Library Sage Page

Sad and Happy Books!

2009-10-17T12:33:00.000-07:00

Sorry it took me a while to blog. Here goes!

“Shattered Dreams: My life as a polygamist’s wife”, by Irene Spencer, is one of the most interesting books I have ever read. It is also quite sad. Irene was born into polygamy, her mother being a second wife. Irene was told that polygamy was the only way she can acquire heaven. Irene Spencer married her brother-in-law, Verlan Lebaron , as his second wife for 28 years before leaving that world behind. The book tells of her hardships she had to endure as being a plural wife and what it was like to live in poverty in Mexico. She has 14 children and 58 grandchildren.

I was amazed at the hardships Irene endured in Mexico to keep her family fed. I can’t even begin to imagine the pain at the thought of having to share my husband. I was shaking my head in disbelief at the reality of false prophets and the authority they can let go to their heads. I was so happy when Irene left that lifestyle behind and has been happily married to one man for 20 years. I discovered she is writing a book on that love story. I had signed her guestbook on her website telling her that I had enjoyed her books and am looking forward to the love story. To my surprise she had responded!

I am so glad that you enjoyed my books. I have almost finished seven. So, if God willing, you will hear from me for quite some time! Will send you notices each time a book is released..Irene

Another book I quite enjoyed (a much happier one) is "Marley an Me", by John Grogan. This book is so funny! I teared from laughter! I laughed out loud and even cried on one part. I enjoyed reading about Marley from when he was a pup. I can't imagine how much work goes into a dog like him. I laughed when he finally graduated doggy school. I cried when the dog comforted John's wife when she was heartbroken about her non-pregnancy. I laughed when Marley ate Jenny's neclace. I cannot believe even a big metal cage could not hold the massive dog! The stories were great. I recommend this book to anyone who wants a good laugh. Beware though, Marley has extreme terrors of thunder storms. The details can get a little shocking.

Have a good day!

Carmen

Hearty laughter is a good way to job internally without having to go outdoors.

-Norman Cousins

Wow!! It has been nearly four months....

2009-09-03T16:55:00.001-07:00

since the last time we blogged! So sorry!!! Here is a quick blog for ya!

i have finished all the books in the Princess Diaries series. Although Meg skipped a year or two in Mia's life, it worked well and ended LIKE IT WAS SUPPOSED TO!!! YAY!! i hate reading books that end wrong! It is just so... so... WRONG!

So there is my MicroBlog, trying to beat Carmen to the punch!

See ya all again soon!
Barb

A book may be compared to your neighbor; if it be good, it cannot last too long; if bad, you cannot get rid of it too early.
- Henry Brooke

What Barb has been reading....

2009-05-06T13:56:00.000-07:00

Well since i last checked in here, i have read The Candy Shop War, by Brandon Mull (which was great... More review to follow) and then i decided to try something new in the form of The Princess Diaries series by Meg Cabot (Have read 4.5 of her books... If you have read the series, you know that she has actually published a couple of "half volumes"... Kinda strange, i know... More review to follow).

Then i took time out from the Princess Diaries to read the new Jude Deveraux book, Lavender Morning. i liked it! Slowed down a bit in the middle but it was a good read. This is the first in Jude's new "Edilean" series and i hope she is speedy about getting the next one out because i want to know what happens! Not that it leaves you hanging, it doesn't, but it leaves you wanting more. It actually reduced me to tears towards the end... but in a good way.

So, The Candy Shop War by Brandon Mull. Great read for kids and adults alike. The imagination in this book is terrific and i thoroughly enjoyed it (Thanks to my son Brennan who recommended it to me, and to kids in his class too). Quick read, lots of action, great descriptions and just an overall fun escape from our normal, everyday lives. Brandon also writes the Fablehaven series which has four books, three of which i have read and the fourth i am feverishly waiting for my little friends here are the library to get in!!

So, The Princess Diaries series by Meg Cabot. This is a Young Adult series and you may have seen the movies of the same name but they are far and away from the books. i would say that the movies are the edited and squished versions of the books, thoroughly "Disney-ized". The books are actually a HOOT!! Meg Cabot has a truly wicked sense of humor and she shows it well through our heroine, Amelia Thermopolis/Renaldo... For example, here is something to get you interested... Amelia (fondly known as Mia) cannot start a new year of school without wearing her QUEEN AMIDALA PANTIES! Yep, you read that right, her Queen Amidala Panties... That is just one of many ***Snort Snort Giggle***s i had while reading the first 4.5 books of this series. Books 5 & 6 are on my nightstand and i just haven't gotten to them yet because....

i am now reading the new book by Mary Higgins Clark called Just Take My Heart. It has been pretty good, but here i am 160 pages through and they jury is already ready to deliberate the fate of this man, accused of killing his estranged wife, but i am only HALFWAY THROUGH THE BOOK!! It seems to me that Mary is dropping hints too fast and furious nowadays OR i am just getting better at catching them because for the last few of her books i have been figuring the plot out WAY too early! LOL!! i will just chalk it up to me catching on faster, sounds better anyway! i have gotta finish it soon though, there are lots of people waiting for it!

So that is how my crazy literary life has been going lately, come and comment on this post and lets chat!

~Barb

The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who cannot read them. ~Mark Twain

Jeane DuPrau

2009-04-21T11:00:00.000-07:00

Been awhile since i talked about books here. Just read City of Ember and People of Sparks. I'm waiting for Prophet of Yonwood to complete the trilogy. City of Ember dragged just a bit in places, but the series as a whole is an enticing journey through post apocalyptic societies. Two of them to be exact -- one that's been hidden away and left untouched and unaware of the disasters happening in the world out side Ember and one that's cobbled itself together and is finally seeing growth and success in a harsh post-war world. I enjoyed the characters and the storyline moved nicely aside from a couple bumps in the first book. You'll find the books in the Young Adult section and the movie made from the first book in the dvds. ~April Dawn

Meg Cabot

2009-04-02T17:15:00.000-07:00

Can you imagine reading a story written entirely of emails? Meg Cabot has written the Boy series where the stories are created with emails, faxes, chats, diaries, phone messages, legal documents, receipts, telegrams, and memos. Yes, even memos!
"The Boy Next Door" is the first I read in the series. Mel Fuller is a New York journalist whose neighbor, Mrs. Friedlander, falls into a coma. Max, the neighbor's nephew, has come to take care of the dog and the apartment. They meet, hang out, and fall in love. Although, is he really the neighbor's nephew? This book is my favorite of the series. I really liked Mel, she's funny.
"Boy Meets Girl" is the second I read in the series. I didn't like this one as much as the first one. Kate Mackenzie works at the New York Journal but she really wants to be a social worker and help others. This is why she feels horrible for having to fire Mrs. Lopez for not serving pie to her supervisor. Yeah, like the first 80 pages have to do with pie! Also this book does contain a lot of bad language. Just a warning for those of you who can do without that.
"Every Body's Got One" is the last of the series. I attempted it and lasted 20 pages before I quit.

What I found annoying was the lack of character building in the main characters. I felt, in each book, they started to sound the same.
In "Boy Meets Girl", Mel would say:
"I think he really does love me, and it IS just a stupid societal more. Marriage, I mean."
Or "And he's not a businessy type of person (Dale, I mean)..."
And "Only he's SO NICE--Mitch, I mean--and he smells good, too..."
Then Mitch would say: "The fact of the matter is, Stuart's girlfriend really pulled a number on us both. Kate and me, I mean."
In "Ever Body's Got one", Jane says: "Which wasn't even what I was asking him to watch. My water, I mean. Clearly, I meant my BAG."

