NOYS: The Final Stretch!

We can see the finish line for the Staff Summer Reading Program!

If you have been reading feverishly, striving to win this, stop doing that on Sunday, August 9th at midnight.

All of the reviews will be posted by Wednesday, August 12th and the winners will be announced and the rewards given out by Friday, August 14. (don't worry, I'll get NOYS-y about the winner!)

For you last-minute, dark horse competitors, enter your reviews here.

To read the MANY reviews submitted for this, look on this part of the Teen Web Page.

NOYS: Feeling Challenged?

I hope you can agree with me when I say that we have a great collection of materials available for patron use. There are so many diverse viewpoints, styles of presentation, and subject varieties available in our collection, it can sometimes seem overwhelming!

Questions and inquiries can arise about whether we “should” have something in our collections. If a question like this is brought to your attention about an item, please offer to provide a Materials Inquiry form to the patron so that they can fill it out, and you can send it (along with the item in question) to the proper person:

For Adult materials – Jeanne Johnson

For Children’s or Teen materials – Lisa Eckman

They will handle it from there.

NOYS: SRP registration

According to the numbers in Summer Reader, SRP participation is down by about 50%, but I don't think these numbers reflect the reality in our libraries.

This is a reminder for busy library staff to send in the registration and grand prize drawing slips.

Send them to Youth Services and they will be entered into Summer Reader, but if you don’t want to send them to us, you need to enter them into the Summer Reader program yourselves.

Even when the kids and teens use the print reading logs, we absolutely need their registration slips and grand prize slips when they finish the 3 books.

This is the only way we can correctly judge the success of the program and plan for next year. For the numbers to be accurate, and so the kids and teens get a chance to win the grand prizes, let's get all of the slips into the system!

NOYS: THIS is why we are all so busy!

Youth Services submitted our yearly statistics on time (as I'm sure everyone else did!) and the numbers look pretty impressive to me.

YS staff did outreach for 684 various programs and locations last year (including Daycare Bookmobile storytimes) and we visited with more than 18,000 children and nearly 5,000 teens.

Now, this is only the people Youth Services saw over the past year through our outreach efforts, it doesn't even begin to count the multitudes y'all in the branches encountered and assisted all year long.

We all meet so many patrons throughout the year, both in and outside the Libraries. I cannot help but be proud of what FCPL does, and when you look at your numbers (and ours), I hope you are too.

We are AWESOME!

NOYS: Staff Summer Reading Program Update

We're almost halfway through the Staff Summer Reading Program, so it's time for a status update. Gina Becker and Terrance McArthur lead the pack with 105 and 63 points respectively. Third place is really anyone's game at this point. Hey--you have five weeks, first place is still anyone's game! And, rumor has it, there's a strategic staffer at one of our regionals that has been reading like crazy and has yet to submit his/her books. It's always the dark horse you gotta look out for.

The most-read book so far? The Fun Non-Fic book Passive Aggressive Notes: Painfully Polite and Hilariously Hostile Writings, reviewed by Faythe, Jamie, and Lisa E.

If you haven't started yet, or are reading but haven't submitted your books, fill out this easy form and we'll get you started. It's easy, it's fun, AND you could win a B&N gift card!

From the Professional Library

New titles for staff check out.

Implementing for Results by Sandra Nelson provides tips to help determine which activities effectively support goals and objectives.
Library and Book Trade Almanac (formerly The Bowker Annual).
Newbery and Caldecott Awards by ALSC is a guide to the most distinguished American children's literature and illustration.
Service Learning: Linking Library Education and Practice by Loriene roy, Kelly Jensen, and Alex Hershey Meyers offers examples of how to incorporate service learning into librarian education, gives an overview of the history of service learning and outlines student, faculty and field supervisor roles.

Farmers Markets

Roberta Barton, Headquarters

Here's a list of Farmers Markets recently published in The Fresno Bee. Summer is a great time to enjoy our Valley's bounty of fresh fruits and veggies. On days when the heat is not quite into triple digits, staff can take a quick walk to Fulton Mall during lunch hour to sample their market.

