It's Cold Outside

This has certainly been an interesting winter. Interesting seems like the best word to use. I am sure several of you could think of a more colorful term. It seems more like an old fashioned winter to me. Having lived my first twenty two years in very northern New York, also known as the Canadian border, I remember snow on the ground and sub zero temperatures from November to April. I know I have been spoiled, however, by the many more years I have spent in sunny southeastern Connecticut.

This doesn't seem like global warming. More like global freezing! I am sure it is part of the "what goes around, comes around" theory of remembering history. If it happened in 1994 or 1894, it can happen again in 2009.

With the cold weather and approaching inauguration, I am reminded of a history lesson Barack Obama does not want to repeat. In 1841, inauguration day was apparently cold and wet. In coming President William Henry Harrison wanted to show his strength and did not wear an overcoat. He also gave the longest inaugural address in history, nearly two hours, and then sat outside for the parade. His time in office barely lasted a month. And his inauguration was in March! I am sure our incoming president will be more prudent.

And you can watch the inauguration on the big screen in comfort at the Bill Library from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday.

Season's Greetings

As I sit here waiting for the big snow or whatever snow finally shows up, I want to wish all of our library friends and supporters a very happy holiday season. As you rush from errand to errand, especially today, when everyone has to go to the store for milk and bread, I want you all to know how much we enjoy seeing and greeting our library "family" all year long.

The library is a public service institution and we aim to serve you. After all, the name of this blog is "At Your Service" and we are here to meet the literary, educational or even the movie and music needs of the community, but no one is just a library card number to us.

So enjoy your holidays and remember we look forward to seeing you soon.

Let's Gather

Fall is the time for gathering. We gather the leaves that fall into piles for jumping or more likely for dumping into bags or the woods. We gather the last of the vegetables from the garden before the first frost. And as the days grow colder, we gather our hats, scarves and mittens from their summer hiding places to wear once again. With Thanksgiving fast approaching, our thoughts turn to a gathering of friends and family.

Have you ever thought of the library as a gathering place? It is a place for everyone in the community. The shelves and display areas have already gathered a wide assortment of reading and listening material. It is all there for the borrowing. The library is a friendly, welcoming place to gather your thoughts as you pause in your busy day. Enjoy a cup of coffee or tea while you browse a magazine or the newspaper. Gather together at a large table to work on a class project with your friends or gather with a group of parents while your children enjoy a story time with Mrs. Brewer.

The library is truly a gathering place of thoughts and people.

Election Day

As librarians, we field many questions, but my favorite ones often come at this time of the year, especially in a national election year. Living in a somewhat transient community, we have residents who have never voted in Connecticut before. They may be familiar with voting procedures in other states, but Ledyard is foreign to them. They are looking for voting guides, sample ballots or even where to vote. I am always happy to locate as much informtion as necessary for them. I love to see democracy in action.

At times, they may even be looking for guidance on how to vote in particular races or questions. No matter how opinionated I may be about political issues, I never share that with patrons. After all, it is the job of a librarian to lead a horse to water; not to make him drink.

Please drink from the fountain of democracy today and exercise your right to vote. No matter who wins, remember it is our choice.

Finding What You Need @ Your Library, or What the Librarian Said

Our lovely summmer is now over, and fall is here along with the beginning of the academic year.
By now many students have probably been assigned a report or paper of some sort. We can help you gather sources for your assignments! In fact, many teachers assign the same projects each year, and we have built up our collection in those areas so that we can serve you better. Here are some suggestions to help you in your search, whether assignment-related or just for your own information.

Your first stop should be the front desk at either the Bill or Gales Ferry Libraries, where the Reference Librarian on duty will assist you in finding all the resources we offer. Bring your assignment with you, if possible. This will help us find exactly what you are looking for.