Believe me, I had many examples to choose from. I just wondered why they all sounded the same if they were supposed to be different people.

The Gemma Doyle Series.... completed.

2009-03-17T16:16:00.000-07:00

This week i finished reading "The Sweet Far Thing" by Libba Bray, the third and final book in her Young Adult Gemma Doyle Series.

The first book in the series "A Great and Terrible Beauty" was very good, started a tad slow, but picked up well and finished nicely. The second book in the series "Rebel Angels" was terrific and i finished it in record time. Staying up late into the night with this page turner that i just couldn't bear to put down was a treat that i haven't had since my Harry Potter days...

The third in the series, "The Sweet Far Thing", i must say, was a disappointment. The story did resolve itself, the good guys won, more or less, and Gemma proved herself magically, but it took 819 pages to do it. ***Sigh*** Too long in my opinion and it took me over a month to read it.

i would compare my disappointment to this: if i had read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (book #7), gotten to the end and Harry had lost Ginny in the final battle and not lived happily ever after? That would adequately describe my disappointment in the end of this book. It really was a shame too because the series itself was good, i just couldn't get over the length of book #3 and the deeply disappointing denouement.

i have moved on to reading The Candy Shop War by Brandon Mull, a Juvenile novel recommended to me by my 10 year old son. i am about 80 pages into it so far, so stay tuned for updates! Happy Saint Patrick's Day!!

Barb

Until next time...
"If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need."
Marcus Tullius Cicero

What Carmen just read...

2009-03-03T10:20:00.001-08:00

“Scarpetta”, by Patricia Cornwell, is the newest of the Kay Scarpetta series. If you like forensics and suspense, this series is quite the master piece. Kay Scarpetta was once the Chief Medical Examiner of Virginia and is now basically a consultant who has accepted an assignment in New York City. Oscar Bane, extremely paranoid and voluntarily being held Bellevue Hospital’s psychiatric prison ward, insists on seeing only Scarpetta and tells her of a murder he didn’t commit. Or did he? As Oscar’s doctor, she cannot discuss the interview with anyone, including her forensic pathologist husband, Benton Wesley. Lucy, Kay’s billionaire computer genius niece, joins the team and helps solve one of the biggest mysteries of who runs a gossip website. They are all reunited with Marino, a NYPD cop, who is the lead investigator. I quite enjoyed this book. Very suspenseful and educational! And it was good to see Marino again. He disappears in the last book to get away from some damage he created. Even though he's extremely rude, he's my favorite character.

Free Stuff!

2009-03-02T12:25:00.000-08:00

In these times of economic insecurity and hardship, many of us are looking for ways to tighten belts and stretch budgets. Almost always, one of the first things to go is the budget line for entertainment. Nobody understands the money crunch better than your local library, which is why we're glad to provide many services to you free of charge! For example: newspapers and magazines for your need to keep in touch with what's going on outside of our little corner of the world; VHS and DVD movies that can be checked out on your library card and kept at your home for a full week; board and card games that can be played at the library; internet access for adults and for the under 18 crowd who's parents have signed permission for them to use the computers; a children's section with board books, toys and audio books; weekly activities for families and for teenagers; access to information that may not be on our shelves via inter library loan; and the list goes on and on. Let us help you ease the budget stress a little, if you don't have a library account in any of the public libraries in Navajo County, bring your driver's license or MVD ID to the front desk with a piece of mail that you've received in the last couple weeks (needs to have your name, address and the postmark) and fill out an application for a library account. It's easy and it's free!

What Barb is Reading....

2009-02-24T17:13:00.000-08:00

i am reading a new and very interesting series by Libba Bray. This is the first series she has written and i am quite enjoying it. The first book in the series is called A Great and Terrible Beauty and it was recommended to me by an awesome patron (who shall remain nameless!)

The series features Gemma Doyle, a sixteen year old English girl, who had been raised for most of her life in India, who soon discovers that she has an amazing ability, the ability to See. She begins having visions, sees the deaths of someone close to her, and from there her life spirals out of control. Gemma is now sent to a "finishing school" in England where she explores her new ability and the power that she is able to call upon to take her into The Realms, a magic plane of existence, where creatures of light and dark coexist, although not always peaceably...

Book two is called Rebel Angels (and it was great too) and i am now reading Book three which is called The Sweet Far Thing.

Hope this review helps you find a new favorite to add to you book list!

C'ya at the Library!
Barb

What Emily's Been Reading

2009-02-03T11:22:00.000-08:00

I just finished reading Running Hot by Jayne Ann Krentz. I really enjoyed this book. When I read I like books that have really strong characters and so I really like it when I find an author that has created people that I feel like I know. Jayne Anne Krentz is one of those authors. This book is the 6th book in the Arcane Society series and she has done something a little different. Half the series in set in Regency England and the other half is set in modern day United States. Because the series is split between time periods she is also publishing them under two different authors. The Regency ones are published by Amanda Quick and the modern day ones are published by Jayne Ann Krentz. I'd never seen an author split a series like that and thought it intriguing but it is a little confusing. Just remember that they do still read better if you read the series in order.
Have a nice day!

2009-02-03T10:23:00.001-08:00

I've discovered a new online toy -- it's called www.goodreads.com. Basically it's an online, booklover's community. You can suggest and rate books with a five star rating system, see what other people are reading, test your trivia smarts, watch book trailers and discuss with friends all over the country what you thought of your latest read. I'm only just starting, but if you want to see what I've rated so far go to http://www.goodreads.com/sassette

I wanted to talk this week about a book I've recently read. Years ago, for school, I was required to read Lord of the Flies by Golding. I think that I was one of the very few of my classmates who really "got" this book. At the very least I am the only person I've talked to since reading it who would rate it a five star book. I was then and am still fascinated by the concept of a world without adults. I ponder often what would happen to our friends and neighbors if society and the thin veil of civilization that we wrap about ourselves were to all of a sudden disappear. I wonder what my reaction would be, how I would cope, if suddenly I was thrust into a situation where all the rules changed in the blink of an eye. Gone by Michael Grant explores all of those concepts with a classically science fiction twist. Like Lord of the Flies the characters are all kids. Unlike Lord of the Flies, the characters all live next to a nuclear power plant that had a small accident nearly 15 years ago. Now everyone over the age of 14 has disappeared with out warning and everyone else is left to fend for themselves. I think the most interesting comparison between these books is the use of young people to tell a story. The question on forums and among adult reviewers of the books is why children. The answer that occurs to me is that kids, in a situation where civilization disappears, will have the most honest responses. We, as adults, like to think that we have things under control. Surely if stranded on an island or put under a 10 mile bubble, we would be able to organize and take care of ourselves and others. Certainly, there would not be the chaos that is described in these stories. After reading these stories--after pondering the ramifications--I have to say that, from what I've seen, civility and humanity are very thin veneers. While I would hope for the sake of the human race that I am wrong, I must say that I think that Grant and Golding had it right. When all of the rules disappear, a person's true colors shine through. It would be hard to say how I would react to the situation, but I do know that based on what I've seen of human nature, it would be a crazy ride.

