AliceBakerBlog

Flu Shot Clinic

The Flu Shot Clinic, scheduled for Saturday, November 14, has been canceled due to the nonavailability of vaccine. ProHealth Oconomowoc will reschedule when supplies of vaccine serum are available.

We apologize for any inconvenience.

Book Sale

F.A.B.L.E., the Alice Baker Library's Friends group is planning to hold a book sale on Monday, November 2, Tuesday, November 3, and Wednesday, November 4 during library open hours. A wide variety of books, as well as audios and videos, will be available. All proceeds will benefit the library. Wednesday will be Buck-a-Bag Day.

Off the Shelf, Onto the Laptop

This morning's New York Times explores the phenomenon of downloadable books and audio as provided by the public library.  Seems the Times has decided that this is an idea that's taking off!

Eager to attract digitally savvy patrons and capitalize on the growing popularity of electronic readers, public libraries across the country are expanding collections of books that reside on servers rather than shelves.

The idea is to capture borrowers who might not otherwise use the library, as well as to give existing customers the opportunity to try new formats.

“People still think of libraries as old dusty books on shelves, and it’s a perception we’re always trying to fight,” said Michael Colford, director of information technology at the Boston Public Library. “If we don’t provide this material for them, they are just going to stop using the library altogether.” 

Read more...

Waukesha County public libraries have offered these services for years. More and more library patrons are discovering the convenience of services such as NetLibrary which allows the download of books for conventional reading, and OverDrive, which offers downloadable audio.

Interested in NetLibrary? It's a great source of research material and other non-fiction. Ask any librarian to set up an account for you, which can then be accessed from your own computer.

OverDrive requires the download and installation of a media console on the user's computer--a quick, easy operation. Once that's done, the world of downloadable audio (and video) is at your fingertips.

Ask any librarian for more information on these two services.

Overdue Amnesty is Coming!

Alice Baker Library announces an overdue fine amnesty which will run from Monday, October 19 through Saturday, October 31. We will waive the fines on any overdue Alice Baker Library items returned during this time period.

We ask that patrons taking advantage of this amnesty donate to the Eagle Food Pantry. The holidays are coming and we'd love to give the Eagle Food Pantry a boost as they prepare for the time of year when their resources are most heavily called upon.

This amnesty applies only to overdue items owned by Alice Baker Library. It does not cover lost item fees or fines already charged.

Flu Shot Clinic

We've just been informed that the ProHealth Oconomowoc Flu Shot Clinic, originally scheduled for Friday, October 17, has been rescheduled for Saturday, November 14, from 9:30  a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

This Clinic will be held in the Eagle Municipal Hall, adjacent to the library. Seasonal flu shots will be $30. Pneumonia shots will be $40. 

H1N1 shots will not be available at this event.

Internet Classes

In the late summer, we put out feelers to gauge interest in a fall series of Intro to the Internet classes and were swamped with requests. As a result, Lynette is currently running two sections of basics classes, and Ronald will begin another series for beginners this Saturday morning. The classes include topics such as turning on a computer, terminology, and basic internet navigation. Students spend some time with mousing exercises, to improve eye-hand skills. The classes are small and include lots of individual attention.

Lynette is happy to work with students on a one-to-one basis.  Know a potential student? Have them call the library at 262-594-2800. We'll have them surfing the net with aplomb in short order.

It's Good to Be Part of WCFLS

Let us count the ways...

Membership in the Waukesha County Federated Library System has allowed Alice Baker Library to offer services that would be completely out of reach for an unaffiliated library of similar size.  Sharing costs among sixteen libraries makes state-of-the-art library services available for residents of small communities such as Eagle.

Just a few of the benefits of membership in WCFLS:

• System-wide area networking provides high speed internet service to the library.
• WCFLS Interlibrary loan support aids in obtaining specialty materials for patrons.
• County library transit delivers requested library materials to patrons quickly and efficiently. 
• More than a dozen powerful library research databases are available at Alice Baker Library; most are available for use from home computers.
• The hugely popular OverDrive provides downloadable audiobooks, video, and music.
• Entertainment and supplies are provided for well-loved Summer Library Programming.
• Continuing educational opportunities are available for library staff.

The Waukesha Country Federated Library System provides excellent value and service to a small library such as Alice Baker. It allows us to offer the world to our patrons.

Fall Fiction Feast

This fall should be a great reading time for fiction lovers. Lots of big-name authors have new books coming out in the next couple months.  We've already seen the debut of the new Dan Brown book, The Lost Symbol. That's either great news or a snooze-through, depending on your feeling about The Da Vinci Code.

An article from boston.com, focused mainly on the effect of this fiction bounty for booksellers, sums it up:

Authors releasing books this month include Lorrie Moore, William Trevor, Margaret Atwood, Nicholson Baker, Joyce Carol Oates, and Anne Tyler. Alice Munro, Jonathan Lethem, Philip Roth, and the late Kurt Vonnegut have new titles coming soon, too. Thomas Pynchon, Pat Conroy, and E.L. Doctorow have all published recently.

And speaking of Dan Brown:

What might be called the Dan Brown Effect is another factor potentially affecting the timing of book releases. Brown is about to publish “The Lost Symbol,’’ his long-awaited follow-up to 2003’s “The Da Vinci Code.’’ Stephen King also has a new novel, “Under the Dome,’’ out in November. Books like those can stretch out the publishing season in both directions, early and late, as major houses try to avoid competing for reader attention - and sales - with commercial powerhouses like these. At the same time, they’re hopeful customers rushing to buy Brown’s or King’s latest will walk out with a Tyler or Roth novel under their arms, too.

Read more....

and read on!

Lunch and Learn: Resume Workshop

Interested in maximizing the number one item in your job-hunting toolkit?

You'll want to attend our lunch hour resume writing workshop, Wednesday, September 30, from 11:50 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. We can show you how to make your resume the best of the bunch.

Our instructor will show how to transform a list of job tasks into success stories that will get attention. You'll learn how to write a profile and skills summary that will demonstrate your value to prospective employers.

Bottom line: this webinar will give you the skills to turn your experience and training into a powerful resume that will get interviews.

Bring a bag lunch to this session and put lunch hour work for YOU! For more information, contact the library at 262-594-2800.

Alice Baker LIbrary's Online Book Club

After some general testing of the waters at several other reading sites, the Alice Baker Online Book Club has comfortably settled in at GoodReads. New members are welcome to join at any time.  Books are chosen by genteel consensus but members are not required to read the group choices. No pressure at all...

Members can discuss club book choices, or other reading-related topics.  It's always good to find kindred spirits for book discussions.

GoodReads is a cool site for planning and journaling your reading whether you join the library's online club or not.  New members are asked to evaluate books they've read and GoodReads will make reading suggestions based on expressed likes and dislikes. It's always great to get new reading ideas.

Happy weekend reading to all.