sister recently asked for a few suggestions for her oldest child who is reading way above grade level.  He was given a list of books at school that he could choose from.  On the list were books like the Nate the Great series by Marjorie Sharmat and the Magic Treehouse books by Mary Pope Osbourne.  I do love those books, but they don't hold a whole lot of interest for a kid who recently finished the Percy Jackson & the Olympians books by Rick Riordan.  So, where do you go to find books that are age and reading level appropriate for your child?

Ask someone who works in the children's section of a library.  If the library is too small to have one specific person working the children/young adult section, then anyone behind the desk should be able to help you.  Generally we have a pretty good idea about what is popular.  Or what is going to be popular.  We've got resources at our fingertips to help you find a book for young and old alike. 

I'm not going to lie.  Some of us have more fun with that than others.  It's one of the things I love about my job.  Finding a new book for someone to love.  Usually I hit the nail on the head, but there have been times that I've failed miserably.  I work at a couple very small libraries where the times I've failed keep getting brought up.  Oh well, I know as well as they do that what I recommend is usually pretty good.  Three strikes and you're out, I haven't gotten that yet.  Or, maybe once I strike out those people know to come when I'm not around.  

Back to where to find a good book for you/your child to read.  Easy enough.  Search Barnes and Noble or any of the other national bookseller websites.  Type in the name of a book you really like and see what other books people who have bought that title have purchased.  One click will lead to another and another and another until you have a whole list of books.  I generally have one tab open to the bookseller site and another to the Arrowhead catalog.  Read a title that's appealing and request it all within a few minutes.

Another place to look are the best-seller lists.  I enjoy checking out the New York Times book section.  You no longer need to live in New York city to get a copy as it's all available online.  (Although when I'm in NYC I love to get the Sunday NYTimes in paper form, but I digress.)  Their book section has a bunch of best seller children's lists: children's series, children's chapter, children's paperbacks, graphic hardcover and paperback, manga, and children's picture books.  Chances are pretty good that you will be able to find something appealing on one of those lists.

One database that I use A LOT is Novelist.  You can find it on the Arrowhead website under Services for Library Patrons and then under Magazines, Newspapers, and other Databases.  If you're looking at it from your computer at home, you will need your library card number in order to access the database.  This database was one of the main reasons I memorized my card number.  I use it all the time.  It's a handy tool for kids and adults alike.  There's a tab for age group on the left hand side, with a listing of recommended titles by genre.  H-A-N-D-Y!!  There's also a section for ages 8-adult with titles selected by other books you like.  If you like. . .The Lightning Thief. . .here are 15 or more other books you might like.  Seriously, how does this database not get more attention?  I love it.

By far, the easiest of these ways to find a book is to ask a librarian.  Or a library worker (technically, I'm not a librarian.)  They can be your best asset.  


Any book that helps a child to form a habit of reading, to make reading one of his deep and continuing needs, is good for him.
Maya Angelou

Wow, that's footballsy.

"I certainly think that taking a look at the Legacy money to fund a stadium is something that should be on the table," said Rep. Kurt Daudt, R-Crown, an assistant Majority Leader in the Minnesota House.


Wow, I just heard about this.  Let's fund a new stadium using the Legacy money.  You remember what that is, right?  We voted in 2008 for the Legacy Amendment here in Minnesota that added a bit to our sales taxes to help fund arts, parks, and conservation.  Around here, we got a chance at our libraries to offer tickets to museums and events that our patrons may not otherwise have had access to.  There's a certain formula for the proceeds of this 3/8 of one percent sales tax hike:  33 percent to the clean water fund; 33 percent to the outdoor heritage fund; 19.75 percent to the arts and cultural heritage fund; and 14.25 percent to the parks and trails heritage fund.  Libraries got some of that 19.75% going to the arts and cultural heritage fund. 

There is some discussion of how loosely that money has been distributed and how even more willy-nilly the money has been accounted for.  So, it stands to reason that instead of handing out free tickets to cultural events and museums at libraries; some legislators want to use that money to help build a new stadium for our professional football team.

Guess what I think about that?

I don't like professional football.  It's driven me crazy for years.  I don't like the celebratory cavorting after every just about every play.  If I acted like that every time I shelved a book I would get fired.  Maybe they aren't as bad as they were when I first became irritated by that, but I haven't given professional football a second chance.

But that's beside the point.  I understand that a lot of people would be affected by the Vikings moving to a different state.  Love them or hate them, they do produce revenue for businesses.  There are a lot of people who work for them.  That guy who walks up and down the stands bellowing his hot dog prices relies on sporting events (and the hungry people who enjoy them) for his living.