2009-01-12T12:44:00.000-08:00

I found out a couple weeks ago that I'm officially diabetic. Because of the other stuff I've been dealing with, it was really just a matter of time, so this was not a shock. What was shocking, however, were the foods that make my blood sugar rise. Foods that I used to think were good choices, like wheat bread and carrots and potatoes, shoot my blood sugar up faster than a handful of peanut M&Ms. So, I got out my old Sugar Busters book and went shopping. Again, I was in for a surprise. How hard can it be, I mused, to find sugar free condiments and whole grain bread without malt or sugar. Surely there are lunch meats without sugar added and rye bread at Safeway! I really want to do this without getting the sugar free stuff since the artificial sweeteners (excluding Stevia and Xylitol) leave a really metallic flavor on my tongue. I finally had to settle on a loaf of 12 grain bread that had sugar on the very bottom of the list and some turkey that had it listed nearly last and cheese. Lots of cheese, mostly because it was the only thing on the list in the book that I was able to find that didn't have any sugar added. The experience was a little disconcerting and very eye-opening for me. It got me to thinking about the column I did a few weeks ago about America's top model and the issues that most of us seem to have with body image and self esteem.

I went to the shelf here at the library and started looking at what resources the library has on self esteem. There are some really wonderful books for teens and adults that are designed to help a person really look at themselves and see the good that exists and be more objective about the things that could be improved. Some of the ones that caught my eye were Choosing Happiness by Veronica Ray, Be Your Best Self by Thomas S. Monson, Healing your Emotional Self by Beverly Engel, The Inside Outside Beauty Book by Barbara Barrington Jones and Sexy Girls by Hayley DiMarco. I've not read all of them, but liked what little I did see in the ones I flipped through. Wendy suggested some good ones as well, including 25 Days to Better Thinking and Better LIving by Linda Elder, All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten by Robert Fulghum, What Do You Stand For for Kids by Barbara A. Lewis; Girls Who Rocked the World by Michelle Roehm, Life 101 by John-Roger McWililams, and Every Girl Tells a Story by Carolyn Jones. These are just a few of the resources the library has on self esteem and building a positive self image. Online and printable there is also a resource for moms and daughters to work on together, a workbook designed to get you talking about how you feel about how you look, how you feel and life in general. I was looking through it and will most definately be working on it with Kaitee when she gets a little older. (http://www.dove.us/#/makeadifference/downloads.aspx/)

I've been overweight since Junior High and morbidly obese since sometime around college. There are things about me that I not only would like to have changed, but things that I need to change to be healthy. I think the trick, though, is being objective and only comparing yourself to you and nobody else. So many kids and teens, though, are being hit with pressure to be skinnier, prettier, more cool, sexier and bombarded with images of gorgeous people who don't exist outside of Photoshop. How hard is it, for all of us, to look in the mirror and take a true stock of what we like about ourselves? Maybe that's the first step in finding out how to combat the self-image issues we all seem to have. I can stand in front of a mirror and list 20 things i need to change (or more)...maybe instead I should list ten things that I like about me. Try it this week. See how many things you can list that you like. If you have children, maybe you can do this with them...it's never too soon to start building them up and teaching them to be confident and self-assured. Feel free to come and look at the books that I've listed and others like them in the 150s in the nonfiction sections and if you don't have access to the internet, we can print a copy of the Dove Campaign for Beauty workbook for you to have.

Okay, I'm done.

2008-12-19T12:37:00.001-08:00

It is absolutely no wonder at all that I can't buy clothing off the rack when a woman who is 5'10" and wears a size 10 is considered Plus Sized. Seriously. The new America's Top Model is "the first plus size winner in the history of America's Top Model" according to NY Post and a number of other news sites I was browsing for column fodder. We wonder what's happening to our daughters and why self esteem is so low in America. We wonder why more and more kids are using drugs and have horrible body image. Dove recently did a survey of girls between the ages of 10 and 14 in the U.S. and Great Britain. 77 percent of those girls felt unattractive. "Many said they consider themselves ugly, fat and upset when comparing themselves with attractive images shown in advertisements." (click for source) Little wonder then that eating disorders are on the rise and self image issues are so common when we live in a world where Carmen Miranda and Jane Russell would be labeled as plus sized. So, I'm done. I'm done with the beauty industry, with Hollywood and with people so fixated on the thought that emaciation is desirable. Sign me up for the next Mars mission. *grin*

~April Dawn

Harry Potter Trivia Competition Results!

2008-11-19T12:52:00.000-08:00

Hello Friends and family of the Holbrook Public Library! i know that this is very late, but i am here to post the results of the Harry Potter Trivia Competition from our Annual Medieval Fantasy Festival in September... Yeah, better late than never, right? Anyway, here goes!

Our Festival ran for two days this year, and here are the fun fun fun Harry Potter numbers from those two days:

On Saturday i asked a total of 560 Harry Potter Questions. Of that 560, 443 were the "easy questions", 91 were the "medium questions" and only 26 "hard questions" were asked!

On Sunday i asked a total of 280 Harry Potter Questions. Of that 280, 244 were the "easy questions", 17 were the "medium questions" and 19 "hard questions" were asked (mostly to Random!!).

Now for our winners!!!

In FIRST place is Analisa Dawson with 24 questions correct!!!!
In SECOND place is Dillan Rexroat with 19 question correct!!!
IN THIRD place is Marissa Decker with 18 questions correct!!
Tied for FOURTH place is Alonna Larson with 16 questions correct and Andrew Dawson, also with 16 questions correct!

Quayla Skevington got 15 questions correct
Mel *too cool for a last name* got 15 questions correct
Brennan O'Hair got 12 questions correct
Rita Garcia got 11 questions correct
Kendra Damms got 8 questions correct
Erin Roper got 8 questions correct
Josh Hatch got 8 questions correct
Samantha Neff got 8 questions correct
Harry Edwards got 8 questions correct
Bjorn the Navigator got 7 questions correct
Samantha Edwards got 6 questions correct
Sam Meeks got 6 questions correct
Carmen & Mike Whitehorn got 6 questions correct
Ayla Rothman got 6 questions correct
Emily LeFevre got 5 questions correct
Random Skevington got 4 questions correct
Mindi Carwin got 4 questions correct
Allissia Duran got 4 questions correct
Beau *too cool for a last name* got 4 questions correct
TS Elliot got 3 questions correct
Taylor Highline got 3 questions correct
Jean Caruso got 2 questions correct
Jacob Hackenworth got 2 questions correct
Carol Neff got 1 question correct
Danny Hayden got 4 questions correct

The Harry Potter Competition was fast paced and fun again this year, and i am looking forward to hosting the Tri-Wizard Tournament on on July 31st, 2009 and the Harry Potter Trivia Competition next year at our Medieval Fantasy Festival!! i hope to see you all come to both and enjoy the fun that is Harry Potter!

Don't forget, the movie Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince comes out in July 2009 too!!! Always something "Harry" to look forward to!!

Cya all soon in the Library!
Barb

What do you think?

2008-10-06T10:53:00.000-07:00

Satire: the use of irony, sarcasm, ridicule, or the like, in exposing, denouncing, or deriding vice, folly, etc.

