Book Review

Having just finished The eerie silence: renewing our search for alien intelligence by Paul Davies, I thought I would share my opinion.  Davies is a professor at Arizona State University.  In a nutshell, this book, as many of Davies' books are, was both entertaining and thought-provoking.  I am not one to easily grasp advanced scientific concepts, and I always find Professor Davies' books easy to read and understand.  Basically, Davies lays out the case for expanding what we should be looking for if we ever expect to "make contact" with an alien intelligence (think SETI).  Rather than simply searching the universe for radio waves we might want to look beyond what we, as a peculiar species might do (and expect) to establish communications.  I won't bother to go into great detail, but Davies provides chapter after chapter filled with ideas not only for us to use to try to establish contact but for us to look for where someone else might already have tried to contact us.  I would encourage taking a look at this book if for no other reason than it forces one to confront the real challenges and opportunities surrounding, and the deep, deep questions raised by, the fact that there seems to be such an eerie silence out there.

Facebook, privacy, and MORE!!!!!!

An extravaganza!  OK, maybe not.  I think I have mentioned in the past that librarians are a privacy-minded lot.  On the whole, we have taken the idea that what information you access and exchange is your business alone.  I suppose with the one caveat that you "do no harm" to others.  Hmm...does that make us weak libertarians?  People often accuse librarians of being liberal and prone to protecting the rights of criminals and perverts (you know, those folks who try to browse the naughty Internet sites on the public computers).

The truth is, from a certain perspective that's partly true, but with a very good reason.  Don't get me wrong, none of us (librarians) like criminals or perverts.  It is just that now more than ever before, the line between "acceptable" and "unacceptable" in societal terms, has been horribly blurred.  So librarians, as a group, tend to stick to our tried-and-true method of finding the best that we can provide and letting you, the individual, decide what is best for you and your dependents.

For me, it all boils down to an interaction I had with a friend of mine many years ago.  This friend holds many beliefs and opinions that are completely antithetical to mine.  However, we always got along well because we agreed to disagree in some cases.  A statement he made to me one time during a discussion about book banning types and their motivations exemplified what I mean.  Despite his very conservative values, he said to me that he could "never support pulling books from public libraries regardless of how I feel about some of them because that opened the door to someone else removing the books I want, and want others, to be exposed to."

So, how can librarians help patrons with their private pursuits?  With an open mind and good tools.  So where does the Facebook part come in?  This is a great tool to help protect your private information on Facebook.  Bear in mind that the ReclaimPrivacy.org tool is a free tool and provided "as-is".  That said, if you use Facebook, follow the instructions and run the scanner to see what you have out there available to all.  I made some changes to my account based on the results.  Here is an article with more information.

Summer Celebration - with a special guest

Summer is nearly upon us and we are busily preparing for the summer reading program.  This year, the theme is "Make a Splash" so rather predictably, we have a number of fun water-related games and activities in the works for the annual big kick-off.  Among your choices for water-based mayhem will be a chance to soak me in the dunk tank.  I'll bet you all have lousy aim!  (A friendly taunt :-P )

Another nifty activity that day will be a visit from the OverDrive Digital Bookmobile.  The Hutchinson Public Library contracts with the OverDrive company to provide downloadable audiobooks and (so far) a few epub ebooks.  The Digital Bookmobile provides a unique opportunity to try out various electronic gadgets and learn about the wealth of literary entertainment available through the service.

You can check up on the latest information about these programs at HPL's Facebook page.  There are FREE programs scheduled throughout June and July, including our popular craft Wednesdays in July.

I wonder how many books will be read during the various summer reading programs?  Last year we had nearly 1,100 children, young adults and adults sign up for the programs.  The children's program required the reader to read 10 books to complete it and just shy of 40% reached that goal.  The young adults and adults averaged about 5 books per person entered.  Checkouts overall were up 5% last summer over the previous year.  I hope this year they are up even more and I'd love to see us break the 50% mark for children reaching the reading goal!

More HPL 2010 Project Goodness

While the project's initial run-through may be over, if you missed out the opportunity is now here to see what it was all about.  Also, even if you did go through the 10-week project but didn't do all the exercises, you can now go back to any week you wish and try something you skipped.  The modified site will remain active through the end of 2010.

The link to the 2010 Project website is here.

Things to note about the re-vamped site:

1)  There are no more "Report your progress" links.  This is because the reporting feature was our way of keeping track of who was eligible for the contest.

2)  Speaking of contests, they are over.  The real reward though, is the knowledge contained in the project, right?

3)  No one will be monitoring links listed in the "Related Resources" sections (or the main activities for that matter).  If something becomes unavailable, we are sorry but you will just have to move on.  The Internet is littered with good ideas that just couldn't sustain themselves.

4)  The HPL 2010 Project is now truly self-starting and self-paced.  No more gently encouraging emails but also no more deadlines.

Finally, a HUGE "Thank You!" to everyone who participated in the project.  This includes library patrons, library staff, and especially Kristine, the creator and driving force behind the Project.  We learned so much from the participants that will be useful in designing classes, services, and special activities, I can't even begin to describe it.