Sally Gomez, Kingsburg
Volunteers from the Friends of the Kingsburg Library raised approximately $1,000 for the well-used community branch during their annual book sale. Temperatures soared during the Kingsburg Swedish Festival on May 15 and 16, but volunteers braved the sweltering heat as they sold more than 1,500 books.
The annual book sale is the primary source of fund raising for the Friends group, and local bibliophiles look forward to the sale every year. Kingsburg Library staff field phone calls in the days leading up to the sale from interested buyers asking if the sale will in fact take place and if there will be boxes and boxes of books just like years prior.
The sale takes days of preparation, as donated books are received at the library and stored in its basement. Local students volunteer to help sort the books and carry them upstairs for the sale.
The Friends of the Kingsburg Library have been extremely supportive of the branch and have used funds to purchase items to improve library services. Past purchases have included a Wii gaming system and a flat screen TV. Recently, the Friends group purchased new benches and planters to beautify the building from the outside.
“The benches are great and very colorful,” said branch librarian Sally Gomez of the mint and chocolate colored benches and planters. “They get well used. It’s especially nice for the folks who get here before we open. They have someplace to sit and wait.”
The Friends of the Kingsburg Library also sponsored an open house earlier this year, offering snacks, entertainment and a chance to meet their new branch librarian. Sally was promoted to branch librarian of the Kingsburg Library in February.
Linda Sward, a member of the Friends group, said that she supports the library because she has always had an affinity for libraries.
“I think for me and for probably everyone involved in the group … the library has been and will continue to be an important part of our life. It’s an important resource,” said Sward.
June 11, 2009
June 10, 2009
NOYS: Staff SRP!
Introducing the first annual Staff Summer Reading Program!
Why should kids & teens have all the fun? Now you can read & win prizes too! All staff are eligible and encouraged to participate*. All you do is read teen books. The more you read, the more points you get. The more points you get, the better your chances for prizes! Simple and fun.
Please read the official rules and guidelines on the staff wiki.
I know you’re all excited (me too!) but please wait to read your books until the official SRP program start, which is June 15th. We expect kids to read new books, so we should too. Honor system applies.
*All reading must be done off the clock and not during work time. Youth Services staff is not eligible to win prizes, but will be reading along with everyone else, just for the fun of it.
Why should kids & teens have all the fun? Now you can read & win prizes too! All staff are eligible and encouraged to participate*. All you do is read teen books. The more you read, the more points you get. The more points you get, the better your chances for prizes! Simple and fun.
Please read the official rules and guidelines on the staff wiki.
I know you’re all excited (me too!) but please wait to read your books until the official SRP program start, which is June 15th. We expect kids to read new books, so we should too. Honor system applies.
*All reading must be done off the clock and not during work time. Youth Services staff is not eligible to win prizes, but will be reading along with everyone else, just for the fun of it.
June 9, 2009
Spring Music Concert
Stephanie Horal, Woodward Park
The KIPP Academy String Quartet presented a music concert at the Woodward Park Regional Library on Sunday, May 31. Deanna Hill, orchestra conductor at KIPP, performed with Eric Zamora, Naoko Little- Johnson, and Sarah Dick. The concert was part of the quarterly series of concerts presented by the West Coast Clarinet Congress of California State University, Fresno. Refreshments were provided by the Woodward Park Friends of the Library. The next concert is scheduled for Sunday, July 26, 2009 at 3:00.
The KIPP Academy String Quartet presented a music concert at the Woodward Park Regional Library on Sunday, May 31. Deanna Hill, orchestra conductor at KIPP, performed with Eric Zamora, Naoko Little- Johnson, and Sarah Dick. The concert was part of the quarterly series of concerts presented by the West Coast Clarinet Congress of California State University, Fresno. Refreshments were provided by the Woodward Park Friends of the Library. The next concert is scheduled for Sunday, July 26, 2009 at 3:00.
Lost Without Your "K" Drive?
Jill Potter, Headquarters
It’s happened to all of us at one time or another. You’re in a hurry and you need to access a document you saved to your K drive or you need to update stats A.S.A.P. for your branch and the file is stored on the J drive. Quickly you log into your profile and open up My Computer and prepare to click on the icon for the K drive. IT’S NOT THERE! AAAHHHH…And Tech Support isn’t answering their phones. What to do now? You can reconnect, or re-map the connection to the K and J drives and have access to all the files within minutes and not have to wait for Tech Support to fix the problem.
Follow the links below for handy instructions that will get your J and K drives up and running in no time!