Okay, so I'm not sure that I agree with the harshness of this definition...I can be, however, incredibly sarcastic and I use irony in larger portions than may be wise. So when I wrote the following, I suppose I was, indeed, using sarcasm and irony to poke a little fun at the opposition of a holiday that's become nothing more than a "come as you AREN'T" night for most of us. (quote from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Joss Whedon is truly profound.) Here's the piece:

October is an amazing month. Already the sights and smells of fall are evident. The days and nights are cooling down and minds and bodies are settling and calming from the rush and bustle of summer in preparation for the slow winter months. Peace and reflection seem to be the themes for October...however, there is an evil brewing, lurking, creeping inexorably closer. Halloween. Halloween is the dark blight on the beauty that October brings us. In a month when we should be celebrating discovery, peace and calm comes an evil depiction of the depravity and corruption worming it's way into the heart of society. Ghosties and Goulies polute the streets, vampires and werewolves gnash and howl at simple law-abiding citizens and the kicker of it all? If you don't give in to their demands you may find yourself on the receiving end of a nasty prank! Not only is Halloween directly responsible for the downfall of America's youth, but recent studies show that this holiday will be the nail in the coffin for our struggling economy. Money that could be funneled back into useful purchases are spent on boatloads of candy so that your home and cars are safe on Halloween night. Costumes are bought from companies who purchase them from outside the U. S. and then sold to us at top dollar. It's a travesty! I know I'll probably find my house toilet papered some morning soon for even suggesting this, but here is my proposition for taking back the night of October the 31st and minimizing the damage done to the moral fiber of our youth and the damage to the economy: first of all, make your own costumes! Dig out a sheet and go as an angel. Bend a bit of wire (I used coat hangers) into wing shapes and wrap them in panty hose or knee highs. Use an old turtle neck and paint dots on it to turn your small one into a puppy. A little face paint and imagination (and a couple books at the library for inspiration) will bring about amazing costumes that are original and wholesome! Instead of the candy that will send our young ones to the dentist in droves...on second thought, maybe candy is okay. Dentists are part of the economy too, after all. Thank you for your time and attention to a matter that needs our immediate action!

April Dawn LeFevre

Nearing the end of September!

2008-09-25T12:48:00.000-07:00

Carmen is BLUE!
Barb in PURPLE!

We have been incredibly busy lately (Yep. Really, busy!). It's nearing the end of September (The 25th already, can you believe that?!?!) and we have our Medieval Fantasy Festival coming up this weekend (And we are running our little tails off getting ready for it! We are all SO EXCITED!!!!). I'm nervous about this festival because it will be the first time we'll be doing it for 2 days instead of one. But I'm also excited! They are lots of fun and I will get to, once again, be a wandering gypsy that juggles. (But tries not to JIGGLE! LOL!!) (Although it would be contact juggling and I am still very much an amateur. Have you ever seen that movie "The Labyrinth"? Awesome how David Bowie maneuvers the ball!) (Yeah, but then Carmen ruined it for me by saying that it wasn't really David Bowie who did the ball maneuvering!!! i was shocked, saddened and dismayed... And now i will need to rush home and watch the movie to see if i can tell it is fake... My life is shattered... LOL... not really...)

(As for me, i will be running the Harry Potter Trivia Competition Booth again this year, for the third year and i am very excited for it! So if you LOVE LOVE LOVE Harry like i LOVE LOVE LOVE Harry (In a platonic sense of course) come on down and let me ask you some Harry Potter Trivia questions! You will receive a Harry Potter Trading Card just for you attempt to answer questions. The three top scorers (The three who answer the most questions right without losing their three chance balls) in the Trivia Competition will receive some Fabulous "Harry" prizes!!!) So come join us this weekend! The Medieval Fantasy Festival will be on Saturday and Sunday from 10am to 5:30pm. There will be games, shows, swordplay, and costume and art contests! For a one day pass, Adults are $7 and Children 6-12 are $4. For 2 day pass, Adults are $12 and Children 6-12 are $6. Children 5 and under free with an adult. See you there!! (Yep, we are excited to have you come and be thoroughly entertained!!!)

Carmen & Barb

WOW!! Time Flies!!

2008-08-05T15:04:00.000-07:00

Yep, it is already August.

The Summer flew by in a rush and the kids headed back to school today. Seems impossible at times doesn't it?

You can tell that school has begun, at least here in Holbrook, because the library is relatively quiet today... Still patrons coming in, but not nearly as many "small" patrons as we have had over the last two months.

Our Summer Reading Program, Catch the Reading Bug, was, i think, a great success. Our activities, movies, puppet shows, visiting bug zoos, were well attended and i think our kids had fun, and i know that i had fun teaching kids to make bugs in our "Bugs, Glue & You" class on Tuesdays!

We are now settling in to school again, and i am sure that school projects will be starting up and we will get busy again, which is great. We are here to help our community and our local scholars to do the very best that they can.

So until we see you darkening the doors of our library again, a quote for you:

A good book is the best of friends.
- English Proverb

C'ya Soon!

Barb

2008-07-14T10:16:00.000-07:00

So my brother started a blog some time back. He's not one that I would expect to blog and it got me to thinking...what inspires us as human beings to write personal (sometimes HIGHLY personal) things in a spot where complete strangers can read and comment on your life. I understand the need to create a journal (although I'm really, really bad at that), but a journal is something you record your life and legacy in and hide under the bed or at the bottom of the sock drawer. Blogging is a little like publishing your journal in the newspaper and is becoming more and more popular all the time. Businesses and organizations across the globe now have forums and blogs. So maybe my description of blogging is the explanation for blogging as well. How many of us have gone looking for a sibling's journal, or enjoyed reading the musings and everyday record of life from an ancestor's diary? There is something about reading the inner-most thoughts and feelings of another human being that makes us feel connected. Perhaps, in a world where telephone conversations are conducted by machines and banking is done by ATM, we need more intimacy and humanity in our lives. Perhaps in reading, and creating, blogs we're reaching out. The internet is an amazing place full of life and fun if you know where to look, but because it's accessed by machine, it feels cold to a lot of people. I think that blogs are one of the ways that people have found to make the internet a little more friendly. I know that's one of the reasons that we've started our blog. It allows us to let you know what's going on at the library in a more friendly online format. the question, though, is does it work? I propose an experiment. Comment on this post -- Let us know you're out there and then let us know what you think about blogging in general.

Busy, Busy Summer!

2008-06-25T14:53:00.000-07:00

At least it seems that way to me! The library has been jumping during the weeks since school let out! We have lots of activities going on for the teens and kids with our weekly movies, arts & crafts activities and other special events. If you aren't sure what is coming up, here are a few things we have in store for you!

Tomorrow, Thursday, June 26th we will be having Park Rangers in from the National Forest Service at the Petrified Forest who will be teaching us about "Triassic Bugs"! This begins at 2pm and includes the learning opportunity as well as a "Bug Craft"

On Friday at 2pm we will be having our Metamorphosis Activity for our teens. i don't know what these great kids have up their sleeves for this weekend, but i bet it will be a blast!

On Monday, June 30th we will be having a very special presentation of the Double Play, Flute & Tuba starting at 7pm. i was able to see a snippet of this performance and it is wonderful, so please come and join us!

You know, yesterday evening while working at the circulation desk i gazed down one of the aisles and out the window and i was amazed, once again, by the beauty of this part of Arizona. The trees were blowing lazily in the wind, the sun shining brightly and the grass just seemed greener. It made me grateful to be alive... Alas, i wax philosophical, forgive me.

So anyway, come on down to the Holbrook Public Library and enjoy our beautiful new building. We have additions to our collection nearly every day and so i am sure that we can find something to entertain you on a lazy summer's day. And if not, let us know what you are looking for and we will find it and order it in for you!

So until next time, a quote:

Knowledge is free at the library. Just bring your own container.
- Unknown

Barb

PINK?!?!?!

2008-06-14T11:34:00.001-07:00

April!!! My posts are not pink, they are purple!!! You know, the very best color ever?!?!?

Anyway, i am here to post on this beautiful Saturday morning, and gazing out of the window from the Circulation Desk i can see the trees waving lazily in the breeze, which is very mild, which is unusual for Holbrook! There is an Antique Car Show going on today down the street and baseball games all over too, so things are quiet here at the Library. Not that this is usually the case, life at the Library has been extremely crazy since school has let out because we have so many fun things scheduled for the kids and teens in our community!