I just don't think it's fair to change the rules when the game isn't going the way you want it to go.  Robbing Peter to pay Paul is what the whole shifting of funding looks like to me.  And poor Peter didn't have much to begin with.  Does professional football qualify as arts and cultural heritage, outdoor heritage, or parks and trails heritage?  I suppose if they want an outdoor stadium it could count as outdoor heritage.

I don't know what you think, but if this doesn't sound like an okay idea to you maybe you should send off some emails to your legislators.  I'm thinking I might even send one off to the Vikings. 

Vikings.  Hunh.  They were looters and pillagers, weren't they?


 Baseball is what we were.  Football is what we have become.  ~Mary McGrory

Lions, Tigers, and Bears, oh my!

Hold on, man. We don't go anywhere with "scary," "spooky," "haunted," or forbidden" in the title. ~From Scooby-Doo

I came to the realization today that Halloween is only a little more than a week off.  Yikes, how did that sneak up on me?  I don't have much time to get costumes ready for trick or treating.  Even less time to be ready for the costume party at the Calumet Public Library on Thursday (for ages birth to 4th grade). 


My youngest; Maeve, wants to be Dorothy.  Gingham dress, basket, red shoes and Toto all included in the mix.  I like to have a family theme, at least partly.  I haven't been able to convince my husband that the perfect costume for him this year would be Glinda the Good.  A month ago I brought home a pair of cowboy boots from a garage sale thinking Nora could use them as inspiration for her costume this year.  She's going as the scarecrow.  Since my husband may not go as Glinda, I think I will.  I have an old bridesmaid dress that I can turn over for good use.  Now to talk the 10-year-old to join the theme.  She told me that if she has to be part of the Wizard of Oz theme instead of Santa, she'd like to be one of the flying monkeys.  Yep, Santa it is.


I make the Halloween costumes at my house.  We don't buy them.  I may have to run out and get a few things to pull the costumes together, but it isn't the easy pick up a costume complete with mask thing.  I grew up in a make due with what you've got household, and have brought that attitude along with me to my own household (at least as far as Halloween is concerned).  You also get costumes that are unlike anyone else's.  I am a lover of things out of the ordinary, and home-made costumes often fall into that catagory.

Not that my costumes end up being that great.  I don't usually start working on them until a couple weeks or less (much less this year) before Halloween.  It is fun to take the kids trick or treating when the whole family is dressed up.  We live in the way backwoods, and in the first 5 years we lived there we got about 5 trick or treaters.  Total.  The most we ever got in one year was three.  So, we skip handing out treats and go out to get some.  We work for those treats.  And it's fun. 

I think my kids will fondly remember our Halloweens.  I may not be the mom who goes all out over birthday cakes and parties, but I'll go a little closer to all out to get them into a disguise.

Hunh.  I wonder what that says about me?

Clothes make a statement. Costumes tell a story. ~Mason Cooley

Changing seasons: Time to dig out the long underwear

A wind has blown the rain away and blown the sky away and all the leaves away, and the trees stand. I think, I too, have known autumn too long. ~e.e. cummings

It's really and truly fall.  It has been for many weeks, but we've kind of gotten used to warm and sunny days.  This chilly rain is a bit of a switch.  We shouldn't complain, we need the rain.  It is October, so it's not like days were you don't need a jacket are the norm.  It's been nice, and now it's time to accept the fact that it's going to get colder before it gets warmer again. 

Right now it's 49 and sunny(!).  The same temperature in March, and I'm putting on shorts.  Funny how the same exact temperature elicits different reactions in the same person.  It's all a matter of perspective.  It's hard to be sunny when the weather is so damp.  Seems like the immediate response is to put on a grumpy face and start complaining.  But, we really need the rain.  It's been several weeks of really nice weather where I've put off a lot of things inside.  (Not that I actually got anything done outside, but that's where I was.)  Today is finally sunny again, so maybe that will improve some moods.  That, and it's Friday.

Fall is not my favorite time of year.  The beginning of the season where the leaves are all dressed in their best colors and the sun is still giving off some warmth are wonderful.  It's once the wind blows the leaves off the trees and skies turn down their blue that I don't like.  At this time of year, it's all about getting ready for winter.  Hauling all the outdoor toys into the garage, raking the leaves, stacking firewood, putting all the summer clothes away, and digging out all the cold weather gear.  It's a bit of a transition time, and I'm not fond of it. 

I'm ready for the transition to be done.  Once all that work is taken care of, I'll be ready to don my snowshoes or make a snowman.  I'm ready for the bare branches to have a covering of the white stuff. 

But, I've got a lot of things to get done before that happens.  Here comes my grumpy face again.

