Happy Holidays!

You probably did not need the foot or so of snow that fell the other day to remind you, but it is now the holiday season. I have actually heard people say that this new supply of white stuff puts them in the holiday spirit. I have to say, unequivocally, that I DID NOT need piles of snow to put me in the holiday mood. I DO NOT need freezing temperatures or long winter nights. I don't need chestnuts roasting on an open fire either, although I am not sure where I would get the chestnuts and an open fire sounds dangerous.

I think it is the traditions of the holiday season that bring back happy memories and create the glow of the holidays. At the library, it starts when the children's holiday books come out of storage in late November. Then the decorations go up. People notice and comment on how nice everything looks. Everyone starts to say Happy Holidays or Merry Christmas. Randy shows up in a Santa hat or elf ears. Then the food starts to arrive! A box of candy from Florence, cookies from Janet or JoAnne and shortbread from Sandy arrive every year! Such a pleasure for us. Now I am in the holiday spirit!

Happy Holidays from all of us at the Ledyard Public Libraries.

Busy Times at the Library

You have probably seen the statistics in the news. Library use is up all over the country. Computer use especially has grown exponentially over the last few years. It seems that when we purchase an additional computer that just causes computer use to rise even more. Just think a few years back it was predicted that computers would mean the death of libraries. The opposite has occurred. Or maybe the library has just evolved.

The library has always been able to change with the times. Remember the day when all you could find at the library was books? Have you checked any records out lately? Even the cassette tapes have become compact discs have become downloadable audio books. The times of waiting weeks to get a book not available on your home library shelves are long gone. So are the times of going to the library and filling out request slips for books not available on the shelf. Now you just go on line from home, request a book, get an e-mail and stop by the library to pick it up. The it could be a book, a cd, a dvd or even a magazine. You even get an e-mail from the library a few days before your items are due, so you can get them back on time or go on line and renew them.

Yes, it is busy these days at the library. We are busy doing the old fashioned things like checking books in and out for the many people who take advantage of the real value of a library and we are busy being here to serve a myriad of needs created by our ever changing society. For we know, if we add another computer...they will come.

Data Bases

The library has become so much more than books on the shelf. You know about the movies, cds, audio books and magazines, but do you know about the data bases? In a town that has two libraries, both full to capacity, we are constantly searching for a way to bring more to our patrons without taking up more space. With our growing collection of data bases, we have not only discovered a way to add to our collection without stuffing our shelves, we have found a way to clear space.

Now many volumes you once found on the shelf are available on your computer. If you are looking for a job, try JobNow! If you want to tackle repairing your own car or finding out about recalls, check out Chiltons. If you are preparing to make a purchase, look into Consumer Reports. If you need college information, the place to look is the Testing & Education Reference Center. The best part of all these data bases is you can find them all in one place. Check out all of them at www.lioninc.org/ledyard.

What's With this Weather?

I may have to break my resolve to leave the heat off until November 1st! I break it every year anyway, but this year is particuliarly annoying. I remember well into July people were wondering when summer was truly going to arrive. Everyone was saying this better mean we have a nice long autumn with warm weather. Wrong! Here we are in the middle of October and it feels like early December. I am afraid the next time I look out the window little white things will be floating through the air. I know there is some saying about "weather in New England always changing." It certainly seems to be true this year.

I guess I will have to go check The Old Farmer's Almanac to see what we have coming up. Did you know we have a copy at each library? If you are looking for a more authoritative book, Channel 8's Dr. Mel Goldstein, has a new book Dr. Mel's Connecticut Climate Book. I expect Dr. Mel would tell us that this weather is perfectly normal, at least once in every ten or fifteen years!

Summer Reading Assemblies

Every year Mrs. Brewer gives the kids in each elementary school a challenge. Whoever reads the most minutes gets to do something to her. This year our theme was Be Creative @ Your Library. The winners got a choice of painting a picture on a canvas...or using Mrs. Brewer as a canvas! Of course, you can guess which they chose...


Mrs. Brewer getting the "Jackson Pollock" treatment from Hannah in Gallup Hill School. Hannah was our top reader this year with 11,400 minutes read.

Lauren and Kaileen from Gales Ferry School spraying paint on the canvas of Mrs. Brewer.

Lauren and Kaileen tied for 1st place at Gales Ferry School with 2280 minutes read.

Rebecca's creation at Juliet W. Long School. Rebecca came in first at JWL and 2nd overall with 5760 minutes read.

Mrs. Brewer had the kids use "washable paint" but it took soaking in bleach and washing several times before all the paint came out!! Next year our theme is water...hmmm... what should be done to the crazy library lady then? Got any suggestions??

A Season of Change

Although fall doesn't officially arrive until September 22, I think we all are feeling a change in seasons. Children have returned to school, the little ones are starting nursery school and the older ones are off to college. Summer, possibily still our lazy season, is over. I say possibily because many people seem busy year around.

Now, just before the leaves start to turn color, the libraries are changing too. The Gales Ferry Library returns to regular hours on Saturday from 9-5. The Bill Library will be closed this Saturday due to the Ledyard Fair and the great Bill Book Sale. Another important change will come the following weekend, as Bill Library returns to regular hours of 9-5 on Saturday and 1-5 on Sunday. The Gales Ferry Library, unfortunately will remain closed on Sunday. In these challenging economic times, the library commission was forced to deal with a reduced budget. Sunday opening at Gales Ferry Library became a casualty. While we are sorry that both libraries will not be available to serve you on Sunday, we know you will receive excellent service at the Bill Library for all your Sunday library needs. Although we are very lucky to have two libraries in our town, remember they are both here to serve everyone in our town.

Change is Good

Change is good. Repeat after me. Change is good. And keep repeating it, as you see the changes that your Ledyard Libraries are making.

We do think change is good, especially when we are able to take advantage of grants to benefit library users who may have been overlooked. The new teen area at Bill Library will not only be a great addition for the after school and summer crowd, but also available to daytime users and has the added benefit of being close to Henry's Cafe. The popular children's area is also getting a lift with new shelves and added space with the exit of young adult books. Change is good.

The libraries are also making another change to benefit our patrons. With the wide growth of information on the internet, we have found many of our reference books sitting unused on the shelves, despite being a wealth of information. We are now going to make many of those reference books available for check out. This will give you the opportunity to actually read them rather than just looking at one section when you are in the library. We are also interfiling the remaining reference books with regular nonfiction, so you will have only one section to check for information.

Stay tuned for more changes. And remember--Change Is Good!