Every Monday at 2pm we are hosting a Movie Madness for kids 12 and under, next week will be showing a "Buzzy" type Movie!! (which i have seen and it is very very cute, for parents and kids alike) i can't post the actual "title" of that particular movie due to copyright infringement type scariness!

Every Tuesday at 2pm, we will have Bugs, Glue & You, our children's Craft session. Next week we will be making another cute bug like the Caterpillars we made last week!

Every Wednesday at 2pm we are hosting a Teen Matinee for teens 13 and up, next week we will be showing a Lara Croft movie, and i can't tell you which one due to that same scary copyright infringement type stuff! But i can tell you that it is another highly enjoyable flick!

Every Thursday we have our Story time at 11am, come join us for songs, dancing and a story! Also on Thursdays we will be having other activities to go along with our Summer Reading Program, "Catch The Reading Bug"! Please see the calendar you picked up when you signed your kids up for Summer Reading for more information!

Every Friday we have our Teen Time also at 2pm. This week they had a WATER WAR! Who knows what they might come up with next week!

So needless to say there is seldom a dull moment at the Holbrook Public Library! If you don't believe me, come on down and see for yourself!

Until next time, here is your quote for this week:

A truly great library contains something in it to offend everyone. ~Jo Godwin

Happy Reading!
Barb

2008-06-12T12:27:00.001-07:00

Okay, so really I just wanted to post in a different color. Barb had her bright pink and I realized how very boring my posts looked in plain black. :P

april dawn

2008-06-06T14:32:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! Carmen here. I want to thank everyone who showed up on Monday for our awesome Catch the Reading Bug Kick-Off party! It was a big turn out, lots of people showed up and we had so much fun. Now that the summer has started, it has been very busy here at the library. I am quite enjoying it!
Our next event coming up will be on Monday, the 9th. It will be our Movie Madness!! Come and find out what our PG movie is. It will be at 2pm at the Holbrook Public Library and children 6 yrs and under must be accompanied by an adult.
Then on Tuesday, the 10th at 2pm, will be our Bugs, Glue & You Craft! Sign up is required so don't forget to stop by soon!
Just a reminder, we are opened on Saturdays from 10am-2pm. Come join the fun and good luck to all the readers who started on their maps! See you soon!

2008-06-03T18:36:00.000-07:00

Hello Holbrook and surrounding areas! Barb here from the Holbrook Public Library Circulation desk!

Life in the Good ol' HPL (Holbrook Public Library) is as action packed as always! We did our Summer Reading Kick Off yesterday and we had a terrific turn out. So much so that we all ran out of bugs!!! Yeah, our theme this year is "Catch the Reading Bug" and so we challenged the kids to go to our different booths and earn bugs in their Bug Jars to get a treat! We signed up lots of great kids in our community and we hope that we see them often as they come in to get new books to devour... well not literally, but to read anyway!

So there is my blog for now, i have lots more to write but unfortunately right now i just don't have time because we close in 20 minutes.

We hope that all is well with you and your family and that you come into the Library soon to check out books to savor yourself or with your family this summer.

See ya soon!
Barb

Oh, and P.S. here is your Quote:

"A good library will never be too neat, or too dusty, because somebody will always be in it, taking books off the shelves and staying up late reading them."
- Lemony Snicket

Summer!!!

2008-05-27T17:48:00.000-07:00

Hi! Today is the first official day of summer vacation for all of our schools. Hurray!! So needless to say we have had a very busy day! There have been so many books going in and out, in and out that it has almost made me dizzy. It is awesome to see all of you coming to the library!
We are also busy as bees planning our summer reading program. It is going to be one amazing experience so we hope that everyone will come and Catch the Reading Bug! (that's our theme this year). So don't forget to put it on your calendars. Monday June, 2 at 10 a.m. here at the library, don't forget.

~Emily~

The one about the rice

2008-05-24T12:48:00.000-07:00

So, the library will be closed this Monday for Memorial Day. It's going to be a big day for my family. My sister-in-law's sister is coming down from Canada to visit and wanted to have Navajo Tacos and my parents, sister and I are going to push to get the garden planted next week (here's hoping we've seen the last of these weird cold snaps).

Ages ago I got an email from a friend about a new website they'd found -- freerice.com. I was working on the website a little bit today and something triggered a memory of playing the freerice.com game. I figured before I put it on the website, I should make sure it's still live and it is! What is freerice.com? Well, for every word that you can define (yes, it's multiple choice) the organization donate's ten grains of rice to help fight world hunger. Yeah, ten grains of rice sounds piddly, but last month alone the website raised over 775,000 cups of rice! So I got to revisit an old interenet friend today and raise about 1000 grains of free rice. So next time you find yourself opening up solitaire on your computer, you might visit freerice.com for ten minutes or so and see how many grains you can add to the pile!

Saturday's just fly by! It's after 1 p.m. and I still have a ton to finish in the next 45 minutes. Have an amazing holiday weekend and be safe out there.

april dawn

DON'T BE AFRAID! It is safe!!!

2008-05-14T17:31:00.000-07:00

Just a note for our beloved patrons, PLEASE don't be afraid of our two drop boxes. We have the same big blue drop box out on the corner of Park and Third Streets, and all of your borrowed materials can be dropped in there; books, videos, DVD's, games, magazines, audiobooks etc. That box is good for them all!!

And then, when you come into the main doors of the library, straight ahead of you, in the low spot of our circulation desk, is our indoor drop box. The same rules apply, you can place all of your borrowed library materials in this box. We actually prefer if you would drop your items in this box, unless you need us to check in overdue items to ascertain any fines. We would hate for your books to "go missing" because they weren't placed in our trusty return box!

So besides that, Summer is rapidly approaching,(not that yesterday's cold snap is any indication) and our Summer Reading program will be launching on June 2nd! So come on into the library for more information on the new program.

Hope to see you soon!
Barb

Ah, memories!

2008-05-12T15:51:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! It's me Carmen. I have a little memory for you.

I was working in the back space the other day mending books and the phone rang. It was for Emily at the front desk so I called her on the phone. The line was busy. Odd, I thought. Why would the line be busy when it doesn't show that it's busy? Then realized I was dialing the back space extension where I was sitting and not the front desk extension. So I was basically calling myself. Dummie, I know.
This reminded me of this one time at the old library. I had a shelf of books that had arrived for patrons and I had to go one by one and call them to tell them their book was here. So, it was nearing the end of the day and I tired. I just wanted to go home but I was a good little employee and continued onward with my duties. I picked up one of the books and saw that it was for one of the staff. I figured I would still make the courtesy call so she wouldn't forget to take it home the next day. I dialed the number on the slip of paper and got a busy tone. I tried again after a while and still, the line was busy. The next day, April came up to me and said, "You tried to call this number and it was busy. Do you recognize the number?"
When I glanced at the number, and seeing how it was a new day and I was energized and rested, I recognized the phone number immediately and felt like such a Dori fish! It was the library's phone number. I was calling myself.
Okay, let me take this moment to remind you again that I was tired! Tired! Getting off at 7pm and during the winter, there is no sun outside which makes the sky darker and makes some people more tired! Sometimes our brain already go home for the night but we're still on the clock! And then we make little mistakes when we're seeing double. It happens!

So that's my little memory. I was thanking my lucky stars that it was staff I was calling and not a patron who was waiting by the phone waiting for his/her awesome book.

