McNet Librarians Get Physical

McNet Librarians have once again out-performed themselves! This talented and fun-loving team were stars of the show during the Kentucky Library Association annual meeting’s “Out of the Stacks and Onto the Stage IV” KLA Talent Show.

A recent Los Angeles Times story reported on a Duke study that finds reading may be new way for tweens to slim down.  But leave it to these creative librarians to demonstrate working out with an encyclopedia and a computer mouse!

Representing the Paducah and McCracken County consortium of public, school and special libraries, the McNet Librarians getting physical are:

• Terri Kirk, Reidland High School
• Jennifer Wetzel, Hendron – Lone Oak Elementary
• Sheila Swab, Lone Oak Middle School
• Lisa Hughes, Heath High School
• Bobbie Wrinkle, McCracken County Public Library
• Brenda Metzger, Lone Oak High School
• Lynda Hiles, Graves County High School

The talent show was sponsored by the Special Libraries Section, KLA Recruitment, Mentoring and Diversity Committee, the African American Librarian & Library Employees Round Table, and KLDivERS of Kentucky Library Association.

Liang Receives Carol J. Parris Mentoring Award

Marie Liang, McCracken County Public Library Director

McCracken County Public Library Director Marie Liang has received the Carol J. Parris Mentoring Award during the annual Kentucky Library Association (KLA) conference held this week in Louisville, KY.  She was nominated by the library’s department managers team of Libby Childers, Adult Services Manager; Iris Garrott, Youth Services Manager; Kim Hunt, Business Manager; and Patti Sallee, Technical Services Manager.

Her letter of nomination was created in honor of her guidance and friendship.  Their words follow:

Marie has encouraged each and every member of the library team to continue their education.  She has supported us emotionally and has successfully encouraged the Board of Trustees to provide funding for continuing education.  The 2008-09 budget provides over $31,000 for staff education.  This includes tuition support for approximately 16 employees.

When Marie began working at the McCracken County Public Library in 1992 there were only a few employees with KDLA certification.  Presently all but one of our librarians has their Paraprofessional certification.  The one exception should complete her certification within a year.  There are others that are working toward higher degrees of certification.

Marie doesn’t limit her encouragement to just a few, it is across the board from full-time to part-time.  She believes that any education provided to employees just makes them better employees.  Under her guidance the following have received degrees:  Libby Childers, Masters Degree in Library Science; Bobbie Wrinkle, Bachelors Degree from Murray State University, and Kim Hunt, Associate of Arts from West Kentucky Community Technical College.

Not only has she supported us with continuing education at the college level she has encouraged us to be involved in the local community.  The library participates as a member of the Paducah Area Chamber of Commerce.  We have employees that are active members of the Business and Professional Women’s Association, Rotary Club, and the Lions Club.  Three of us have been through the Leadership Paducah program.    We have employees that volunteer for Kiwanis Club’s McCracken County Fair, serve on the Market House Museum board and work as Precinct Officers for local, state and national elections.  All are paid on library time for their service to our community.

Marie has taught us as managers that communication is the key to management.   Document, document, document and email in triplicate is her mentoring motto to prove that more heads are better than just one when it comes to decision making.

One employee attributes Marie to helping her grow up since she has worked with her from her teenage years.  Marie has helped many of us through marriage, child rearing, divorce, and loss of loved ones.  She has always encouraged us to keep on keeping on.  She has truly counseled, guided and advised us to help shape our personal lives as well as our professional capabilities.

We are so proud to have Marie as our leader and our friend and happy that KLA has recognized her exceptional guidance with this award!

Banned Books Week: I’d Like To Find *BLEEP*

“Closing Books Shuts Out Ideas”

Celebrate the Freedom to Read

more about “Banned Books Week: I’d Like To Find *…“, posted with vodpod

Banned Books Week

September 27- October 4, 2008

Find them on Facebook

Banned Books Week on MySpace

Review – Sweetsmoke by David Fuller

Do you delve into murder mysteries?  Then I highly suspect you will devour Sweetsmoke.

Do you desire love stories?  Sweetsmoke should thoroughly satisfy your cravings.

Do you revere historical fiction?  Your journey though Sweetsmoke is sure to be enlightening.

Screenwriter David Fuller’s first novel, Sweetsmoke, combines all three of those genres by brilliantly entwining intrigue, romance and fact.

Sweetsmoke by David Fuller

We navigate the story by following the personal agenda of Cassius, enslaved but favored by his Virginia master Hoke.  His soulful narrative makes twists and turns much more resembling the undercover paths of the Underground Railroad than the long straight tracks that the troop trains travel of the time.

Fuller carries us along with a story of courage, faith and devotion that honors the lives of slaves most often left unrecorded.   Sweetsmoke provides us with a safe passage through the uncertainty doubt and fear.

Newly released by Hyperion, you can may read more reviews and ratings for Sweetsmoke on LibraryThing or find it in a library near you.

