Book Babies

I thought I would share a picture of some very cute babies whose parents are getting them off to a great start. These little ones attend the very popular Baby Storytimes at the Evergreen Branch (there's one at the Main Library, too), and they just signed up for their very first library cards. They all received a free book worm bookbag to help tote their books home.

This happy event was made possible by a recent change in library policy that allows children of any age to get a library card. Previously you couldn't get a card until you were 4 years old. The change was made in response to a patron request, and we hope to see many more baby cardholders in the future.

Count Your Blessings

For my monthly podcast I reviewed the library's accomplishments in 2008. I'm a project person, and sometimes prone to being impatient. If I have an idea, I'd like to see it happen sooner rather than later. So I think I have a tendency to focus on what hasn't happened yet rather than just how much has been done.

Writing the podcast proved to be a good exercise because it forced me to remember all the good things that the library has accomplished since January. I won't repeat them here--you can listen to the podcast if you're interested--but I do want to focus on an end-of-the-year highlight that didn't make the podcast. That's our library giving tree. Instead of traditional decorations, the staff has donated mittens, hats, gloves, and scarves--all of which will be donated to area shelters to help keep people warm this winter. If you'd like to contribute to this effort, drop off your donations of new items in our Circulation Office. We'll add them to our tree, for distribution just before Christmas.

I know I'm counting as a blessing the fact that I can give to others in this way, and that library staff members have embraced this project so enthusiastically.

Authors I don't read anymore...

I'm a big mystery fan, and like most genre readers I am always pleased when I find an author whose work I like because this means I have hours of enjoyable reading ahead of me. I just finished books by two long-time favorite authors, Sue Grafton and Marcia Muller. Grafton is now up to T in her alphabet series, and Muller's been publishing a book a year for a long time. But I was bored by both T is for Trespass and Burn Out. The characters don't feel fresh, and the plots dragged along.

I got to thinking about other authors whose work I no longer read. I loved Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series when it first came out, but Plum's inability to choose between bad boy Ranger and Joe the cop finally did me in. I enjoyed J.A.Jance, but haven't read one of hers in years. Ditto for Earl Emerson. I've also given up on Robert Parker. Spenser and Hawk are beginning to seem like cartoon characters, and I'm sick of Susan Silverman and her dainty eating habits.

Some of you undoubtedly still love these authors, or are discovering them for the first time--and I'm glad, because I loved them once, too. I haven't stopped reading mysteries, and next post I'll talk about some of the authors I still like or have just discovered.

A long time coming...

You may have noticed a new feature on our website--a tasteful gray box in the upper right hand corner that links to our brand-new strategic plan, adopted by the Library Board of Trustees on October 21.

We began working on the plan shortly after I became library director in 2007. We worked with Providence Associates to gather public comment that fall. Providence coordinated a telephone survey, held many focus groups with the public and with staff, and met with the Mayor and City department heads. We conducted online and in-house surveys. Providence also conducted a technology and children's services assessment, and benchmarked our library against similar libraries in other communities. Then, after all the data and opinions had been gathered and analyzed, we began working on the actual plan.

I hope you'll take the time to read it. And whether or not you had the opportunity to provide us with in-put during the planning process, we hope you'll see something in the plan that pleases you. I promise to provide you with updates on our progress as we begin implementation. And your comments are always welcome.

Back from vacation

This month we took a week off to go on a white water rafting trip through Hell's Canyon on the Snake River, visit wineries in Walla Walla, and see both the Palouse and Grand Coulee Dam. This was all new territory for me, never having gone much beyond the Tri-Cities since we've lived here--and it was amazing.

Our rafting trip was very exciting, although we really didn't have to do any work even when we went through two class four rapids. Our guides took care of rowing, setting up camp, and provided gourmet meals with organic produce (really), far from any grocery store. We saw a wild sheep, but the mountains that line Hell's Canyon are so tall it was difficult to identify without binoculars. I'm including some photos, so if you've never been there you can see what it looks like.

