The Best Day Ever

That was the verdict of one young reader at our Evergreen Branch this past Wednesday night. She was referring to the annual Mayor's Award, a celebration of the accomplishments of Everett kids who managed to complete their reading goal this summer.

What made her so happy? She, along with almost 100 kids at the Branch (and another 100 at the Main Library) met the Mayor and received a colorful certificate commemmorating her effort. Then she got to visit the face painter and the balloon artist, enjoy the refreshments, play with bubbles, and make a pipe cleaner and bead craft.

Volunteers from the Friends of the Library, who provide a huge amount of monetary support for this program, were on hand to help. They also encouraged attendees and their parents to "like" us on Facebook, and post any photos they wanted to share of the festivities. Amazingly, someone had posted a photo even before the event was over.

I would also like to extend a special thanks to Peninsular Lodge #95 F & AM for providing us with 8 grand prizes. The lucky kids who won the drawing for the prizes got to pick either a bike or a scooter, and go shopping to pick out exactly what they wanted. The Masons even provided a bike helmet and a lock and chain for each bike. I am so impressed with their generosity.

Playing with blocks

I have recently returned from a week spent babysitting my grandson. He's a 2 1/2 year old bundle of energy. He loves trucks, blocks, his neighborhood parks, grocery shopping, Bob the Builder DVDs, cooking (especially baking), and even being read to. We enjoyed reading Anna Dewdney's Llama Llama books, Good Night, Good Night Construction Site by Sherry Rinker, and many other books. We visited the library together, and it was fun to see how much he enjoyed everything about that visit, from pressing the button to open the front door to getting in the elevator and picking the floor for the children's room to selecting what books he wanted.

It's always good to be back home, but I do miss seeing the joy he takes in every little thing. It's easy to take our libraries and parks for granted, but seeing them through the eyes of a small child brings home how important these amenities can be to families.

A World without Bookstores?

I recently read about the demise of Borders. I'm old enough to remember when Borders was the latest thing in bookstores. I also remember how their growth in some cities came at the expense of independent bookstores. Still, it made me sad to think we're losing another bricks and mortar location for browsing and buying books.

I know you can't fight progress, but I can't help wondering if we are heading into a time when most of our shopping occurs online. I recently heard a story on the radio about Australian stores charging shoppers who try on clothes and shoes but don't buy anything. They believe people try things on and than order online (cheaper) once they know what they want. Amazon continues to fight paying sales tax anywhere it possibly can, helping keep its prices low.

My hope, as a librarian (and a sometime shopper), is that both libraries and retail stores figure out a way to stay afloat in the real and virtual worlds.

Yarn Bombing

Earlier this week I was walking through our book stacks, when I came across the yarn flower pictured here. Attached to it was a short note that read "thank you for your cooperation in making Everett a little brighter on International Yarn Bombing Day. Knit something." I had heard of yarn bombing; we even have a book on it entitled Yarn Bombing: The Art of Crochet and Knit Graffiti; but I never thought I would see it in the library.It turns out that June 11 was the first International Yarn Bombing Day,and I am very pleased that the Everett Public Library was part of it, albeit in a small way.

Bloomsday!

Today is Bloomsday, the day in 1904 when James Joyce's novel Ulysses takes place. The day is celebrated everywhere there are Joyce fans. I was pleased to see that someone has checked out a copy of Ulysses from the Everett Public Library. The book has a reputation for being challenging, and if you look in our catalog you will see several guides to help readers find their way through the mind of Leopold Bloom and Joyce's writing style.

If you're not up to reading the entire book, you might check out Twitterature: The World's Greatest Books in Twenty Tweets or Less. Or perhaps you prefer a more graphic approach to literature. In that case you might enjoy the beginnings of an online graphic novel at www.ulyssesseen.com. Happy Bloomsday.

My new favorite thing...

That would be my Sansa Clip MP3 player. When we first started offering Overdrive downloadable audiobooks, I spent a lot of time researching the best device and talking to friends about what worked well for them. I wanted something with a display screen and I wanted to be able to easily bookmark the point where I stopped listening. Nothing seemed right, but I ended up purchasing a fairly expensive Sansa product that was supposed to allow you to mark your place. I could never figure out how to make it actually do that, and ended up abandoning it.

But now I have a Sansa Clip, and I think it is perfect. It costs 1/4 of what my first MP3 player cost, it has a small (but adequate) display, it is easy to bookmark, it's tiny--maybe only one inch square, and right now I have five books on it and it still has lots of room. This weekend I had it going about six hours each day as I worked out in my garden and listened to Ian Rankin's The Complaints, and it was still holding a pretty good charge.

Now I'm hoping the weather will improve so I can spend more time outdoors listening to books.