Have a nice day!
Carmen

First Post in May -- Check.

2008-05-06T11:17:00.001-07:00

I get to be the first post in May! Muahahahahaha!

Okay, evil laugh for the day -- Check.

You can tell that school is winding up, here at the library. Many, many of you have been coming in looking for last minute research "stuff." For those of you who just found out you're short one source, or one of them was rejected, come ask us about EBSCO! Or, go to www.navajoco.lib.az.us and click on the databases link. There's all sorts of fun and joy in there for research papers or just for your own information.

Plug for the state databases available to us -- check.

Now for the "random ramblings for the day" part of this post. So. Is anyone else having the hardest time staying at your desk??? I've been fortunate the last couple days to be able to get out and pick up the High School guys that are tearing out the old parking lot and making way for the new. If my car is to be believed we got over 90 degrees yesterday! We're talking swimming and baseball weather out there, y'all! Usually it feels like summer sneaks up behind and gooses us, but this year I'm getting more of a rumbling down upon us like a breakless freight train running downhill. *grin*

Well, guess I must be getting on...column to write, books to catalogue, summer daydreams to have, and all that jazz.

~April Dawn

Time Flies!

2008-04-24T10:16:00.000-07:00

Hello! My name is Carmen and this is my first post ever. (I kept putting it off. I had no idea what to say! I racked my brain and then realized I was wrong. There is a lot that happens here at the Holbrook Public Library!) I have been with the library for...ongoing 4 years? My goodness! Time flies! How did that happen??? Oh, right. You know, time really does fly when you work at the library. How? Well, when you are checking out a patron's books, you constantly, forever more see the due dates. Yup! For example, today is April 24rd. When a book gets checked out, the due date will say, "May 15, 2008". That's what makes time fly while working here. And believe it or not, Interlibrary loans make the time fly even faster! The due date for an interlibrary loan checked out today going out of county would be May 25th. And I think to myself, "Yikes! Already the end of May!" Yea it's silly, I know. So what better way to pass the time than with a good book! Come visit us at the library and take a look around. We have added some new decorations to the atmosphere. It's a lot of fun, but you'll have to come in to see!

I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading! How much sooner one tires of anything than of a book! When I have a house of my own, I shall be miserable if I have not an excellent library.
-Jane Austen (1775-1817), Pride and Prejudice, 1811

Family Night with the National Parks

2008-04-23T16:28:00.000-07:00

Hello fellow Library Enthusiasts!

It is Barb here again, this time to let you know about an event that will be happening here at the Library tomorrow. We will be having a Family Night here at the Holbrook Public Library with our National Park Service. So come and learn about the unspoiled beauty and cultural wonders of our beautiful National Parks, two of which lie within 30 miles of Holbrook!

This event will take place in our Programming Room at the Holbrook Public Library beginning at 7pm.

Come on down and have some fun with us!!

Cya soon!
Barb

New Face!

2008-04-17T17:53:00.000-07:00

Hello All!

My name is Barb and i am a recent addition to the Holbrook Public Library! Some of you may have seen me, if you have come into our wonderful new library since January, which is when i started working here. If not, come on in, i want to meet ya!

Although i have recently joined the staff here, i have been a volunteer for our library for about 7 years. i am really happy to be here and hope that i can help you find a new favorite book, author or series as soon as you find the time to come in and see me.

One new favorite that i have found since i started working here is Laura Childs, and she writes mysteries. Her first series is the Tea Shop Mysteries, which i haven't read yet because i was thoroughly attracted to the second series of books that she has written which is a Scrapbooking Mystery series! You may not know this about me, since we have just met and all, but i happen to LOVE Scrapbooking... i love it so much i can't help but capitalize it when i am writing the word "Scrapbooking"!! LOL!! Anyway, i just finished reading the first book, "Keepsake Crimes" not because it is the only one i have read, but because it is the 1st in the series after i read another of the books out of order. What can i say, we only had one of her books in the library ("Frill Kill") and i had to make do with what i had at the time! Anyway, if you like mysteries, and/or Scrapbooking and especially if you like New Orleans (where the Scrapbooking Series is set) you may enjoy these.

Well that is all i have to post on for now, not because i have nothing more to say but because i am working the desk and i never know when someone may come to the desk with a question that is so thought provoking and/or baffling that it requires my full attention!

So until next time, here is a quote to tide you over:
"In reading, as in eating, an appetite is half the feast.
- Anonymous

Barb

Something new

2008-04-11T11:55:00.000-07:00

I feel compelled to write something new here. It's been awhile since any of us have checked in and even longer since I've written on this particular wall. I figure, since I'm writing the newspaper column currently and adding some verbage to the webpage, y'all may be sick of my particular sound of voice.

I've been in a reading slump the last week or so. Finally night before last I decided to pick up an old favorite -- Dance upon the Air by Nora Roberts. I'm quite fond of her paranormal adventures and this trilogy was actually the first I ever read.

My husband is cursed with a photographic memory. Okay, yes, it's actually a quite useful little tool, but he remembers every word of every book he's ever read. I, on the other hand, can re-read a book six months later and it's almost brand new to me. I used to curse my memory (or lack thereof), but after marrying Thomas I think I much prefer being able to go back and enjoy my favorite books over and over again!

Oh, by the way, had somebody ask today if they could return their movies to the book drop when we are closed. It is perfectly okay for you to return any item that will fit to the blue book drop on the corner when we are closed and even when we are open!

Have a great weekend!!!

~april dawn~

Mocketts

2008-02-26T13:34:00.000-08:00

I found out today the black discs that cover the holes for wires in out circ desk are called mocketts. I had no idea that they even had a name. I think that that is just a fun word to say. Mockett, mockett, mockett. You should try it too. Well, I might be stretching the truth a little, but that is what it says on the bottom of them so I think I shall call them that.
I also found out way to much information about blowflys. It was the title of a book I saw and just happened to be curious about so I looked it up. Wikipedia can tell you all you could possibly want to know about blowflys and many things that you don't.
We have definitely been having Arizona weather lately as one week it snowed hard enough that the Holbrook Schools were closed, an unheard of happening in my remembrance, and now it is bright and sunny enough that you no longer need a jacket. Don't worry, it will change.
Well that's all I know today so ta ta for now!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2008-01-07T09:20:00.000-08:00

And a very busy one it is turning out to be. We have at last managed to clean out our old library building and we are so so so glad to finally be finished with that!!
Today is a cold and rainy day in Holbrook Arizona and it looks like most everybody has decided to stay inside, maybe in front of a nice toasty fire. I know that is where I wish to be at this very moment.
Well, nothing else new here today so I'll leave you with my thought of the day.

"My therapist told me the way to achieve true inner peace is to finish what I start. So far today, I have finished 2 bags of M&M's and a chocolate cake. I feel better already."
--Dave Barry

We Are Here

2007-12-26T12:27:00.000-08:00

Well we are back from the holidays and everyone managed to survive all the accompanying holiday madness. Hopefully everyone else did too.
Since school is out for holidays and some of you might have a little extra time on your hands we just want to encourage you to come in and check out a good book (pun intended). I'm sure we can find something that will interest you and help to fill in your spare time.
The sun is shining brightly today and preventing us from having a white holiday season, but hopefully everyone will enjoy it anyway.

Ciao!!

He who trims himself to suit everyone will soon whittle himself away. ~Raymond Hull

I had the same idea..

2007-12-20T11:23:00.000-08:00

... about updating our blog. I was just beaten to it. Well, it's a new day and I can still do a new message.