I don't think you can travel through this part of the country without thinking about the impact water and dams have had both in Oregon and Washington. We traveled with a variety of guidebooks to help us understand what we were seeing. And we could have brought others from the library that would have explained the politics and history of the dams we saw on the Snake and the Columbia. We had with us Bruce Bjornstad's On the Trail of the Ice Age Floods, and while staying in Walla Walla we looked at William Layman's River of Memory: The Everlasting Columbia, a collection of photographs documenting the Columbia from its source to the sea. Empty Nets: Indians, Dams, and the Columbia River by Roberta Urich
and Cadillac Desert: The American West and Its Disappearing Water by Marc Reisner are books that address the affect dams have had on the land and its people.

This list just scratches the surface of our collection, which includes much more on the history, policy, and geography of this region, as well as guides to the ever-growing wine industry in Walla Walla should you want a break from natural wonders. I would encourage you to start any vacation with a visit to the library--we'll guide you on your way!

The Future of Reading

Everett Public Library is joining Sno-Isle Libraries for The Big Read, an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts. The program, which began as a pilot in 2006 in libraries throughout the country, was created to in response to a 2004 report issued by the NEA, entitled Reading at Risk: A Survey of Literary Reading in America, which found lots of bad news about the decline in reading for pleasure and enlightenment, especially among the young.

The NEA wants "to restore reading to the center of American culture," and to do this they are providing support to libraries and community groups to develop innovative reading programs throughout their communities focused on a single book. Everett and Sno-Isle have chosen The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett.

I think you can argue about whether reading ever really was the center of American culture, and intelligent people have argued over the methodology of the NEA study that led to the conclusions in Reading at Risk, but public libraries are firmly on the side of whatever gets people reading.

Sno-Isle and Everett librarians have already begun meeting to plan a month-long "Falcon Fest," although the Big Read won't officially begin until May, 2009. With all this planning, I think it's going to be great. There will be lots of copies of The Maltese Falcon to check out, programs in communities all over Snohomish and Island counties designed to get people reading--and to help all of us remember that reading for pleasure can be just that--a pleasure.



Each community event lasts approximately one month and includes a kick-off event to launch

You Can't Fight Mother Nature

<
Every year in the spring we begin what we call "sea gull vigilance." The idea is to keep the gulls from building their nests on the roof of the library. You can break up the nests while they are building them, but once they lay their eggs you are not supposed to disturb them until the chicks leave.

One year we didn't pay attention to what was happening on the roof--and the roof was a mess by the time the birds left. It was dirty, messy work to clean up the debris.

This year, with the end of the Elks building, the birds have been numerous and determined as they look for other nesting places. We thought we were doing really well--no nests on the roof. An observant patron, however, has pointed out that an enterprising gull has built her nest in one of the planters on the west end of the library. It's not much of a nest, but there are eggs in it, so she's there to stay for a while. I took some photos of the mother and the nest (such as it is).

The Big Read

I've been thinking a lot about reading these days. One reason is because I've been cleaning out my father's house. He died in January, and his house is full of books. When he retired about 30 years ago he began frequenting used book stores and library book sales. He was interested almost exclusively in mysteries, and mostly older mystery writers. He kept a handwritten catalog of his purchases, organized by author, so he wouldn't duplicate something he already had in his collection. At one point, everything was on shelves, alphabetized by author. But soon his collecting obsession overtook the available shelf space. So he added more shelves, and when those were full he put shelves into his seldom used workshop. Finally, he just left them in boxes on the floor. I don't think he can ever have read most of what he bought, although I don't know that. I do know that about a year ago my husband had read about an old mystery that intrigued him. He asked Dad if he had heard of it--and even though my father was not well and his memory was failing, he said he thought he actually owned it. And he was right. And even better, he knew where it was.

My father was almost always reading something, until the very last weeks of his life. When I think of him now, it's with a book in his hand and a cup of coffee or glass of wine by his side. As his health declined he stopped reading books, but continued to read newspapers and magazines. I think I can trace his physical and mental decline by the length of what he chose to read, although I didn't think about it that way at first.

