New photos

Many new pictures have been added to the Teen photo account. You can view them here. Remember Viking chess anyone?

Cool College Landmarks

In case you haven't noticed, we follow Mental Floss a lot here at the library. For those of you looking around at colleges view this post from Mental Floss that show 24 cool college landmarks.

September events

September events have been updated on our website. Make sure to attend the Teen Advisory Board meeting on the 7th to think about programming ideas for this year.

2010 Talent Show & Ice Cream Social

Photos from the 2010 Summer Reading Club Talent Show & Ice Cream Social have been posted to the library's online account. You can view the pictures now.

Thank you for another wonderful year of Summer Reading Club. Continue reading!!

Are libraries unnecessary??

Here is an editorial piece from the Philadelphia Inquirer, Friday July 9, 2010. Very well put...

Are libraries unnecessary?
Their budgets and staffs are shrinking, but people continue to rely on them.
By Marilyn Johnson
The United States is beginning an interesting experiment in democracy: We're cutting public library funds, shrinking our public and school libraries, and, in some places, closing them altogether.
This has nothing to do with whether the libraries are any good, or whether their staff provides useful service to the community. The budget of the country's highest-circulating library, in Queens, N.Y. - named the best system in the United States last year by Library Journal - is due to shrink by a third.
Los Angeles' libraries are being slashed, and, beginning this week, their doors will be locked two days a week. In Philadelphia, the mayor has threatened the latest in a series of library budget reductions.
Such cuts and close calls are happening across the country. The rationale is that we won't miss a third of our librarians and libraries the way we'd miss a third of our firefighters and firehouses. But I wonder.
I've spent four years following librarians as they dealt with the tremendous increase in information and the ways we receive it. They've been adapting as capably as any profession, managing our public computers and serving growing numbers of patrons, but it seems their work has been all but invisible to those in power.
I've talked to librarians whose jobs have expanded with the demand for computers and training, and because so many other government services are being cut. The people left in the lurch have looked to the library, where kind, knowledgeable professionals help them navigate the bureaucracy, apply for benefits, access social services. Public officials will tell you they love libraries and are committed to them; they just don't believe they constitute a "core" service.
But if you visit public libraries, you will see an essential service in action. Librarians help people who don't have other ways to get online, can't get the answers they urgently need, or simply need a safe place to bring their children.
I've stood in the parking lot of the Topeka and Shawnee County Library in Kansas on a Sunday morning and watched families pour through doors and head in all directions to do homework or genealogical research, attend computer classes, read the newspapers. I've stood outside New York City libraries with other self-employed people, waiting for the doors to open and give us access to the computers and a warm, affordable place to work. I've met librarians who serve as interpreters and guides to communities of cancer survivors, Polish speakers, teenage filmmakers, and veterans.
The people who welcome us to the library are idealists who believe that accurate information leads to good decisions, and that exposure to the intellectual riches of civilization leads to a better world. The next Abraham Lincoln could be sitting in their library, teaching himself all he needs to know to save the country.
While they help us get online, employed, and informed, librarians don't try to sell us anything. Nor do they broadcast our problems, send us spam, or keep a record of our interests and needs, because no matter how savvy this profession is at navigating the online world, it clings to that old-fashioned value: privacy. They represent the best civic value out there - an army of resourceful workers that can help us compete in the world.
But instead of putting such conscientious, economical, service-oriented professionals to work helping us, we're handing them pink slips. The school and public libraries in which we've invested decades and even centuries of resources will disappear unless we fight for them.
Communities that support their libraries will have an undeniable competitive advantage. Those that don't will watch in envy as the Darien Library in Connecticut hosts networking breakfasts for the unemployed, and the tiny Gilpin County Public Library in Colorado beckons with a sign promising "Free coffee, Internet, notary, phone, smiles, restrooms, and ideas."
Those lucky enough to live in those towns, or those who own computers or have high-speed Internet service and on-call technical assistance, will not notice the effects of a diminished public library system - not at first. Whizzes who can whittle down 15 million hits on a Google search to find the useful and accurate bits of info, and those able to buy any book or article or film they want, will escape the immediate consequences of these cuts. Those in cities that haven't preserved their libraries, those less fortunate and baffled by technology, and our children will be the first to suffer.
But sooner or later, we'll all feel the loss, as one of the most effective levelers of privilege and avenues of reinvention - one of the great engines of democracy - begins to disappear.
________________________________________
Marilyn Johnson is the author, most recently, of "This Book Is Overdue!" This appeared in the Los Angeles Times.


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June popular titles

The New Castle Public Library has an account on LibraryThing. According to LibraryThing members, these titles were the most popular for June:

1. Dead in the Family by Charlaine Harris
2. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
3. House Rules by Jodi Picoult
4. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson
5. The Postmistress by Sarah Blake
6. Fallen by Lauren Kate
7. The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks
8. Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
9. Shades of Grey: A Novel by Jasper Fforde
10. Little Bee by Chris Cleave

The people of the NY streets

Here's an interesting blog called Pictures from a Taxi. All the shots are taken in New York City.

July events

July programs have been updated on the library's webpage. There's a lot going on so make sure to sign up for the fun! Especially the Blue Rocks game on the 16th.

From D to F??

Ever wonder why in a tradional school grading system there was no "E" grade? Hopefully no grade lower than a D was ever on your report card;-) Here's a blog posting from Mentalfloss.com that explains the history of the grading system.

Also, the summer reading program, Make Waves At Your Library, is in full swing. Make sure to stop into the library with your completed reading logs to claim your prize.

Beware of your tweets!

Twitter is a useful and very popular social networking tool. You can make a tweet about anything you like (144 characters or less anyway), but just like with Facebook you need to self-monitor your tweets and keep certain thoughts private. ESPECIALLY if you are or have just graduated from high school or college and are looking for employment. Most employers will do an internet check on a potential employee...so don't leave any harmful pictures or posts out in the world wide web that could come back to haunt you.

This blog posting from Mental Floss talks about how to tweet yourself out of a job.