We apologize for the inconvenience of not having an after hours drop box, but we are glad to say that it is finally fixed!!! We are very excited to have our box back in use.

There are only 5 days to Christmas and what better time to come in and check out a Christmas story to read. We have holiday books on display and many more on our shelves. Come on in and find a good one to curl up with by the fire, or just with a cup of cocoa.
We hope everyone is having a great holiday season and will be able to enjoy time with loved ones.

Happy Holidays!

It's been a loooong time...

2007-12-17T10:33:00.000-08:00

...but we're still here! We've been busy, but to tell the honest truth of the matter, none of us are really very good at writing things like articles, journals, term papers or blogs. Oh, we'll do it (and do it well) when we have to, but if there's not a deadline we tend to space it. I'm not usually the one to update this page, but I'm at the desk, it's a quiet Monday and I'm procrastinating shelving books at the moment.

Currently the Friends of the Holbrook Library are selling custom quilted book bags at the library. They're gorgeous! Only $15 for a custom quilted canvas bag -- it's quite the bargain.

Had to put a little plug in there. I think it's because today is the day for me to write the newspaper column and I do stuff like that in it.

Well, I think that's all I have to say today. The sun is shining, the roads are dry, it's still chilly enough to curl up with a cup of cocoa or coffee and a good book. Come and see us!

April Dawn

Fun At The Library

2007-10-04T15:19:00.000-07:00

Lately we have been getting ready for the Medieval-Fantasy Festival that is sponsored by the Friends of the Library. It will be this Saturday and I hope all of you will show up. There will be many things to do, see, and purchase so don't miss out!
Now for my blonde moment of the day. I was supposed to bring the library vehicle around to the front of the building to pick up my boss and some posts so we could put out a sign for the Festival. My brain got distracted and I was driving down the street when I got a call on my cellphone. It was my boss. I had forgotten to pick her up. Oops!!
Blonde moments behind me for now (I hope) the rest of today and tomorrow should be just regular library doings mixed in with last minute Festival items that need helped along.

Carpe Diem!!

Unfinished Projects

2007-09-05T12:52:00.000-07:00

Hurray!! Thanks to our lovely volunteer many of the little projects we have been working on are finished! We now have drinking fountains for those of you with parched throats and we've even managed to get televisions up in our study rooms. Alas, our volunteer is leaving us for a two month bike trip so our project finishing may slow down a bit.

Our next event in the works is going to be our Medievil Fantasy Festival, which is coming up next month. Anyone who attended last years' knows that this one will be just as aweome so make sure you mark it on your calendars.

I'll leave you with my thought for the day.

"Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way when you criticize them, you are a mile away from them and you have their shoes."
-Jack Handey-

2007-08-17T15:46:00.000-07:00

Drowning in mud. That's what's happening around here today. This morning the skies were blue and it promised to be another extraordinarily hot Arizona day. And then, in what seemed like ten minutes, it was black outside and rain was pouring down so hard you couldn't see out the windows. Now, except for all the water, you wouldn't even know it had been storming out. I guess the old saying 'If you don't like the weather in Arizona, wait ten minutes' is still true.

On account of the rain we are rather slow today. All of us here are using the time to sort through donations for cataloging.

A gentleman is a man who can play the accordion but doesn't. ~Author Unknown

2007-08-14T18:51:00.000-07:00

The devil is in the details. The smallest jobs make the most impact. Many thanks to those who shelved today!! ~W

Library Update

2007-08-14T13:11:00.000-07:00

The Rites of Passage went great! Because of school conflicts we only ended up with three teams but they did a good job. They racked up teams points picking up pebbles with chopsticks, pulling gummy-worms out of pudding without their hands, running relay/obstacle courses and more. Congratulations to team Blondes for their winning score!! Stay tuned for future events. We plan to make this contest a regular activity.

All is quiet on the home front today. We are trying to get a bunch of donated books ready to checkout. Y'all should come by and see if we have new ones by your favorite author; we're shelving them as fast as we can get them ready!!

Limitations live only in our minds. But if we use our imaginations, our possibilities become limitless. -Jamie Paolinetti- thinkexist.com

2007-08-09T13:21:00.000-07:00

Well here we are again, just another day at the library. Those of us still here are missing those who have left us for bigger and better things. We hope she is having a blast getting settled into her new place.

With school starting this week it is really quiet around here in the mornings but on Thursdays all the little ones coming for story time keep us on our toes.

For all those that are ages 12 to 18 don't forget to come join us tomorrow night for our RITES OF PASSAGE!!!! I can't tell our secrets but it is sure to be a blast, so come and have fun!
We are, of course, still pulling all the details together but things always seem to work better when the planning for them doesn't get finalized until the last minute. With that reasoning, those of us who are expert procrastinators are totally justified in putting everything off until the last minute!!!

I totally agree with the last writer in that I don't have pearls of wisdom. Any wisdom that I spout is definatley pearl-coated, so I will leave you with my some of my own:

If you're being chased by a police dog, try not to go through a tunnel, then on to a little seesaw, then jump through a hoop of fire. They're trained for that! -- Milton Jones

For one last time....

2007-08-08T14:39:00.000-07:00

This is it. My last day. I am torn between excitement and sadness. I have only been here for over a year and yet I am sad to leave. I have met so many wonderful people and few who aren't. This place and my coworkers has been my other home and family.

This is my last will and testament for the staff at the Holbrook Public Library:

To Emily: I bequeath my neutrality. When certain parties are at war, declare yourself Switzerland and take their money.

To Carmen: I bequeath and bestow my brutal honesty and devil may care attitude. However, be sure to temper the above with tact and kindness and it will take you far at the desk!!! ;)

To April: I bequeath my sense of humor. When everything is going to heck, crack an inappropriate joke and think of me! Cheers!

To Wendy: Last but not least. I have nothing to bequeath but my gratitude and affection. Thanks for being the best boss, albeit moody, I have ever had.

I love you all very much! I will miss you terribly and remember everything fondly.

For one last time, ciao my darlings.

Myra

"I no doubt deserved my enemies, but I don't believe I deserved my friends. "
Walt WhitmanUS poet (1819 - 1892)

2 more days...

2007-08-07T12:42:00.000-07:00

Hola! I have two more blogs and I am finished, fin, done ect. Honestly, I am getting pretty sad. I don't understand this feeling. I have never really ever regretted leaving a job before. Well, I guess the saying is true, there is a first time for everything.

I am currently working the front desk. We have been mildly busy, with a chance of thunderstorms. Don't ask. I am really tired. I am getting ready to move people!

So today is a nondescript day. That is probably a good thing when you get down to it. Usually in the library the excitment is either drama or trauma. Contrary to popular belief, library life is usually far from boring. At least, in this library it is not boring.

Well my darlings. I find that as my time draws near, I have nothing to say. Go ahead be shocked. Sadness deepens the quiet in me. OOOOOOO!!! I am a poet! Actually, that was pretty bad. I am going now on that note.

"Give a man a fish, and he'll eat for a day. Give a fish a man, and he'll eat for weeks!"
Takayuki Ikkaku, Arisa Hosaka and Toshihiro Kawabata, Animal Crossing: Wild World, 2005

Ciao my darlings!

Saturday's worker is full of woe.

2007-08-04T11:51:00.001-07:00

It is Saturday and we are at work. However, the public must be served. (Not that there is anyone in here!) Now of course, there will be people coming in droves just because I wrote that.
Yep, six people just walked in the door. I'm telling you it's magic.

