100 Years of Books

While some people would find it difficult to read 10 books in a year, others read so many that they lose count. If you love to read, you might also like to do your own book reviews on sites like GoodReads. But one blogger has a unique idea that takes book reviews to a different level.

Matt Kahn is a blogger who has decided to read and review every book that reached the number one position on Publisher’s Weekly annual bestseller’s list, beginning in 1913. He lists all the titles he’ll be reading and review here on his blog, so you can follow his progress. It should be interesting…he’ll be reading everything from The Grapes of Wrath to Fifty Shades of Grey, and a whole lot of John Grisham!  He also plans to provide a bit of background on the authors and the time periods in which the books became bestsellers in order to give readers a better sense of why they got there. I also think it will be fascinating to see how popular books have changed over the last 100 years. Will we see trends? Or will books change with the times?

Maybe you’ll be inspired to read some of these books after reading his reviews. You never know, you might find your new favourite author on this list!  Happy reading!

What do YOU want?

The big question these days seems to be, how do you get your information? I’m not talking about news or research, I’m talking about local community information. It might be different in a large city, but in a smaller community with a population of 9500 (according to the signs located outside of Carleton Place), getting information out to people is a difficult matter.

Years ago, the only real way people knew what was going on in this community was through the newspaper, posters and word of mouth.  People found out about events through their church bulletins, through school letters home and by reading the flyers posted at the front door of the local grocery store. Funny thing was, it didn’t seem so bad. We didn’t worry that something important was happening without us knowing about it.  If we left the house, we’d be out of contact with a phone for a while, but it wasn’t stressful. And if we wanted to share some photos of our fantastic summer vacation with our friends and family, we’d have to wait until we saw them in person and whip out that white envelope stuffed with 24 mediocre pictures they could ooh and ahh over. It was just that way.

Today, with social media, getting information out to the public is easy…almost too much so.  We’re expected to keep our phones on and charged, in case we need to text someone or take a photo right that second. If we don’t check Facebook a thousand times a day, we feel like we’ve missed out on something. And we MUST check our favourite websites constantly, to keep up with the world of politics (or entertainment, or sports, or knitting).

As a public library, we’re finding that we’re part of this big machine, also. While we have a newsletter, and we put posters up around the library for various events, and advertise in the newspaper, there are just people out there who do not get their information this way anymore.  They rely on Facebook and Twitter and blogs to find out what’s going on, and that includes in their own communities. It’s still amazing to us when people we’ve never seen in the library before, come in and tell us they heard about a program we’re running, on Facebook or Twitter. It gives us a sense of satisfaction that yes, we’re reaching people. We really are!

How do YOU prefer to get your local community information and do you think we could be doing more to inform people about library programs?  Do you feel like you need more access to library resources online? Or are you happy with the way things are?  We’d love to know how people are really using our blog, online catalog, Facebook page and Twitter feed. It’s all about YOU, after all!

Blank Days

I’m having a blank day.

Tomorrow, the post will be brilliant. Brilliant!

Or, at least…more than 19 words.

Start a Phlog!

In the summer, we tend to do a little more “phlogging” than at other times of the year.  What’s phlogging, you ask? A phlog is a photo blog! More and more, phlogs are turning up as a great way for people to show off the photos they take on vacations or in their everyday lives. Facebook isn’t the best platform to shocase photos, but a simple photo blog is the perfect way. If you have a smartphone and tend to take a lot of pictures, you can download an app to a great WordPress blog format and start using it right away.

One of the most important things to think about when setting up a phlog is what your layout should look like.  You want your photos to be front and center, so choose a blog format that is designed specifically for photos.  There should be large, blank space, and ideally a blog that will allow your photos to remain full sized. (There’s nothing worse than tiny photos you have to click on to view.)  This blog would not be ideal for a phlog, with all of the links and widgets on the side columns.  We post lots of photos at times, but if I were to turn to posting strictly photos, this is not the template I would choose.  You might also go for a phlog template that has a white or black background, something that won’t compete with the colours in your pictures.

A lot of people are taking pictures with their smartphones and using Instagram to edit them into beautiful, artistic photos.  Even Instagram itself has a great photo blog, filled with tips on getting the most out of your photos. You can see what other people are doing with their photos and they have super tips and ideas to get the most out of your smartphone.

Thanks to Labellenuage for the great Instagram photo!

While we might not have a true photo blog for the library, it’s always fun to think of new ways to post what’s going on. One of our favourite blog posts with photos happened last summer for our Stuffed Animal Sleepover.  We might do something similar this year, so keep watching.

What would YOU post on a phlog?

Do you have any thoughts about that?

Recently, I came across an interesting site called Thought Catalog. It is filled each day with thought-provoking articles, lists and information.  They say they strive to be positive and make you think about a subject in a slightly different way, and I have to agree.

The website is uncluttered, with simple one-block photos above each article.  And while some of the articles  contain subject matter or language that isn’t suitable for everyone, for the most part, the articles are funny and well written. There are topics like Where Have all the Single People Gone, and 5 Things I Miss about Childhood. If you have a few minutes and want something interesting to read, scroll through the list and you’ll find a fun article or two. It’s not your typical news site or single-subject blog and you might come away thinking about life a little differently. Just a thought…….

Very Pinteresting!

I’ve been using Pinterest now for quite a while. Not only do I love the whole idea of being able to see multiple items on one page, but it makes so much more sense to “pin” a great website to one of my boards than to constantly bookmark sites.  I use Pinterest both in a personal manner, as well as professionally. And it seems that more and more librarians are using  to make their library experience better.

If you haven’t used Pinterest before, it’s basically a big bulletin board where you “pin” on items you like, from anywhere on the internet.  Once you ask to be added to Pinterest, you’re free to start pinning. So, say you’re on the National Geographic website and you see a great article you’d like to read later.  Just “pin” it to one of your boards and you can access it any time.  It’s visual, which makes it so much more interesting than bookmarks or favourites.

For work, I use Pinterest to get new craft ideas for my storytimes and craft nights, and also for ideas for bulletin boards and display windows. I can’t tell you how many things I’ve found there that are different and wonderful. It sure beats using Google to scan page after page of images, only to find nothing new. Pinterest is fresh and I can’t wait to use it in new ways!

But now, it seems that librarians from all over the North America are finding exciting ways to use Pinterest in their libraries to bring in more patrons, connect with their users and disperse information, all from these unique bulletin boards. Just how are they using Pinterest?  Here are a few ways:

1. Pinning Book Covers.  Librarians are putting together lists of books by genre or interest for their patrons.  Book covers also show what a librarian might be reading, or what might be new to the library. It’s up to the library to decide how to use it, and the possibilities are endless.

2. Encouraging kids and teens to read. One library has a special board dedicated to crafts, books and fun ideas based on hot new books for kids and teens, such as the Hunger Games. Teens can find great paper crafts or fun links to help broaden their experience with the book. Fun!

3. Displaying historical photos.  While we have lots of historical photos on our Local History sister blog, this would also be a fun way to display items for people who might not regularly visit our blog. It’s also a way to draw in new users.

4. Creating collaborative boards!  This is such a fun idea.  One library is using Pinterest to collaborate with their patrons by posting pictures of their pets “reading”. 

There are SO many great ideas and ways that libraries are using Pinterest.  You can read a wonderful article here at Edudemic. Fantastic ideas that I know I’m going to think more about!