Cherry Avenue Farmers Market, 6:30 am - 3:30 pm on Tuesday, Saturday and Sunday
Farmers Market at the Vineyard, 7 am - noon on Saturday, 3-6 pm on Wednesday, Blackstone and Shaw
Fresh Friday Night Market Place, 6-8 pm on Friday, Bentley's Fresh Market
Fresno Farmers Market, 7 am - 2 pm on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, Fulton Street
Kaiser Permanente Farmers Market, 8 am - 1:30 pm on Wednesday
Kingsburg Farmers Market, 5-8 pm on thursday, Kingsburg Swedish Village
Market on the Mall, 10 am - 2 pm on Wednesday and Friday, Fulton Mall
Music in the Park and Farmers Market, 6-9 pm every other Thursday, Sierra Vista mall
Old Town Clovis Farmers Market, 5:30-9 pm on Friday
Reedley Downtown Association Certified Farmers Market, 4:30-7:30 pm on Wednesday, G St.
River Park Farmers Market, 5-9 pm on Tuesday
Tower Farmers Produce Market, 8 am - 3 pm on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, Tower District

NOYS: Collect Your Stats!

Hey!

If you're anything like me, you just finished your annual scramble to pull together your end-of-the-year statistics for your programs and events, and hope to avoid that particular hassle next year. With the increase in attendance at Summer Reading Programs this year, a good count is more important than ever!

Well...here's your chance to make things easy on yourself: Stats are collected using Evanced!

Go to The Evanced site, which should look like this:













Pick the branch location of event from the drop-down manu at the top, and select "Event Attendance" from the box on the left.

This will show you the calendar of events at your branch. Click on your event and fill in your stats (don't forget to "save"!) and your are done!

Little fuss, no muss, and you won't be rifling through your desk next May, searching for a scrap of paper that has the number of teens at your PS3 program last July!

(Or is that just me?!)

NOYS: Read.Watch.Listen. turns 1!

On June 9, read.watch.listen celebrated its one year anniversary. In that time:

• Hits on the homepage have almost tripled
• There has been a 40% increase in hits compared to the first six months
• There have been 335 reviews submitted from teens
• Hits are coming in from all over the world - from Canada to Cameroon to Australia
• Partnerships are being formed with local youth organizations, such as The kNOw and The Fresno Youth Folklore Society
• Authors have thanked RWL staff for their support & offered to contribute to our site themselves.

Thanks to all staff who have supported us through the last year. And, a special thanks to the 2009-2010 RWL staff: Faythe Arredondo, Lisa Lindsay, Gina Becker, Jennifer Bethel, and Ryan Ewers.

--Connie Urquhart, Teen Services Coordinator

NOYS: SMILE when you say Retire!

Hear ye, Hear ye!

Kathy Kenslow (Librarian in Youth Services, of course), is retiring as of June 19, 2009.

What? OF COURSE there will be a pot-luck/party!

Where: The Sarah McCardle Room at the Central Library

When: Friday, June 19th from 12pm - 1:30pm


Check out the pot-luck list on the "J" drive at:
J:\Public\_Kenslow Retirement Potluck sign-up.xls to see what is still needed for her rockin' send-off, or call Youth Services at 488-3205 with any questions.

To sign a card and/or contribute to a gift for Kathy, please see Liz or Elida in the business office.

From the Professional Library

A new professional resource from the Urban Library Council is now available for staff checkout from the Professional Library.

Welcome, Stranger: Public Libraries Build the Global Village by Rick Ashton and Danielle Milam explores strategies that help communities successfully welcome New Americans. The report and accompanying toolkit examine successful library outreach at work across the country, and its impact on communities.

Work of Art

Susan Mann, Gillis and Ivy


Celeste Riojas and Edna Saragosti at Gillis have created an awesome bulletin board to promote the SRP, and as I look at it I have to say… I think they have raised the bar for the rest of you!

Thanks Celeste and Edna for the beautiful work!