Work is not a curse, but drudgery is!
~~Henry Ward Beecher

It's tough to make predictions, especially about the future. -Yogi Berra

Librarians are almost always very helpful and often almost absurdly knowledgeable. Their skills are probably very underestimated and largely underemployed. ~Charles Medawar

For a few years now, there has been some whisperings that public libraries are on their way to extinction.  You can download a book to your e-reader, iPod, or what-have-you instead of picking up the paper version.  "The kids don't read anymore, they just come into the library to play games on the computer."  I haven't actually heard this statement in awhile, but I have heard it many times in my 13 year career here.  Now that we are so deeply entrenched in our electronic devices, there has been some concern (generally from people who don't know any better) that public libraries aren't good for anything anymore.

For those not very familiar with what libraries have to offer, it may seem like that.  But, public libraries are actually in tune with what their patrons need and want.  Libraries take the pulse of the world and anticipate what is going to be needed/wanted next.  We have what you want before you even realize you want it.  At least that's the goal.  Downloadable audio books?  We had them before you even knew what they were.  E-books?  Yep, we've got those too.  When DVDs were the latest thing, we had them.  Blu-ray?  Now we have those.  You need information on anything?  Yes, we have databases galore to help you find the information you're looking for.

Books come in more than just paper now.  You can listen to them, or read them on a screen.  If you have a library card you can download a book.  You don't even have to visit the library.  It's all available online. 

I don't think paper books will disappear in my lifetime.  Seems like a dangerous thing to take an electronic book into the bathtub.  It's frowned upon to read an E-book when the pilot has just announced that all electronic devices need to be turned off.  I don't trust children under 4 with electronic devices either.  So, no, libraries are not about to become extinct over the fact that just about everyone on the planet now has a screen to read from.  The great thing about a book is that it never needs charging because the batteries never go dead.

What will the role of public libraries and the people who work in them be in 20 years?  I don't know, but I intend to stick around and find out.  We'll still be here waiting to help you find the information you need.  We'll still be anticipating what you will be asking for next.  We'll still be doing our best to get you what you want before you even know you want it.  The library of the future may look a bit different than the library of today in terms of what it has to offer, but look how far we've come in the past 10 years.  We're not going to be extinct, we're going to be moving along just as fast as everyone else.

The past cannot be changed. The future is yet in your power.
-Mary Pickford

CLENCHED FISTS AND KICKING FEET

Most people are willing to pay more to be amused than to be educated. ~Robert C. Savage, Life Lessons

It isn't so much that hard times are coming; the change observed is mostly soft times going. ~Groucho Marx

What happens when you can no longer pay for your own internet?  What happens when you can't afford to buy books for your children?  What happens when you need help updating your resume?  What happens when budget cuts interfere with your access to information?


Times are tough, and it looks like it might be getting tougher.  There hasn't been a fast fix to our recession woes.  We're a global society used to getting what we want when we want it; and if we don't get it, we throw a fit like a spoiled three-year-old denied a cookie before dinner. 


The Maintanence of Effort was given to us last week.  That's the money that we are required to get for the year, based on funding from previous years.  Once upon a more prosperous time, library budgets were "safe".  They haven't been safe for a while.  We got news that next year our funding is being cut.  AGAIN.  Really?  Our lower income community has a great need for the services we provide.  How many times have we helped patrons find things they need online?  How many resumes have we proof-read and printed out?  How many kids get to read new (to them) books on a regular basis?  How many adults get to read the latest hardcover without shelling out their hard earned cash?  How much money have people saved by checking out a DVD instead of renting one? 

I suppose it's all in your sense of priorities.  I don't care a thing about the NFL, so a new stadium for the Minnesota Vikings is not real high on my list of things that I feel need to be funded right now.  I obviously work at a place that recieves government funding, and I'd like that to not go down.  No one really wants to pay for services they aren't using.  I don't have season tickets to the Vikings, you don't have a library card.  Who gets funding, who gets cuts?  Who wins?  I'm not sure there is a winner.  I'm thinking this is a lose/lose situation. 

Sheesh, someone sure got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.  I'm probably not the only one though.  Just about everyone is upset over something our government is or isn't doing.  Differences in priorities is the biggest factor in that.  I'm glad I'm not a politician.  They can't win because they've got to say "no" to somebody.  And there goes the tantrum again.

All right, I'm a whiner.  I'm lucky I still have a job.  For now.  The cut we've been given is a bit more than my yearly wages.  I'm glad the library board recognizes and values my role here as a one-day-a-week worker with a love of libraries and literature.  I write the blog, I do story-hour (starts next week!!), and I keep my ear to the ground when it comes to things book and library related.  We've cut where we can over the years, and we still have patrons who appreciate what we are able to provide.  There are ways of making due with what you have.   

Although, it is a lot easier to just throw a tantrum. 

One half of knowing what you want is knowing what you must give up before you get it. ~Sidney Howard