Friday, December 23, 2005

Children's Librarian Leaves

It is with a heavy heart that Director Catherine Redden of Hampton’s Lane Memorial Library announces that Head of Children’s Services Cindy Stosse has accepted a position as Director of the Pembroke Town Library. Cindy was hired in 2000 and has completely revised the Children’s Room in her tenure. A type-A personality, Cindy was always in the middle of a weeding project or an inventory or something to make the collection more up-to-date and user friendly! She brought us puppets and Polar Express parties and gingerbread houses made of graham crackers! She made us laugh more often than not and will be remembered for her red cowboy boots. Thankfully Pembroke is not that far away so we can “bug” her every so often. Anyone wishing to congratulate Cindy on her new position (or commiserate with the staff on her leaving) is invited to a reception for Cindy on December 30th from 1 – 3 p.m.

Thursday, December 22, 2005

Looking for a good book for a winter day?

When John Grisham is out, Mary Higgins Clark is on hold, and Harry Potter is nowhere in sight… NoveList can help you find your next book to read.

This database of over 125,000 fiction titles for readers of all ages lets you use your favorite author to link to other books you might enjoy. Grisham fans can find over 200 other legal thrillers they might like to read and you can locate hundreds of fantasies with young heroes!

The “For Readers” tab provides additional material for fiction exploration. For example, Author Read-alikes list the appeal factors of your favorite authors and suggest other authors or titles that are similar. “What We’re Reading” lists the current titles being read by nationally-known fiction experts.

Looking for a book for your next book group meeting?
Click on the Book Discussion Guides link to find over 100 in-depth book discussion guides for popular book group titles. Each guide contains a brief author biography, a plot summary and discussion questions (with answers!). These guides are guaranteed to make your next book club meeting one of the best. Don’t belong to a club? These guides are a great way for independent readers to deepen their individual enjoyment and experience of a good book. You can also browse complete lists of award winning titles in NoveList’s Best Fiction section—another way to find books for your group.

Looking for a book to help your first-grader get ready for the first day of school?
Check out NoveList K-8’s “Search Our Database” tab. Use Describe a Plot and enter the words that describe the book you would like to read. NoveList uses over 36,000 subject headings to describe the books contained in our database—but don’t worry about learning all those headings—Describe a Plot lets you enter your own words and you’ll get a list of books that you might enjoy. The School Resources tab offers additional book lists for young readers.

AVAILABLE HERE!

NoveList is available for you. Ask a staff member to show you how to access this resource that has been called “a readers’ paradise.” Also available from home via our website!

http://www.hampton.lib.nh.us

Under Research Databases, click on “NoveList” or “NoveList K-8.”

Supply your library card number. That’s it! You’re on your way to discovering new authors and titles.

Tuesday, December 20, 2005

Library Getting a Facelift


If you've been into the library in the past few weeks you've probably noticed some changes in the colors of our walls. We've had painters in and they are in the process of repainting most of our interior walls. It has been more than twenty years now since most of these walls were painted, and they looked it! The painters started up in the old building with the Dearborn Room, New Hampshire Room, and foyer between the two, turning the boring old white walls into a variety of more pleasing colors. From there they moved on to the downstairs foyer, bathrooms, and the Wheaton Lane Meeting Room. At present they have split their work between the reference area and the Dorothy Little Room.

You may also have noticed recently that our CD music collection is now out in a fully-browsable collection in the foyer between the Dearborn Room and the New Hampshire Room. Over the next week or so you'll see a big expansion in our video and DVD collection as well, as we have made more room for the addition of over a hundred titles that were recently donated to the library. All of our older titles can be checked out for three weeks. Only the newer DVDs will be restricted to two night loans. And remember, there is no charge for checking out movies if you bring them back on time.

In the coming months you'll see even more changes as we convert the Dearborn Room into an area for large print books. That will begin a great shuffling of various library collections and furniture. The area vacated by the large print books will be used for audiocassette books and teen fiction. To make enough room for the latter the entire adult fiction collection will have to be moved down towards the gap created by moving the teen fiction. Many of the shelves that will be used in the Dearborn Room to hold the large print books will come from the staff workroom, freeing up enough space to put in two new staff desks so we can have more places for our staff and volunteers to work at a computer when necessary. It's a big project but we're all looking forward to the changes, and hope that they will lead to better services for all.

Tuesday, December 13, 2005

A New Service at the Lane Memorial Library


Samantha Corcoran, a member of the Lane Memorial Library Teen Advisory Board (TAB) is filling a “Feel Better Bag” to be ready to assist with the new program beginning January 3, 2006.

The winter season is historically one of illness and flu. In an attempt to stop the spread of germs at the library take advantage of the “Feel Better Bag” or you can also place holds on our books from home for your library needs. It would be terrible to be sick at home with nothing to read. Let the Lane Memorial Library help make your recovery a little more comfortable.

Beginning on January 3, 2006, the Lane Memorial Library will be offering a special service to the youngest patrons. It will be our “Feel Better Bag.”

Instead of parents bringing a sick child into the library to get a special item to help the little patient to feel better, make a quick call to the children’s room (926-4729) and a bag will be prepared. A pick-up place at the library will be established for your convenience so that you can get your child home as soon as possible.

A theme can be requested for the “Feel Better Bag” so that there will be a fiction and non-fiction book as well as a video. These items will be checked out to the parent and placed in a special bag. Also in the bag will be a coloring page, crayons and a little note. The books and video will be due back in three weeks, but the bag, crayons and coloring page are for our young patron to keep.
Another way to prepare for the flu season is to request books, on-line, from home. The next time that you visit the library, establish a PIN. This PIN will enable you to place a hold on items from home. The library will pull the books that are available and give you a call when they are ready for pick-up. At that time, if they are for a sick child, let us know and we will set up a bag for that child.

For questions or additional information on Children’s Services call 926-4729.

Saturday, December 03, 2005

"The Lady Eve" Dec.17th

Looking for some relief from your hectic holiday schedule? Come to the library at 1:00 PM on Saturday, December 17th and enjoy one of the best romantic comedies ever filmed. Starring Barbara Stanwyck and Henry Fonda, The Lady Eve first appeared in 1941 and has been gathering critical and popular praise ever since. What's it about? Imagine that a coniving father and daughter meet up with the heir to a brewery fortune - a wealthy but naive snake enthusiast - and attempt to bamboozle him at a cruise ship card table. She of course falls in love with the intended victim and, as they say, "complications arise". Clever, graceful, and wonderfully entertaining, The Lady Eve by director Preston Sturges marks our tribute this month to classic American film making. Free admission, followed by a discussion group. In black and white, and suitable for all viewing ages.