Anyways, it is pretty slow in here but I am not complaining. I only have three more days working here and I am done. :( That means I will not be boring you to tears with my vague ramblings. Someone else will take over and wow you with her pizazz and panache.

It is a beautiful day outside and I am stuck in here. Well, for one more hour give or take. It's really not that bad. I will miss this place. Don't tell them I said that, but I will. I am really rambling today, so I will try to leave with one of my pearl coated kernels of wisdom.

"Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some hire public relations officers."
Daniel J. Boorstin.

Ciao

Daniel J. Boorstin

Catching up...

2007-08-02T12:30:00.000-07:00

The only reason I did not blog yesterday is because our internet was down all day. If a butterfly sneezes in a westward direction our internet goes down. It was pretty dead in here, because people do not come here to check out books. They come here to check out computers. Oh well.

As I mentioned in my last blog, we hosted our Harry Potter Trivia Contest. It wasn't bad I heard. Unless you take into account the power going out. They had to read questions by flashlight. Why they didn't just say "Lumos!" is beyond me! Yes, I am a Harry Potter geek to an extent.

Anyways, someone had some of the Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. I tried bacon,grass, soap, earthworm and rotten egg. I must say they were quite disgusting. Bacon, grass and soap tasted almost like the attested flavor. Earthworm wasn't too bad. However, having never eaten an earthworm, I had nothing to compare it too. I suppose I could just say it tasted like chicken. ;) Rotten egg almost made me puke! That I had to spit out. After that I refused to taste anymore.

Contrary to popular belief, I do occasionally do real work around the library. I was actually fairly busy up until this point. I had story time and all the stuff from yesterday to check in and out. We just had a lot of catching up to do.

So with that I will take my leave. Literally, I am leaving because I have a half day! Wheeeeeee!!!!! My pearl coated nugget of wisdom is as follows:
People who live in glass houses should probably change, shower and use the bathroom somewhere else!

Ciao my darlings!

Nothing New Under The Sun....

2007-07-31T13:38:00.000-07:00

Tonight we are hosting the 6th Annual Tri-Wizard Tournament. It is our Harry Potter Trivia contest. As usual, we are completely unprepared and are pulling stuff from out of our...shelves.

I am back after a hiatus to Montana. Absolutely beautiful, but you can send me a postcard. I DO not like walking in the woods in high heels. I DO not like outhouses. Give me the Great Indoors any day! Seriously, it was absolutely gorgeous and I thoroughly enjoyed myself (except for the high heels and outhouse part).

Now I am back for the chaos of our library. I am adjusting to actually having to work and it has literally taking me a couple of hours to think about what I am going to write. We have in addition to this blog, a blog for events and new arrivals. Unfortunately, they asked me to do new arrivals, so I just put down what I read. Welllll....in the process of reading.

I did finish the new Harry Potter. It was pretty good. There is this one part that, well never mind. I won't spoil it for you. Don't you just HATE that?!?!?! Anyways, if I keep going I will have nothing to say tomorrow. Ciao my darlings!!!

My pearl-coated wisdom for today is:
"Cats are smarter than dogs. You can't get eight cats to pull a sled through snow."
Jeff Valdez

Dumb moment of the week....

2007-07-19T17:26:00.000-07:00

So...I just did the dumbest thing. We worked for 3 hours on some bookmarks for our 'Rites of Passage' game. We finally got it perfect and I thought I saved it and closed it out. Guess what? I didn't hit save after all. D'oh!

Now I will have to start all over again and since someone else actually finished it for me, I have no idea what to do. This is the dumb moment of the week. Thank you, thank you, join me tomorrow for an encore presentation.

Today was mildly uneventful, with the exception of the aforementioned dumb moment. It was nice for a change. Now I am going to have to supervise a bunch of teenagers. Unfortunately, one of my previous jobs was juvenile corrections. I don't know how to corral them without handcuffs or pepper spray. Only kidding. We get along just fine.

Anyhoo, its pouring buckets outside and I have to start on the bookmarks again. I know that I said that I would have a plethora of wisdom. I have none and I am not going to attempt it. I am supposed to give a shout out to our 14 year old volunteer's blog, Blahblahblog.

So for now my darlings, ciao!

Somebody stop the world, I want to get off.....

2007-07-18T14:16:00.000-07:00

Well, thanks to one of our darling new girls and our fearless leader, we have doors again. Most of our inside doors were off their hinges, thanks to my procrastination in getting the door frames stained. In my defense, I was suffering from P.T.S.D after having knocked over a can of stain on our new carpet. ;) Most of the stain came out, but I am emotionally scarred for life. Only kidding.

I have been stuck in front of this computer since I started work today. Wednesdays are my outreach days. I take books/audio books to home bound patrons. It is quite the experience. I still need to order books for outreach and so far I have ordered one.

I also just had someone drop off a box of donated books. While we sincerely appreciate any donations, please make sure that your pet does not urinate on the box and/or donated items. It is quite unpleasant and we can't use the items anyways.

I am off to take books to my outreach patrons. I have no unfortunate pearls of wisdom today, but tomorrow I will shower you in a plethora of them!

Ciao!

Tuesday...

2007-07-17T11:53:00.000-07:00

The drop box is spilling over. My carts are stacked to the maximum capicity with books that need to be shelved. I still need to make a flyer for our, 'Rites of Passage' event coming up AND I still have a bazillion other things that I need to do!!!!!

Tuesdays are spillovers from Mondays and just a typical day for everyone here at the Holbrook Public Library. Don't ask how we manage, we just do. I am taking a brief respite in this blog, before having to face the dreaded piles of books.

We have two new temps who are a considerable help. We also have a 15 year old boy who is volunteering his time to help us out! You don't find many people who have that sense of responsiblity and caring. Thank you and you know who you are!!!

The aforementioned 'Rites of Passage' is a game we are devising for out Teen Summer Reading. I will dangle tantilizing tidbits in my blogs and post in the calender. Hopefully, we will have it all pulled together by August 10th and it will go without a hitch!

Well, I can feel the backed up workload pressing upon me. So again, I must leave and face the real world. Ciao.

The more things change, the more they remain... insane.
Michael Fry and T. Lewis, Over the Hedge, 05-09-04

Another day of stories....

2007-07-12T12:00:00.000-07:00

Thursdays are story time days at our library. We have 'Tales for Tots' at 10:30 a.m. and Storybook Cafe at 4:30 p.m. The story time in the morning is aimed at younger children and is usually a short story. The afternoon story time is a bit longer lasting around 20-25 minutes.

Today it is business as usual here at our library. We are of course backed up on everything. However, we are slowly, but surely plugging away. We are in the middle of processing all our new arrivals. So make sure that you stop buy to check out what we have!

Well I should probably get back to real work. I shall leave you with this pearl of wisdom for the day. Well, maybe it is more like a pearl coated piece of wisdom. Turn on the radio and listen to any station, at any time. Voltaire said, "Anything to stupid to be said is sung."

Enough said.

Ciao my darlings!

Carpe Diem!! Library Style!

2007-07-11T17:10:00.000-07:00

It is the dawn of a new era at the Holbrook Public Library. We have been in our new building since February 12th, but it is the details that hang us up. I am starting this journal so that our patrons and others will have a more intimate look at our daily work lives. Also, I will keep it updated for activities, events and of course books!The library is not a sterile, quiet place with dusty old tomes. It is a vibrant building with interesting people. We adhere to the strict code of silence. Wellll....maybe not strict. We like to get to know our patrons and be there for them. This is the first entry in the blog of the LibrarySagePage. I hope to garner pearls of wisdom and update everyone on our activities. Ciao for now!