AliceBakerBlog

Smiling Faces

Today is a good day to sing about some of our unsung heroes here at Alice Baker Library--our volunteers who do so much behind the scenes to keep the library humming along.  Where would we be without dedicated volunteeers supporting our staff?  So many jobs needing doing, so little money for remuneration.  These folks do it, week after week, for the love of the library.

Marilyn comes in once a week to organize our vestibule, bulletin boards, and handouts.  This sort of thing can get out of control rapidly without a strong hand to keep it all straight.  Marilyn reigns it all in with ease.  She also helps process new acquisitions, and is always ready to do any other task that needs doing.  And always with a cheerful smile.

Mabel usually comes in on Mondays to help us with check-in of the flood of items returned over the weekend.  She processes and organizes our periodical collection--another vital job.  Mabel was among the founders of the library, served on the Library Board, and is among the most enthusiastic library boosters we've ever seen.

Roseanne is among the most organized people we know, and she uses those organizational skills to help us keep our bookshelves clean, tidy, and in correct order.  Her husband was cut out of the same mold, and has assisted us with many building and fix-it projects.  We can always depend on Darol to do the job perfectly, using the best possible materials.

What a great crew!  Next month we're planning a thank-you shindig for all our volunteers.  More information on that soon...

From the Balcony

Remember Statler and Waldorf, the irascible duo of hecklers on the old Muppet Show on TV?  These guys have a great new gig as movie reviewers on From the Balcony.  Their bad attitudes are still intact and they still have lots of opinions on everything.  You can subscribe, having each episode emailed to you, or if you were lucky enough to receive an iPod from Santa, you can also subscribe to them as podcasts.

Link courtesy of Sites and Soundbytes.

A Chrismas Carol

One last look at a Christmas-y topic before we turn our eyes toward New Year's festivities:  this appreciative essay about the enduring appeal of Charles Dicken's A Christmas Carol appeared Christmas Eve in The Guardian.

SnowDays

Thanks to one of our board members who likes to waste time on the Internet almost as much as I do, I've re-connected with the best holiday time waster ever devised--SnowDays' Create-A-Snowflake.  I had deleted my bookmark after Christmas last year, which was a big mistake.  As the holidays were rolling around this year, I couldn't bring it up on a Google search and was getting frustrated. 

There is another virtual snowflake maker, but it has you wielding some awkward virtual scissors.  On the SnowDays site, you just make the cuts by dragging your mouse, making intricate shapes possible.  When you're happy with your snowflake, you can sign your name, add a message, save it, send it to friends, or just let it filter down with all the rest of the flakes on the display.  You can also waste more time by clicking on other snowflakes and seeing what other folks have created.

Enjoy!  Merry Christmas from all of us at Alice Baker Library.

Happy News

From war to natural disasters, it's been a rocky year. Tired of all the depressingly sad news in the media today?  Relief is here, courtesy of Sites and Soundbytes, itself a frequently updated listing of Internet gems.

Happy News is full of positive news items, the things that often are either buried in the back pages, or completely overlooked by the mainstream media.  When the world and its travails weigh you down, this is a good antidote.

Magical Thinking

Joan Didion's new book The Year of Magical Thinking has been mentioned on nearly every "best" list for 2005.  In the book, she chronicles the mourning time after the death of her husband, John Gregory Dunne.  She has since also lost her daughter, and this interview in the Guardian is touched with the poignancy of grieving.

On a cheerier note: the holidays are closing in on us all and I apologize for the dearth of posts the last few days.  But life is good in the library during Christmas week.  We are inundated with cookies, chocolates, and other goodies of all kinds, healthy and otherwise!  Thanks to our most thoughtful patrons.  It's our privilege to serve you.

TLC Holiday Party

A surprise guest arrives.

Keeping everyone fed.

Lots of hijinks.

A whirling gift exchange.

Even the grownups got to eat.

TLC, the library's Teen Council, held its holiday party on Friday, December 16.  A good time was had by all with cookie decorating, pizza-eating, and a gift trade-off.  Caroline Boucher, last year's volunteer group advisor, made a surprise appearance.

TLC has been supplying the library with ideas, fundraising, and teen advisory for  several years now.  With the help of lots of teen input, our Young Adult area has been transformed, and our YA book collection has grown mightily.

Eagle Community Showcase

Have a business or organization and need to get your message to the public?  We have just the event for you. 

On Saturday, January 21, 2006, from noon to 3:00 p.m., we'll be sponsoring The Eagle Community Showcase at Eagle Elementary School.  Area businesses are invited to participate in this family-friendly afternoon event.  Registration can be completed online or at the library.  There is no charge for a table.

If you're an area resident, new or otherwise, save the date.  We plan a bang-up event showing off all the best the Eagle area has to offer.

For more information, call the library: 262-594-2800.

Snow Day!

Imagine that--a snow day!  Back tomorrow, when the snow may be a lot deeper.

More Bests

Starting to sound like a broken record here: one more list of Best Books of 2005.  This one is from Kirkus Reviews, and while it includes some books mentioned on previously posted lists from the last few days, there are some new and different titles.

As is pretty obvious by now, I like these lists.  In our small library, we are pretty much limited in our aquisitions to what we know our patrons will read.  There is much out there, especially in the realm of literary fiction, that we don't see.  Many times lists like these contain some real gems that I've missed.

Happy perusing and happy reading.