Saturday at the Library

Saturday is unlike any other day at the library. It is the relaxed day. People stroll in, no rushing. A lady lounges in a chair, leisurely reading a magazine. Another couple spreads out the newspapers on the table. Computers are busy all day, but no one stays on very long. Patrons drop by for books, but stop to chat. The phone doesn't ring nearly as much, but when it does the question is often the same. "What are your hours today?" As the day goes on it changes. "How late are you open?"

Now that it is spring, one of the biggest activities on sunny days is selling the town leaf bags. You can guarantee on the those first bright, warm days that at least ten people will be cleaning up their yards and discover they need leaf bags. Two hours later they return, flushed and sweaty, to announce they need more left bags. I think there must be two groups, the fall leaf baggers and the spring leaf baggers. I sure hope it isn't the same person coming back twice a year for 2 or 3 packages of bags.

As the afternoon winds down, we close at 5:00 by the way, the crowd of patrons thins out. The people finish up on the computers and the newspapers are put away. We start to go through the routine of closing the library. That's when the ten people who knew they had to come to the library all day realize it is almost closing time, but they are sure they can get there before closing to make that copy, check their e-mail and find that book for school on Monday. Usually they are in and out by 5:00, but put the emphasis on usually.

Have a good weekend or what is left of it, that is.

Lisa was a Starr

If you were one of the over 30 people who attended a presentation by Rhode Island poet laureate Lisa J. Starr last week at Bill Library, you were lucky to experience her poetry. To have a product of Ledyard so eloquently express herself was a treat for all who attended. For Lisa, it might have been a touch overwhelming to gaze over an audience that included childhood neighbors and friends, her fourth grade teacher and her father's former secretary. Yet with grace and style, she shared her poetry and her life with a willing audience.

Lisa Silverberg Starr grew up in Ledyard and graduated in 1984 from Ledyard High School. Her father was a prominent local attorney. He died when she was in her early teens after several years of illness. Her mother passed away a few years ago. Lisa, who is divorced, currently lives on Block Island with her two children Orrin (13) and Millie (12) and her dog Brother. They all figure prominently in her poetry. She owns and operates Hygeia House, a ten room inn. She has been poet laureate of Rhode Island for three years and will serve for two more years to complete her term. Her work as poet laureate has been to bring poetry to the less fortunate. To this end she has held poetry workshops in elderly communities, hospitals, shelters and the state prison.

The library is pleased to own a copy of her most recently poetry collection, Mad with Yellow. Her previous books are This Place Here and Days of Dogs and Driftwood.

We were delighted to have Lisa at Bill Library.

A Day in the Life of the Ledyard Public Libraries

Someone in a library in New Jersey apparently came up with the idea of snapshot day. It worked. So someone in a library in Connecticut heard about it and said let's do snapshot day in Connecticut. So we did. Libraries all over the state, took pictures and collected statistics for one day in the third week of February. What else did we have to do? February is a pretty dull month anyway. Ground Hog in the beginning, hearts in the middle and then it is gone in a quick 28 days! What librarians found, however, is quite amazing. People use libraries. What a concept! Nearly 100,000 items were checked out of libraries in Connecticut in one day. Over 80,000 people walked in the door, for one reason or another. Over 12,000 came to use a computer. So much for the theory that libraries will die because everyone will get all they need from a home computer.

What does a day in the life of the Ledyard Public Libraries look like? On Tuesday, February 18, 274 people visited the Bill and Gales Ferry Libraries. They checked out over 550 items. Judging from that, our patrons check out two items per visit on average. Nearly 50 people came to the libraries to use the computers. Over 45 children came for story times. Some came to read the newspaper or relax with a magazine and a cup of coffee. These things happen at your Ledyard Public Libraries every day. And that doesn't count all the people sitting at home or work taking advantage of the resources on the library web page. They are reserving items through the library catalog or state library catalog (request), learning how to repair their car using the Chilton's data base or finding out about washing machines on Consumer Reports on line.

A day in the life of Ledyard Public Libraries is many things to many people. And we are very happy to be here to serve your needs.

Have You Given Us Your E-mail Address?

As the Kenny Roger's song goes "you've got to know when to hold ...." Increasingly our patrons certainly do know when to hold. Our hold shelves are full to bursting with books, movies and cds that people have put on hold. We are very grateful for the many people who are now using e-mail for contact with the libraries. Everytime a book arrives in the library for you, an e-mail goes out informing you that it is ready.

Several days before your items are due, another e-mail goes out reminding you to return or renew your items. People have told us that they appreciate the reminders and it does cut down on fines. You also receive overdue and billing notices by e-mail for the items that have not found their way home to the library shelves. This saves the library postage costs when we do not have to mail notices.

We are happy to call patrons who are not e-mail users, but if you are, please consider giving us your e-mail address. We will be in touch!

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.