May 2, 1611

I'm a little ahead of schedule, but I didn't want the 400th anniversary of the publication of the King James version of the Bible to go unremarked. As a librarian, I'm interested in the Bible because it is one of the most widely read books in the English language. It is also one of the most often translated books, whether into other languages or colloquial English. I started to try counting how many versions we have here, but eventually gave up. We have The Jewish Study Bible, New Revised Standard Version, Learning Bible, New American Standard Version, Positive Bible, and on and on--to the tune of about 131 items under the title heading Bible. And more if you count DVD and audiobook versions. Granted some are study versions or concordances, but still--that's a lot of Bibles.

I think most people would agree that the King James version has set a high mark for poetic language. Phrases from the Bible find their way into book titles, and these books find their way into our collections. The web site Goodreads has a list of book titles that come from the Bible with over 170 entries. Here are just a few: East of Eden by John Steinbeck, Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises, Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land, Rembrance of Things Past by Marcel Proust, Pale Horse, Pale Rider by Katherine Anne Porter, and Comfort Me with Apples by Ruth Reichl.

You don't often think that something put together by a committee, even when assigned the job by a king, will prove to be so enduring. Happy 400th to the King James Version of the Bible.

National Library Week at EPL

This is National Library Week, and we've been celebrating all week--in a low key sort of way. If you visited either branch on Tuesday, April 12, you had an opportunity to have your photo taken with your favorite book as part of Library Snapshot Day. On Library Snapshot Day libraries all over the country took photos of what's going on in their buildings to document all the different things that go on in libraries. We are in the process of posting the photos we took on our new Facebook page. You'll find us there at facebook.com/everettlibrary. You can friend us or like us. The page will be another way to keep up with what's going on at your library, and we also hope to use it to gather some feedback--so look for the occasional survey there.

Have a great National Library Week. Check out a book--it's on us!

Rain, rain, go away

I have to admit that a trip to someplace warm and sunny right about now sounds appealing. But since that's not happening, I have decided to just look forward to things I know are going to happen around here. And there is actually quite a lot.

We are finally getting ready for our teen space project by getting rid of most of our old magazine archive, rearranging collections on the first floor, and lowering our shelves to make access more convenient. You're probably wondering why you should even believe me, since I've been talking about this project for so long. However, it really is going to happen. While the construction contract is being signed, we're picking out paint, carpet, and furnishings. I'm looking forward to seeing all our work pay off with a great place for teens and a story room large enought to hold everyone who would like to attend.

You may have noticed the street in front of the Main Library is almost finished. And just in time for our next door neighbor, Library Place, to begin building the last part of their project. This time next year we should have almost 200 new neighbors--more if you count those who live in the Schack Arts Center.

The last thing on my list to look forward to is National Library Week, which is April 10-16. Come help us celebrate Library Snapshot Day on April 12 (and get your photo taken with your favorite book), or National Bookmobile Day on April 13. There will be activities going on at both locations, so stop by and check it out.

Eat your vegetables

Yesterday I attended the Everett Public Schools Foundation annual fund raising breakfast. The speaker was Graham Kerr,the former Galloping Gourmet. Mr. Kerr is now growing (and eating)vegetables, and working with the school district to develop school meals that are both healthy and appealing to children. It's a worthy project, and I wish him well.

My own parents once made me eat two servings of lima beans in one sitting. It was my own fault--I had steathily transferred my limas to my brother's plate while we were watching the World of Disney one Sunday night. He was outraged when he realized what I'd done, and I had to eat them all. It was years before I could even contemplate cooking, much less eating, a lima bean.

My grandson loves to help his parents cook, but wouldn't dream of putting something green in his mouth. Perhaps I'll check out one of Mr. Kerr's healthy cookbooks and look into some child-friendly vegetable dishes.

Everett Reads! swings out on Saturday

February has been the month of Jamie Ford's Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet. We celebrated a month of reading and community, kicking it off with an evening with Jamie Ford, and now winding down with a Saturday, February 26 performance by Bob Strickland's Swing Masters at 2 p.m. at the Main Library.

This is a free, family-oriented event, and even if you haven't read the book, you can enjoy the hits of the early 1940s that are part of the background music of Ford's book.

Everett Reads! may be coming to an end, but we've noticed that Everett keeps reading no matter what. Good for you, and good for us.

Writer's Block?

It's been a long time since I wrote anything in this space, and I feel a bit guilty about that. It's not because there haven't been a lot of things going on. Since I last wrote we found out we didn't win the Playaway contest (but we were a runner up!), we have started to check out epub books for digital readers, we're about ready to go out to bid for the teen space project, and Everett Reads!, our new community reading program, is due to begin shortly. And of course, the street in front of the library is still torn up.

I hope you'll pick up a copy of Jamie Ford's Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, our choice for the community reading program. I have almost finished it, and am looking forward to hearing Ford talk about his book on February 4 at the Everett Performing Arts Center.

And my New Year's resolution? I hope to be a more conscientious blogger in 2011.