It’s happened to all of us at one time or another. You’re in a hurry and you need to access a document you saved to your K drive or you need to update stats A.S.A.P. for your branch and the file is stored on the J drive. Quickly you log into your profile and open up My Computer and prepare to click on the icon for the K drive. IT’S NOT THERE! AAAHHHH…And Tech Support isn’t answering their phones. What to do now? You can reconnect, or re-map the connection to the K and J drives and have access to all the files within minutes and not have to wait for Tech Support to fix the problem.
Follow the links below for handy instructions that will get your J and K drives up and running in no time!
May 26, 2009
NOYS: Bilingual Children's Book Fair
On Saturday, June 6th, 11am - 3pmSan Joaquin River Parkway & Respite by the River
Presents:
Flora, Fauna, Floricanto
Bilingual Children’s Book Fair
Featuring Doug Hansen, live music, and more…
Bilingual Children’s Book Fair
Featuring Doug Hansen, live music, and more…
This is a FREE event and the scheduled performances include:
Bilingual children’s music by Stanley & Yolanda Lucero
Interactive Story-time with Doug Hansen
Children’s music by Jeremy Hofer
Presentation by Karen Adler, featuring her book, “California Fruit Raps”
Bring your own picnic lunch, or Tamales, Fruit, Hot Dogs, and drinks will be available for purchase.*All day - Children’s Mural with Christine De La Hofer
Of course, the Library will be giving away free books and doing library card signups.Come down to the river if you can, this promises to be a great time for all!
May 19, 2009
NOYS: Career Fair Fun
On Friday, May 15th Faythe Arredondo and Connie Urquhart from Youth Services joined Lisa Lindsay from Sunnyside at Reyburn Intermediate School's Career Fair, where 1200 students learned about different career opportunities from more than 50 organizations. Students were required to visit each booth and ask what each career field was like, then choose two to write about. The questions included education requirements, salary range, a description of the career, and reasons they might/might not enjoy that career. They also asked what current volunteer opportunities exist that might give them a better understanding of the profession.
Traffic was high at the FCPL's booth. We heard comments like "This job sounds like fun" and "Dang! You can make that much for working in a library?" (it's all relative for a middle school student). Weary from years of receiving comments like "must be fun to sit around and read all day", it was surprisingly refreshing to hear, "You mean you get PAID for playing video games?!". [Note: we don't play video games everyday...we were promoting Lisa's gaming tournament at Sunnyside on Saturday May 23rd.]
But books still hold a place in our hearts, and in the hearts of teens. One shared with us this story: "I was really lazy when I was in elementary school. Then I read Twilight and I loved it! It was the biggest book I'd ever read. Now I get home from school, do my homework, and read 'til 10 or 11 o'clock at night."
In a crowd of 1200, I think we may have found at least one future librarian.
May 14, 2009
Fresno Big Read in National Spotlight
Roberta Barton, Headquarters
Fresno County continues to be a Big Read favorite! Our Tom Sawyer activities are featured this week on the national Big Read blog. Check it out at www.arts.gov/bigreadblog.
Fresno County continues to be a Big Read favorite! Our Tom Sawyer activities are featured this week on the national Big Read blog. Check it out at www.arts.gov/bigreadblog.
May 13, 2009
Not Your Usual Espresso
Sean Aragon, Central
An interesting article can be found on the website of the British newspaper, The Guardian. Ever heard of an Espresso Book Machine? The article tells of a London, England library that prints and binds books for patrons in minutes.
An interesting article can be found on the website of the British newspaper, The Guardian. Ever heard of an Espresso Book Machine? The article tells of a London, England library that prints and binds books for patrons in minutes.
Tea Party
Robyn Aguiar, Sunnyside
Sunnyside’s first ever Mother-Daughter Tea Party was held on the afternoon of May 3rd and it could not have been more successful. We had 10 moms and 11 daughters for a total of 21. Classical music played in the background while we ate our orange/cranberry scones, our strawberries dipped in chocolate from the chocolate fountain, and our lemon tea cookies. Various teas and strawberry lemonade were the beverages “du jour.” We discussed trivia such as proper tea etiquette and what Queen Elizabeth serves for her intimate teas for 8,000 people. We also had guests guessing which famous tea parties were from which children’s literature. Our guests were dressed in their finest and we even had one Cinderella and one fairy.
Thank you to Anna Solis, Senior Library Assistant at Sunnyside who helped with the planning and Happy Mother’s Day to all of the moms out there.