“It’s 2:00 a.m., do you know where your librarian is?” If you are searching for information after library hours, then use our website: www.lioninc.org/ledyard , and click on the Ledyard Libraries Catalog link. In here you can search for books, videos, music, audio books, etc. in 24 libraries. These include local libraries such as your own Ledyard Libraries, the New London Public, East Lyme, Old Lyme, and Otis Library in Norwich, and others state-wide.


Another great after-hours service is InfoAnytime, which has a button on our webpage. You can chat live with a reference librarian who can help you locate reliable resources on the web, in our catalog, and in the other databases we have access to, including the terrific resources in IConn!

If you have a day or so before you need a reply, then you may also email a reference request to us at: bill-lib@ledyard.lioninc.org . We will get back to you within 48 hours with the information you need.


If you have a laptop, bring it into either library and use our FREE WIFI! Most of the time, there is even a place to plug into an electrical outlet, so you don’t have to use up your battery.
If you don’t own a computer, (or if yours is having issues,) we have computers you can use at both the Gales Ferry and Bill Libraries. Sometimes you may only need to print out something, so just bring in your disc, CD, or jump drive, and you may print out your items in black & white or color. The cost is 10 cents a page for B&W, and 50 cents per page for color printouts. Remember, your first 3 reference prints are free each day. So, if it is informational material obtained from the internet, it counts as reference.

We have a new book on the subject of plagiarism that many of you would find helpful. This book is great for learning how to research and write reports with proper citations. It is also useful in protecting your own creative works! It is a YA book, but can be useful for any age group.

Don’t Steal Copyrighted Stuff !: Avoiding Plagiarism and Illegal Internet Downloading by Ann Gaines.
Call number: YA 808 Gai (Bill Library).

There are other books on the subject at 346.7304 as well.

I hope you find these suggestions helpful in your search for information. And as always, we are happy to help you to find everything you need!

It's a Rainy Day, It's a Rainy Day!

It really is a rainy day and we haven't had too many of those lately. We probably need two or three days of soaking rain to get our water levels up. We will still complain, however, about getting wet and ruined plans and how just plain annoying it is to have a truly rainy day.

Rainy days at the library are never fun. People stay home and don't come visit us or they dash in and drop their wet books on the counter and run back out between the rain drops. We look around for paper towels to dry off the wet items and plastic bags to put books in for a the few people who do show up. There is a whole rainy day routine.

A rainy or snowy (hate to mention that word in September) day doesn't have to separate you from your library, however. By accessing the library homepage on your computer at home, there is a plethora of opportunities waiting for you. I know you use the homepage or you wouldn't be reading this blog, but do you really use the homepage? Have you clicked on all the links to check out library programs, on line data bases and related Ledyard homepages? Just by clicking on the library catalog and going to my account, you can view the items you have checked out, renew any coming due before the rain stops and check to see if any of your requests have arrived at the library, so you can decide if a trip out in the rain is worth it. You can also search the library catalog and request books, movies, audios or magazines that are of interest to you. Check out the downloadable audio link to view the titles that are available to download to your computer and portable listening device (MP3 player, not Ipod), no matter where you are in the world, rainy or not.

So even though it is a rainy day and we can't go out and play, there is still so much that your library offers you.

Read a Good Book Lately?

While you were sitting on the beach or under the wide blue sky this summer, did you read a really good book? Every time someone comes in the library and asks me that question, I never quite know what to answer. Yes, I read a lot of good books over the summer, but my good books may not be your good books. Do you like to read fiction or nonfiction? Do you like mystery or romance? You may think the newest Stephen King is great but I would be scared to death just thinking about one of his books. I wouldn't read a James Patterson book if you paid me, well yes, if you paid me I would, that is just an expression, but I would never pick up one of his books by choice. I wouldn't open a Danielle Steel or a Nora Roberts. In fact, I almost never read anything that appears on the New York Times Best Seller List.

Best sellers, or I must be a changin', however, because I just looked at a recent list and I have read three of the top fiction and one of the nonfiction. I will leave the titles to your imagination, but let me know the good books you have been reading lately and I might just tell.