The Elementary School in Fairlee purchased eReaders for the school with a grant from the Vermont Rural Partnership.
As part of the after school program, the school Visions Director took students to the Fairlee Public Library with the school eReaders. Students met community mentors and the mentors and students used the eReaders to read stories together. Fairlee librarian Judy Russell pointed out that senior citizens are the fastest growing group to use eReaders.
Libraries all over Vermont are experiencing the usual technology rush as library members come in with their new iPads, smart phones, Kindles and other e-readers to get staff help. Nancy Tusinski at the Springfield Town Library decided to hold tech talks to encourage people to gather (flyer from this workshop is posted below). The Library owns some equipment, and is happy to help with ebook downloads, audiofiles, and general questions.
Debra Tinkham and Gail LaVaude at the Bradford Public Library (www.bradfordvtlibrary.org) have experimented with tech night themes. Pick a general topic like digital photography, make sure there are plenty of computers to go around, and dig in. Of course the public library doesn’t have a lock on technology; look to the community to find savvy volunteers willing to share what they know. Programs are held the first Wednesday of the month at 6 PM. Other topics have included downloading audio and eBooks from Listen Up! Vermont, Google Voice and Google Talk, and switching from PC to Mac with an Apple laptop or iPad.
If your library has some insights on raising the staff comfort level and offering training, please add your comments.
Here is the flyer from Nancy Tusinski’s Tech Talk workshops:
Valentines for veterans
Heres the Poultney Public Library:
What do you love about your Library? February is Library Lover’s Month! Please stop by the circulation desk to fill out a valentine heart or post on our Facebook wall to tell us what YOU love about the Poultney Public Library. Share the love by recommending our Facebook page to your friends. Right now 182 people “like” the Poultney Public Library. Let’s see if we can get that number over 200 by the end of February!
The Ilsley Public Library in Middlebury hosted a Living Books Program. Rather than having an author visit and talk about their book, they arranged for patrons to “check out” a person for a one-on-one conversation. Here’s the library description:
We make books come alive by inviting their authors to visit and talk with us. Now we’re going a step further.
On Saturday the 12th, we will feature living books. You check them out for up to 30 minutes, talk with them, and then return them. Have a coffee, sit down, it’s all about learning something new.
Each “book” is a person – local residents of different backgrounds (such as a retired FBI agent, a pro wrestler, and an animal rights activist) who have volunteered to be “checked-out” by readers for one-on-one conversations. Everyone stays in the library.
Bristol is hosting the One World Library Project, a growing collection of personally recommended books, films and other media about world cultures. Nice elaboration of the 2011 summer reading program theme, One World Many Stories.
The Project is located in a special kiosk on the main floor of the Lawrence Memorial Library in Bristol. In addition to the collection, monthly evening programs are offered around a variety of themes related to world cultures.
Website for Bristol’s project, including explanation and slideshow: https://sites.google.com/site/oneworldlibrary/
The Fletcher Free Library in Burlington is hosting a Harry Potter Read-A-Thon to celebrate the release of the “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” movie.
Harry Potter Read-a-thon. Friday, July 15th, 9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. Stop by the library any time during the day to hear a dramatic reading of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows to celebrate the movie’s release. Wizarding attire encouraged! Free. All ages welcome, but recommended for ages 8 & up. No preregistration needed.
Container gardening
Debbie Landauer used local gardener Jane Sorenson of River Berry Farm. Debbie suggests offering participants the option of paying for flowers or having the library pick up the tab. Ideally, each participant goes home with a container of flowers they created. Container gardening is on the rise for vegetables too. Think herbs, tomatoes, or even potatoes. Many Vermonters have participated in UVM’s Master Gardener series, one resource for local speakers.
Posted in Programs for Adults
Tagged containers, Fairfax, Fairfax Community Library, garden, gardener, programs
The Cobleigh Public Library has a modest webpage called The Plus Side of Libre for People 50 and Up. Here’s the text inviting viewers to travel on:
The years after the children are grown and the job is done are years, for some, of finding a new life span where there is still health. Most mature people are healthier than ever before and people in general are living longer, healthier lives. Some, with time on their hands, are finding new careers, new businesses, time to travel, civic engagement, volunteering, raising grand children or some still must work to make ends meet. Vibrant people living a life far from over are engaging in the growth of a new human dimension or life span. What does this mean in your life?
These pages are devoted to you and there is hope they would inspire you. If you have anything you want the library to think about adding that you would feel useful to others on this plus side of life, please speak up and contact Cindy at 626-5475 or cindyk”at”cobleighlibrary.org. Links follow for books, business, fun, health and resources.
McCullough Free Library in North Bennington partnered with Bennington College to create “The Jubilee Library Series.” The series kicked off with an afternoon meeting that included recipe exchanges, stories, and professionals demonstrating food preparation. Needless to add, people came, brought their favorite foods to share, and ate well.
Some of the questions setting the theme included: Deconstruct your absolute favorite breakfast
Have you ever cooked on a date?
Describe the best birthday cake you’ve ever eaten
Chris Danzo, chef and owner of Marigold Kitchen, showed how to make pizza dough and Carol Adonolfi created multi-grain pancakes.
Two Bennington College students, Rachel Sherk and Faith Griffiths, worked with the Library to create the series, which totaled four events on Saturday afternoons.
The four themes for the events were Food, Reading, Listening, and Making. Sherk and Griffiths planned to document the events and compile responses into a bound book to be given to the McCullough Free Library at the end of the series.
Julia Fickes stands next to her Empire style dress created using catalog cards and Jane Austen check-out cards for the bodice.
Peacham Library completed the move from the card catalog to a new automated library system. With this transition came the need to dispose of thousands of 3 x 5 catalog cards. Rather than just throw them out, library Director Becky Jensen decided to offer a contest. The “Celebrate Automation with a Creation” program allowed library patrons to take as many catalog cards as they wanted in order to create a project. Projects could be artistic, literary, funky or just plain fun! Patrons took on the challenge and created jewelry, a poem, clothing, a bulletin board, masks, a game, 3D scenes, a fishing pole, and a cat puppet.
Sixteen entries were received from patrons ranging in age from 4 to 93. Awards were given for all entries, including: “Best Miniature Work” for an origami crane on a ring; “Best Use of Title Cards” for a cat that was created using cards with such titles as The Cat Who Tailed a Thief (the tail) and the Cat in the Hat (leg);and “Best Literary Piece” for an Ogden Nash-inspired poem. What won “Best in Show”? Library patrons selected a dress made with catalog cards by thirteen-year-old Julia Fickes. The dress was designed in a style popular in Jane Austin books, with Jane Austen check-out cards used for the bodice. All entries were on display at Peacham Library in November 2010.
(Article recycled from December 2010 edition of Vermont Department of Libraries Newsletter)