Sunnyside’s first ever Mother-Daughter Tea Party was held on the afternoon of May 3rd and it could not have been more successful. We had 10 moms and 11 daughters for a total of 21. Classical music played in the background while we ate our orange/cranberry scones, our strawberries dipped in chocolate from the chocolate fountain, and our lemon tea cookies. Various teas and strawberry lemonade were the beverages “du jour.” We discussed trivia such as proper tea etiquette and what Queen Elizabeth serves for her intimate teas for 8,000 people. We also had guests guessing which famous tea parties were from which children’s literature. Our guests were dressed in their finest and we even had one Cinderella and one fairy. Thank you to Anna Solis, Senior Library Assistant at Sunnyside who helped with the planning and Happy Mother’s Day to all of the moms out there.
Why We Leave Our Computers On at Night
Jill Potter, Headquarters
With all the talk about saving energy and going green, you may wonder why we are asked to leave our computers on at the end of the day. Our first concern at the Library is public service. Tech Support schedules regular updates and maintenance that can be performed on computers while branches are closed, thus keeping the computers available for public and staff use during regular business hours. Microsoft Windows Updates and Anti Virus updates are scheduled for the off hours as well. Of course there will always be something that comes up that can only be done during business hours or during the scheduled branch visits. But for the most part, techs try to service the PCs as much as possible during the off hours.
Many of the services and repairs that Tech Support does while the branches are closed are done using a great technology called Virtual Network Computing, or VNC. VNC allows a technician to access a computer in the network directly from any computer in the network. Once a connection is established the technician can literally see the desktop image of that computer and have access to the programs and files as if they are sitting right in front of the machine. Thanks to today’s technology, we really can be in two (or more) places at once! Due to privacy concerns, Tech Support will contact the branch and inform them that someone will be accessing one or more computers if repairs are being performed during branch hours.
Using VNC, technicians may be able to perform emergency repairs almost immediately. Please remember to leave problem computers turned on so they can be accessed by Tech Support. However, monitors may be turned off.
So, remember, at the end of the day, leave the computers turned on and at the CTRL-ALT-DEL screen and turn the monitors off.
With all the talk about saving energy and going green, you may wonder why we are asked to leave our computers on at the end of the day. Our first concern at the Library is public service. Tech Support schedules regular updates and maintenance that can be performed on computers while branches are closed, thus keeping the computers available for public and staff use during regular business hours. Microsoft Windows Updates and Anti Virus updates are scheduled for the off hours as well. Of course there will always be something that comes up that can only be done during business hours or during the scheduled branch visits. But for the most part, techs try to service the PCs as much as possible during the off hours.
Many of the services and repairs that Tech Support does while the branches are closed are done using a great technology called Virtual Network Computing, or VNC. VNC allows a technician to access a computer in the network directly from any computer in the network. Once a connection is established the technician can literally see the desktop image of that computer and have access to the programs and files as if they are sitting right in front of the machine. Thanks to today’s technology, we really can be in two (or more) places at once! Due to privacy concerns, Tech Support will contact the branch and inform them that someone will be accessing one or more computers if repairs are being performed during branch hours.
Using VNC, technicians may be able to perform emergency repairs almost immediately. Please remember to leave problem computers turned on so they can be accessed by Tech Support. However, monitors may be turned off.
So, remember, at the end of the day, leave the computers turned on and at the CTRL-ALT-DEL screen and turn the monitors off.
KSEE 24 Highlights Fit for Life
Roberta Barton, Headquarters
The Library's Fit for Life initiative received prime promotion this week on KSEE 24. News anchor Stefani Booroojian featured Fit for Life on her "To Your Health" segment during Monday evening's newscast. Parents and children participating in an infant/toddler storytime at the Sanger Branch Library were filmed receiving free "Healthy Body = Healthy Brain" Tool Kits. To view the segment online, go to the KSEE 24 website. Don't forget to contact Linda Calandra or Roberta Barton for Tool Kits to distribute at designated Fit for Life programs in your branch.
The Library's Fit for Life initiative received prime promotion this week on KSEE 24. News anchor Stefani Booroojian featured Fit for Life on her "To Your Health" segment during Monday evening's newscast. Parents and children participating in an infant/toddler storytime at the Sanger Branch Library were filmed receiving free "Healthy Body = Healthy Brain" Tool Kits. To view the segment online, go to the KSEE 24 website. Don't forget to contact Linda Calandra or Roberta Barton for Tool Kits to distribute at designated Fit for Life programs in your branch.
May 11, 2009
NOYS: SRP on the wiki
Hey! Where are my Summer Reading program calendars?!?Patrons are already asking when and where the programs will be!!!
Fear not, dear people! The paper calendars will be sent out this Friday, so watch for their arrival next week. After that, everything will start arriving quickly, so make room and get ready!
Until then, check out the YS wiki, where you can see both the Children's and Teen program calendars in all their colorful glory.
Prizes and more will be sent your way soon!
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