Monday Morning Eye-Opener 2/22/2010

Good Morning! In today's Eye-Opener:

1) One Book One Siouxland

2) The White Stuff

3) Meetings / Events This Week

1) One Book One Siouxland: Now in its 5^th year, One Book One Siouxland in back, bringing Siouxland together around one great book. This year, readers voted for the winning title from among 5 finalists. It’s The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. From Sioux City PL publicity “…Set in Germany during WWII, it is the fascinating story about a foster child who values stories enough to steal them…as one Sioux City reader exclaimed ‘once you’ve read The Book Thief, you can’t stop talking about it!’ The novel offers much to discuss, whether in coffee shops, libraries, or wherever friends gather…”

Book discussions are planned at a variety of venues in and around Sioux City, including Sioux City and South Sioux Public Libraries, The Daily Grind, Caribou Coffee, and North Sioux City Senior Center. In addition to the book discussions, other programming centers around the Holocaust and WWII. A photography exhibit at Western Iowa Tech features the photos of Vernon Tott who, in April 1945, was a 20-year-old infrantryman in Ahlem, Germany. “…not quite sure why—perhaps as proof of what his eyes refused to believe—he used a second-hand camera to record the horror of what he saw, but also the hope in the faces of survivors. Years later, he and the survivors he photographed reconnected and their story was made in to a documentary titled The Angel of Ahlem…”

In another program, Dr. Danuta Hutchins will present “WWII—Torn Out Memories & More” at 2:00PM on Saturday February 27. Herself a survivor, Dr. Hutchins will compare her experience as a child in occupied Poland to the life and struggles of the character in The Book Thief. This program is free to the public, sponsored by Humanities Iowa, with Sioux City Public Library hosting at its downtown location (529 Pierce Street)

One Book One Siouxland is jointly sponsored by the public libraries in Sioux City, South Sioux City, and North Sioux City. Visit the website to learn more. And add The Book Thief to your reading list!

2) The White Stuff: Last month, a neat article in Siouxland Magazine sparked this idea for a library display. The article was titled “The White Stuff: A Look at All Kinds of White Things.” Like most of us, the author was trying to find an upside—a fun side—to what’s been a brutal winter season. Besides snow, she named a dozen other white things to talk about. And I thought her idea would make a good library display, whether on a tabletop or in a display case.

Here’s some “white stuff” stuff you could use. Drum up your own display title or let your patrons make the connection. And certainly add to the list—everything but snow!

Pillows
Sheets
Marshmellows
Q-tips
Soap
Cotton balls
Paper towels
Toilet paper
Socks
Diapers
Light bulbs
Opera gloves
Pearls
And…a white sport coat, a pink carnation J

3) Meetings / Events This Week: Northwest LSA Board meets tomorrow Tuesday Feb.23, this time at Le Mars Public Library. The meeting convenes at 1:00PM and is open to the public. Area library personnel are welcome to attend; the agenda is posted on NWILS website.

Later Tuesday evening, Archer Library Board meets at 5:00PM. The topic is finances; thanks to Archer PL board for the invitation to join them.

Then it’s the annual New Children’s & YA Literature Booktalks on Wednesday February 24. Sponsored by the LSAs and AEAs, this one is done over the ICN at locations across the state. 3 media specialists highlight the best books from 2009 for preschool ages through grade 12. The cost is $10.00—please make checks payable to Northwest Iowa Library Services (P.O. Box 1319, Sioux City, IA. 51102-1319) Registration closed last week…

Monday Morning Eye-Opener 2/8/2010

Good morning! In today's Eye-Opener....

1) Olympic Inspiration
2) New Children & YA Lit Booktalks
3) Meetings / Events This Week

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1) Olympic Inspiration

The Winter Olympics get underway this Friday February 12 with opening ceremonies in Vancouver. Always great TV Viewing, so libraries could bring TVs front and center for people to watch some the broadcasts. And when not watching the coverage, the TV will be handy to hold Olympic contests of your own with a news Wii Game "Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games". This Wii game included downhill skiing, snowboarding, bobsledding, hockey, and more - 27 events in all.

The events are coupled with a coin system where items and extras can be purchased in the shopping village. After each event, you'll get scored based on your rank in the event and any emblems you earn can be traded in the shop for Mii gear, logos, in-game music - all kinds of loot. Just sayin' ....some fun winter programming here for kids and adults alike.

We found "Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games at Amazon for under $50. ANd don't forget you can borrow the Wii game system from Northwest LSA; find our lending policy and reservation form on our website http://www.nwils.lib.ia.us/spcollendpol/wiirental

One more idea to chase away the winter blahs: check out WINTER SPORTS STARRING YOU at JibJab. With photos of yourself, put your face on figure sakters, extreme skiers, and other winter sports athletes dancing in the snow. Remember ElfYourself? That's also JibJab, it's year-round fun! Thanks to Jean Chesterman for this idea and for contributing this article!

2) New Children & YA Lit Booktalks

Sign up anytime for the annual New Children & YA Literature Booktalks sponsored by the Library Service Areas and the AEAs. Sit back and enjoy booktalking, where 3 media specialists highlight the best books from 2009 for preschool ages through grade 12. The date is Feb24 over the ICN - and there are plenty of ICN locations to choose from. The CE CATALOG shows you where; cost is $10 per person, made payable to Northwest Iowa Library Services.

3) Meetings / Events This Week

It's a smorgasbord of online classes this week! Beginning tomorrow morning, Tuesday, February 9, with another Career Reading Roundtable. "The Civility Solution" by P.M. Forni is up for discussion. "...Many of us find ourselves confronted with rudeness everyday and don't know how to respond. The author shows us what to do when confronted with bad behavior by being assertive as well as civil..." 9:30-11:30am with Roy Kenagy leading the discussion.

Tomorrow is also Part 2 of a 5-part series called "The Board's Role in Human Resources". In Part 2 "Compensation & Benefits", job descriptions come back into play, because updated job descriptions are necessary before a productive discussion of salaries can take place. We'll talk about job comparisons amongst different occupations and suggest how boards can arrive at fair compenstation by using tools like the Pay Equity Toolkit. Aimed at library trustees, tomorrow night's program, Feb. 9, is from 6:000-7:30pm.

Rounding out the week, Friday Feb. 12, is Managing Facilities for Results. Look at the library's phusical facility in terms of these common elements: structural, service space, furniture & equipment, and shelving & Signage. Standards for public libraries in Iowa call for library staff to conduct a space needs assessment every 5 years. In times of zero budget growth - and often budget reductions - building expansion may not be in the cards. Discuss how to "re-purpose" existing space to make way for new services and programs. Catch this one 9:30-11:30am.

NOTE: All classes described here take place in NORTHWEST ADOBE ONLINE CLASSROOMS - we have serval, each with a unique URL. SO registering in the CE CATALOG ensures receiving follow-up emails with date, time, and the right link to the right room. Join us 1,2 or all 3! Call with questions....