He loved his family, but seldom seemed to feel the need for much conversation away from the dinner table. He enjoyed sitting among us, reading a book for his book club, or just for pleasure. I think you could truly say that he would almost always rather be reading. So I think of him as I go through his library. The family has all gone through it, and picked books we will add to our collections. And there is so much left. It's plenty dusty, and most of it is not great literature--but it made him happy to buy these books, read them, and have them around him. I've found his "catalog," and think I will keep it, even as I disburse many of the books he spent some much time accumulating.

The book cover on this post is just one of his many treasures, and I thought I would share it with you just because it tickled me to come across it.

Big trucks and cool cards

Yesterday we started issuing brand new library cards. This is our first complete redesign in a number of years, and I think they look great. We won't be doing photo library cards any more. This will save time (yours and ours) and money since printing the photo cards was expensive. You can pick from any one of five designs, or keep your old photo card if you prefer.

I stepped outside today, and noticed the biggest cement pouring operation I've ever seen. They are pouring the foundations for Library Place, and it was an amazing sight.

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.

March 7, 2008

This weekend the Everett Women's Film Festival will be screening independent films by women filmmakers at the Historic Everett Theatre. It's the festival's 11th year. I've been involved with the event for about eight years because I love movies. I've also been responsible for purchasing the DVD collection here at the library, and this has allowed me to include some of the favorite films from past festivals in the Everett Public Library's collection. A few of these films are only available on VHS, others we have in DVD--but they're all worth watching. Here's a partial list of past festival favorites available for checkout from the library:

Chaos
A Hero for Daisy
Regret to Inform
Three Women and a Chateau
The Story of Mothers and Daughters
The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill
Sour Death Balls
The Language You Cry In
In the Realms of the Unreal: The Mystery of Henry Darger
Mad, Hot Ballroom

Happy viewing.

February 28, 2008

On Friday, February 22, the library held our third Evening for Excellence. This year we celebrated the naming of the Main Library reading room in honor of former director, Mark A. Nesse with a talk by Nancy Pearl entitled the Pleasures and Perils of a Life of Reading. Nancy is the former director of the Seattle Center for the Book, and is now an author and NPR commentor. Some of you may remember Nancy from her previous visits to the Everett Public Library. She always recommends good books to read, and I was pleased that we have almost all of the titles she mentioned on Friday night in our collection.

I made a note of the books she talked about, and thought you might like to check out her suggestions. In no particular order they were:

Paperboy by Pete Dexter
Andersonville by MacKinlay Kantor
Housekeeping by Marilyn Robinson
The Towers of Trebizond by Rose Macaulay
Gertrude Bell: Queen of the Desert by Georgina Howell
The Coldest Winter: America and the Korean War by David Halbertam
In the Woods by Tana French
Millicent Min, Girl Genius by Lisa Yee
The Teacher's Funeral: A Comedy in Three Parts by Richard Peck
Feed by M.T. Anderson

and, anything by Patrick O'Brien, Lee Child, and William Laschner. Someone has already checked out The Towers of Trebizond, so I'll have to wait for that one.

January 6, 2008

I had planned to post a very short list of books that I have particularly enjoyed at the end of 2007, but now it's already 2008. The books are still worth reading, so here's my belated list of good reads.

I just finished Ann Patchett's new novel, Run, and it was lovely to read. Patchett's novel takes place over a period of 24 hours in the life of Bernard Doyle and his three sons, two of whom are adopted. An accident brings the family together with Tennessee, a single mother, and her daughter Kenya, changing all their lives profoundly.

A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian by Marina Lewycka is another novel about families. Nadia and Vera, middle-aged sisters with no great love for each other, try to cope with their aging, widowed father, and his infatuation with Valentina, a gold-digging Ukrainian determined to marry him. Lewycka's writing is both amusing and poignant, and rings especially true if you have an aging parent in your life.