Website change

I admit that I am an inveterate tinkerer.  I have been working on creating a set of links for our patrons to sites that offer free ebooks for download.  Further, I have been looking at these sites and trying them out beforehand to see if they are easy to use and offer a good selection.  The list will likely grow over time.

In fact, thanks to the work our IT head, we have changed the main menu on our website to create a space for further future expansion into ebooks and more.  Here's what we've changed (inside the big red circle):

The heading that used to say "Audiobooks" is now the more general "Digital".  We will add links here to new state-wide resources as well as resources unique to the Hutchinson Public Library and it's patrons.

This is where you will find the link to the free ebook resources.  Just follow the "eBooks" link and it will lead you to this page:

I have divided the resources into two sometimes-overlapping categories.  There are sites that contain mainly public domain books and sites that provide free eBooks.  "Public domain" and "free" are not interchangeable terms in that most of the "free" titles found on sites listed on this new page are providing eBooks that are still under copyright, they just aren't charging you any money to download them.

The public domain books are no longer under copyright and so are free in terms of cost AND in terms of copyright limitations.

The list will undoubtedly change and expand as we move forward.  The DIGITAL section of the website will expand too as we add more resources, both local and otherwise, to enhance our physical collection.

Science Fiction Book Discussion

A new part of our programming for 2012 will be attempting to form a science fiction book discussion group.  We've had a long-standing mystery group, The Mystery Mavens, and we thought the time was right to expand our repertoire.

In order to fit in with our end-of-the-world "Are You Prepared..." theme for 2012, two of us here with an interest in SF picked the first two titles for consideration:

The first book is Forstchen's One Second After which explores the after effects of an EMP caused by a nuclear weapon.  We will meet on Feb  Here's Booklist's review:

In a Norman Rockwell town in North Carolina, where residents rarely lock homes, retired army colonel John Matherson teaches college, raises two daughters, and grieves the loss of his wife to cancer. When phones die and cars inexplicably stall, Grandma’s pre-computerized Edsel takes readers to a stunning scene on the car-littered interstate, on which 500 stranded strangers, some with guns, awaken John’s New Jersey street-smart instincts to get the family home and load the shotgun. Next morning, some townspeople realize that an electromagnetic pulse weapon has destroyed America’s power grid, and they proceed to set survival priorities. John’s list includes insulin for his type-one diabetic 12-year-old, candy bars, and sacks of ice. Deaths start with heart attacks and eventually escalate alarmingly. Food becomes scarce, and societal breakdown proceeds with inevitable violence; towns burn, and ex-servicemen recall “Korea in ’51” as military action by unlikely people becomes the norm in Forstchen’s sad, riveting cautionary tale, the premise of which Newt Gingrich’s foreword says is completely possible. --Whitney Scott --This text refers to the hardcover edition.

Our second book is the classic A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter Miller which begins in a post-apocalyptic future 600 years after a nuclear holocaust:

Written at a time when the Fear of the Bomb was at full steam, the Hugo-winning A Canticle for Leibowitz stands head and shoulders above virtually every other post-apocalypse SF novel of its day, and it may be the most important SF novel ever written. It beggars the imagination to think that this was Miller's only novel; though in 1997, the year after Miller's death, a sequel titled Saint Leibowitz and the Wild Horse Woman was finished out by Terry Bisson and released. Contemplative, elegiac, and gut-wrenching in its best moments, the story allows Miller to view the human race through a glass darkly. Will our species ever learn from its mistakes and not repeat them? Miller hopes so, though he doesn't exactly appear to think so. This book is a lament for humanity.

Our plan is to work through 6 books in 2012.  We'll start as soon as possible with our first meeting scheduled for February 2nd.  After that, we'll meet bi-monthly.  We have the first two books ready, but we'll decide as a group the remaining four books to read.  Hopefully, we can then carry the group on through subsequent years on more-or-less the same quantity of books...unless the long count calendar cycle that ends in 2012 really IS the end.

Snapshot Day Success!

We had a great day this past Tuesday finding out the "who, what, when, and how" of the patrons who frequent our library.  HPL participated in this project which is sponsored by the Kansas State Library, the Kansas Library Association, and the Kansas Association of School Libraries.

The goal is to show just how important libraries are to their communities.  Sometimes, people take institutions such public libraries for granted, assuming that they will always be there.  However, funding for many libraries is being reduced in ways that will threaten their very existence.  It might be possible to absorb a reduction in State funding for a year, or one at the local level, or to do without a federal grant for one round.  But many of the reductions being made to library budgets will last longer and are combined in ways that will overwhelm already drastically-reduced operating budgets.  So, the idea of showing what libraries do for their communities in just one day out of the year, Snapshot Day was born.

Here's HPL's snapshot:

• 879 people came through the doors
• 204 questions were answered.  Of the questions recorded at the Reference Desk, 54% were 0-4 mins (ready reference-type) and 46% were 5-15+ mins (reference)
• 1,278 circulation transactions were made
• 150+ computer lab users came in
• 272 people filled out the questionnaire

From the questionnaire group, a sampling of answer totals:

• 136 checked out items,
• 44 were job hunting,
• 84 used research tools/services,
• 27 attended meetings,
• 26 were here for tutoring/homework,
• 150 for computer use,
• 23 for wireless use,
• 37 for online library resources,
• 17 to get a library card.

 That's a day in the life of a public library.  We have some pictures on the library's Facebook page.

All-in-all, I am amazed at all the good things that get done in just one day at a library.  The one thing that isn't mentioned here though, or that is hard to see through the numbers, is that all that good is done by a wonderful and hard-working group of people.  I am extremely thankful we have such a great staff here at HPL and if you use this library, you should be too!  Please give them a "thank you" next time you get the chance!

KGI blog strikes again!

The great librarians at the Kansas Government Information blog have an excellent post about the changes being proposed in Kansas for Medicaid.  It is, as usual, well worth a look.  This is a major consideration for the state going into the future.  I've said it before and I'll say it again - the KGI blog is an excellent tool.  Find out what's happening in State government!

Interesting Rumor...

...or not.

I heard a new rumor today, that the Hutchinson Public Library is closing.  First off, I want to say that this rumor is FALSE!  We've been here for 110 years and Melville Dewey willing, we will be here in another 110 years.

Second, I wonder if this has anything to do with our "Are you Prepared...?" program series for 2012?  It's going to be fun, and we're taking a light-hearted approach to the impending end of the "Mayan Long Count" calendar.  Of course, it never hurts to be prepared and we will have a variety of lunch-n-learn type activities and much more to help you get ready for what comes next.

Amazon library?

In another "re-invent the wheel for fun and profit" move, Amazon has launched a new initiative lending books to Kindle users.  Apparently, Amazon Prime customers can "borrow" one book per month from Amazon's vast sources.  There are a couple of catches with this plan though:

1. The Kindle owner must be an Amazon Prime member.
2. The Kindle owner must be just that - an owner of a physical Kindle device.  The loan service will not work with the Kindle app.

Is this a good deal?  I suppose it depends.  If you already have a Kindle and you want to shell out the annual $79 for Amazon Prime membership too, then yes.  Amazon Prime has all sorts of other advantages with shipping, etc.  However, it won't be long before public libraries everywhere have large collections of ebooks for patrons to borrow on practically any device they want, including Kindle and Kindle apps devices for free and at a higher rate than one per month.