Are You Jedi Material?

You can find out on October 6th at the Hutchinson Public Library.  We are putting on a new program from Lucasfilm and its publishing partners called "Star Wars Reads Day".  Register your school-age child at the Children's Circulation Desk (at the West entrance by the parking lot).  Then come to the Library's auditorium at 2pm on October 6th.  There will be Jedi training and a chance to test your skills.

I would have loved this as a kid.  I was (OK, still am) a big fan of the Star Wars movies and universe.  I must admit though to liking the original trilogy much better than the newer series.  When I saw "A New Hope" in the theater, Han shot first.  If you are unfamiliar with that bit of trivia, here's a link to explain it!

I hope that we have a good turn out for this program.  It combines reading with one of my favorite science fiction film universes.  There have also been numerous well-written, exciting books set in the Star Wars universe.  So, October 6th 2-4pm, HPL Auditorium, geared toward school-age children, register at the Children's Desk.  Hope to see you there!

Little Free Library

Have you ever seen one of these?  I haven't in this particular form, but I've seen the idea expressed in a number of similar ways - usually within a public library.  These are called "Little Free Libraries" and they operate on an honor system - take a book, leave a book.  The library boxes are often built with re-purposed or recycled material and maintained by volunteers or the person who created it in the first place.  The little library gets registered with the folks at Little Free Library, and gets added to their network.  They have a Google map that show you the locations of little libraries all over the country - you can browse it here.

Often in public libraries the spirit of this movement is expressed by way of a paperback exchange where library patrons bring in mass-market type paperback books for donation and then borrow some from the designated collection housed in the library.

We are interested in getting this started in Hutchinson.  There are already some interested parties and who knows?  Maybe there will be a Little Free Library here in town soon!

The Cloud is Coming!

The 3M Cloud that is.  As our searched for an easy-to-use interface for our library patrons continues, we have come to the conclusion that currently, the 3M Cloud Library leads the way.  We will be upgrading our online catalog system in November and shortly after that, we will kick off this new ebook borrowing service. (You have to scroll down a bit to read the press release - sorry!)

The distinct advantage in using this service for us at HPL is that it is integrated into the catalog.  You find an ebook, you click the checkout button, it downloads and you read.  Simple as that!  No more clicks through to other websites only to have to click more and start the checkout process there.

Now, if we can just get THIS project working on a wider scale and one that is affordable to smaller libraries, we'll have an ebook model that works for lending!

Summer Reading Success!

At the Hutchinson Public Library, this year’s Dream Big, READ! children’s summer reading program ended on August 4, with a grand total of 1,147 children and young adults enrolled. Of those signed up, 703 completed the program requirements by reading 10 books, spending at least 10 hours reading, or a combination of both. Children who finished the program earned prizes for their efforts, but the best reward was maintaining reading skills, and enjoying books during summer vacation.

Summer reading isn’t limited to children and teens either. One-hundred-two adults 18 and older signed up for the Between the Covers summer reading program. There weren’t any prizes awarded for reading a certain number of books, but more than 300 book ratings and reviews were submitted in June and July. Ratings slips were entered into a weekly drawing for a chance to win prizes. The reviews were posted on the library web site and used to create a reader’s choice book shelf.

Reading wasn't the only thing going on this summer here either.  Our 32 story time programs were attended by 1,555 children.  That's nearly 50 per program!  Our evening family-time programs went over nearly as well with an average of 40 per night.  It's no wonder that our Children's Department staff look so tired - that's a lot of puppet plays and singing and crafts.

Summer reading for children has been happening at the Hutchinson Public Library for more than 60 years. The program has been responsible for check out of millions of books, thousands of story times, close to 30 years of summer celebrations, and tons of paper, crayons and glue used for craft classes. We hope this effort has accomplished the same goal as Read Kansas Read: to inspire a love of reading for life, and to keep the children of Hutchinson and Reno County reading throughout the summer so they are ready to start school each fall.

Health Care Reform Resources

If you want to learn the facts about something, ask a librarian.

Case in point is this week's Kansas Government Information blog, one of my favorite librarian-produced blogs on the Internet.  Follow this link to the KGI blog and a tremendous list of information about how the Affordable Care Act will affect you, your business, your health, and your finances.

Apocalyptic Movie Nights!

Last night we showed the first film in our "Are You Prepared... For the End?" apocalyptic film series.  Our general idea is to show movies either in a category of apocalyptic tales, like "things crashing into the earth" or "nuclear apocalypse" or "alien invasion" and/or to show movies that have been remade along with their original counterparts.

We're going to show movies through the remainder of the summer and into fall and winter on the 2nd and 4th Monday evenings of each month.  That means we will screen our next film on July 23rd.  Unless otherwise noted, films will start at 6:30pm.  All ages are welcome, HOWEVER:  Many of these films are rated PG, PG-13, or R, so be aware of this if you are considering bringing younger people.

The first movie was The Omega Man from 1971 with Charlton Heston.  It falls into the general category of science fiction films where a plague wipes out nearly all of humanity.  It is based on the Richard Matheson novel I Am Legend.  There was an earlier film version of this book called The Last Man on Earth starring Vincent Price.  There is also a newer version of Matheson's story starring Will Smith.  I remember really liking this movie when I first saw it.  Sure, it is low-budget and low-tech, but the story is fascinating and Charlton Heston is, well, Charlton Heston-like in every way. 

I am very happy we are doing this film series.  Although our public screening license agreement makes it awkward to advertise exactly which films we are showing, I think the chance to see some of these movies is worth the effort.  What is the title of the next film?  I think I've dropped enough hints here as to how we are organizing the films, but we'll be happy to tell you if you call us or stop by the library and pick up a title list.

It was a lot of fun to see this film and upcoming films will be great fun too, I am sure.  Thank you to those of you who came to see The Omega Man - I hope we see you again!

Monday Movies

Twice per month we'll have movie night at HPL.  Until we get past, December, the movie series will have a decidedly "End of the World" feel to it.  Once past December 21, all bets are off though and the series subjects will broaden!

Because of the way the public performance rights work, I can't use the actual movie titles, but we can make a little game out of it, can't we?  See if you can figure out the July 9th movie from this description:

The movie stars Charlton Heston as an Army doctor struggling to create a cure for the plague that has wiped out most of the human race.  This 1971 film is based on the Richard Matheson novel, I am Legend.  Further hint?

Here is a synopsis from IMDB:

"Robert Neville, a doctor, due to an experimental vaccine, is the only survivor of an apocalyptic war waged with biological weapons. The plague caused by the war has killed everyone else except for a few hundred deformed, nocturnal people calling themselves "The Family". The plague has caused them to become sensitive to light, as well as homicidally psychotic. They believe science and technology to be the cause of the war and their punishment, and Neville, as the last symbol of science, the old world, and a "user of the wheel", must die. Neville, using electricity, machinery, and science attempts to hold them at bay." Written by Roald E. Peterson III

I've left a few blatant clues here hinted at the next movie we will be showing in our movie series.  Finally, here's a screenshot from the film:

Have you figured it out?  It's a great low-budget adaptation of a science fiction novel and Heston is at his campy best.  Come down to HPL on July 9th at 6:30pm and enjoy the film (and the cold AC!)