Changing of the Guard

I think all of us here at the library are in a state of denial over Margaret Riddle's retirement next week. We've known she was going to do it, but now that the end is near (May 30 is her last day), I find myself looking back at all the things Margaret has accomplished just in the 9 years I've known her, and realizing how much I'll miss her.

Margaret has quietly but persistently pushed us to be the best possible resource for local history. Her ability to track details and see the big picture, her interest in preservation, and digitization...well, I could go on and on extolling her virtues, but I know it would embarrass her. Margaret would always rather talk about history, so I think I'll focus on her most recent project instead. And that is the preservation and digitizing of our Sanborn Insurance Maps.

These valuable resources are used by homeowners and historians to see the location, footprint, and type of structure on a particular piece of property. The first set of maps was published in 1914. In 1955 the original maps were updated, allowing patrons to see changes over time. These have been given a new life in mylar protective sleeves and a very heavy duty binding. They are also now available on our website. We've scheduled a day-long farewell for Margaret in the Northwest Room on May 30. Stop by to see her, and to check out these very special resources.

Books and Relationships

My husband passed along an article he had printed off from the New York Times entitled "It's Not You, It's Your Books." It's an amusing article about the pitfalls of dating someone whose taste in books is not yours.

We are both dedicated readers, but his taste is much more eclectic than mine. He also has a lot more time to read than I do, since it is his major interest in life--while I spend time gardening, knitting (well, not that so much lately), etc. I seldom recommend books to him. I don't exactly know why, although I think he wouldn't be that interested in most of what I read. I'm a big mystery reader--he's not.

He often recommends books to me, and although he's sometimes frustrated that I don't seem to get to all of them, I have to say that I almost always really enjoy the ones he tells me to read.Over the years he's recommended A.S. Byatt's Possession, Absolute Friends by John LeCarre,and The Sixteen Pleasures by Robert Hellenga.

There's never enough time to read, but it's reassuring to know the library has something to suit almost every reading taste.

April 26, 2008

Last December, we conducted a patron satisfaction survey as part of our strategic planning process. One of the questions we asked was intended to gauge interest in podcasts of library programs and local history topics. The responses were favorable, so we are launching our first podcasting effort. I agreed to be the guinea pig, but we promise to provide more interesting content after this! Here's the link . Let me know what you think.

April 24, 2008

I thought I would add some pictures of our new family reading area. I wrote about it a while ago, and someone actually posted a comment asking to see pictures. It was fun to know that at least one person is reading this.

One of the projects we've been working on at the library is to introduce all of our staff to web social networking applications. Yesterday I took the 4 hour class that Anita Johansen and Kate Mossman have been offering to staff members over the last several months. For my homework project I decided to start another blog. This one has nothing to do with the library, but it has been entertaining (to me, anyway) to put together. You can check it out at by clicking here.

April 23, 2008

When I first came to Everett almost nine years ago, I remember driving north on Hoyt to get to the library for a job interview--passing the plasma center, a tattoo shop, and a dilapidated strip of shops. The tattoo shop is long gone, the plasma center burned down, and there's an amazing amount of construction either recently completed (the Imagine! Children's Museum), in progress (Library Place and the new Elks building), or in the planning stages (ArtSpace).

It's been interesting to watch the project next door. It looks like something my son would have loved when he was young--lots of dirt and large trucks. I took some photos the other day to post here.

April 11, 2008

When I started this blog, I planned to keep you informed about some of my experiences with technology. So here's a progress report. I have a Flickr account that I opened last summer for my photos. Last week I got an email from someone named Emma at Schmaps asking permission to possibly use one of my photos for an online east coast guide. I almost deleted it, thinking it was spam, but I scrolled down and saw a photo I had taken in the Arnold Arboretum whe we were visiting Boston last August, and subsequently posted on Flickr. I gave my permission for them to use it if it makes it past their selection committee. I was surprised at how pleased I was that they had found my photo, and were even considering using it. Now I want to try adding some photos to this blog--starting with the Arnold Arboretum photo.

March 24, 2008

This morning we had a party to celebrate the upcoming retirement of Dorothy Matsui, Head of Children's and Outreach Services for the past twenty years. We held the party in the new Family Reading Area at the Main Library, which is just the last of Dorothy's many ideas for improving the service we offer to children. It's been a privilege for me to work with Dorothy, and while I'm sad to see her go, I know she's ready to try new things. The Friends of the Library has donated money to purchase children's books in Dorothy's honor, and those books will serve as a wonderful reminder of someone who spent her career thinking of the best ways to help children learn to love books and reading.

The other day Dorothy and I were talking about books we remembered from our childhoods. I remember loving Pippi Longstocking , the Jenny Linsky books, and Snipp, Snapp, and Snurr, among many others. Pippi is newly popular because of her movie fame, but young readers and their parents can still check out books about the little black cat named Jenny and the Swedish brothers whose adventures are so beautifully illustrated by Maj Lindman. I think this is truly one of the joys of a library--not only do we offer the opportunity to find wonderful new books, but we also make it possible to revisit those we loved years ago.

Dorothy leaves us this Friday. She's looking forward to working in her garden, lots of reading, and probably some travel. If you're in the library, stop by to say goodbye.