Life is Full of Choices

Sometimes you really feel like something you have been involved in made a difference. And thankfully, sometimes there is someone to contribute to making that involvement possible. Thank you, thank you so very much, Oprah.

Today our library completed the three-part reading and discussion series called the “Great Stories CLUB.” The McCracken County Public Library and McCracken Regional Juvenile Detention Center were selected as one of 173 partnering organizations nationwide to receive a grant from the American Library Association (ALA) to host this series, developed by the ALA Public Programs Office (PPO) and Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA). Funding was provided for this program by Oprah’s Angel Network.

The Great Stories CLUB is a reading and discussion program that targets underserved, troubled teen populations. The program reaches teens through books that are relevant to their lives, inviting them to read and keep the books, and encourages them to consider and discuss each title with a group of their peers. It seeks to show that reading can be a source of pleasure, a tool for self-exploration, and a meaningful way to connect to the wider world. Its ultimate goal is to inspire young adults who face difficult situations to take control of their lives by embracing the power of reading.

And believe you me, these students truly face difficult situations.

We met for four weeks, the first time to introduce the program and the following three weeks to discuss the books they had read. First was “Sold” by Patricia McCormick, next was “Hole in My Life” by Jack Gantos and finally we read “Tyrell” by Coe Booth.

Totally pumped and naturally high, each week I left the McCracken Regional Juvenile Detention Center after our Great Stories Club book discussion eager to share my experience with a story on the blog here.

However, within an hour after my return from the facility, I was drained. Melted like a puddle of butter. So weak-kneed that I could barely stumble along. Reliving my discussion experience with the 11 young men serving detention time for murder, rape and drug dealing took everything I had out of me.

What a worthwhile feeling, truly.

So instead of my own words, which I am sure you could barely comprehend or bear through my emotion, I will share their words instead.

Mrs. Mills, their teacher, had given them a writing assignment to work on before they read the books and had prompted them to write about a choice they themselves had made with these words:

Life is full of choices.
One choice can lead to another. Some can take us down the wrong path and others can lead us to glory. Our background leads us down a road that is chosen for us, but eventually we choose our own path.

Students at McCracken Regional Juvenile Detention Center read about choices

Here are the words they shared, edited only to remove personal identifying names or dates and typed as nearly exact as I could possibly make them.

When my auntie have caught on fire I was I the shower and I saw smoke and II got out rapped my self in a towel and ran to the kitchen and saw my uncle with the sink sprayer trying to put the fire out the fire only got bigger so we called 911 and ran out side what I forgot was that it was winter and it was snow outside

***

One choice I wish I had not did was going arrest in get sent to mccracken

***

I made the choice to be immature and mess with a gun, and the outcome resulted in my killing one of my best friends.

***

Protecting my little Brother After I was drinking.

***

I was at the store and I had to choose a Snicker or a Hershy and I chose the Snicker and loved them every since

***

My Time Is when one Time I had to make a choice To go To Church and Try To Do what god wanted Me To Do But I Failed and now I am using god to Help me make Decisions Because I made a couple mistakes In my Life But I never gave up on god To Help me Through them.

***

A decision I had made in my life was to let my old friend alone. She is also my ex which I’ve been with for nearly two years. Things started to straighten up now but I still care for her in a way.

***

I got in a lot of trouble with the court system and I chose to go to a treatment Phacility on my own to get better.

***

My family was going through serious problems like different finances and my family needed money at that time real bad so we could eat and have decent clothes and not get kicked out the house because of not paying for the gas, light, water and rent. At that time my mom didn’t have a job because she was going through stress at court because of my brother and his behavior in life. So she lost him for a short period of time to a boy’s group home. We stayed in a house that barely had light, water, no gas in the winter and not enough food for all 5 of my momma’s kids including herself.

So I made a choice. A decision. A big heartbraking risk that I knew would hurt my momma because of her love for a child and I knew the possibilities that would occur on the streets and in the courtroom.

My “decision” at that time could of lead to death, Years of being incarcerated and heart broke family.

My “decision” at that time to secretely help my momma and brother and sister was me selling work “crack.”

My momma didn’t know when I started. I started by stealing things from the streets such as jacking cars and every criminal thought you could think of as a 14 year old hood rat. I sold them and was thinking that this is not enough money. So I turned my eyes on the things that I saw on the corners, in the houses, out the cars of ever block. Making, buying, and selling work. I went to a person I knew that was real cool to me and was down for any thing that came his way. I knew that he had it, make it, and everything. So he made me his right hand, his Ace, his “goon.” I watched day by day, night by night, how he ran his operations with his clientele’s. And to my imagination it was the hard “life” that was scary, exciting, exhilarating, and more feeling’s I never thought exist. So I was anxious to “start”, anxious to get in the game. He told me he would put me on and that I didn’t know him. I was like alright. The rist thing he told me was that all money ain’t good money and it’s not what you do, but how you do it. I wasn’t thinking about that at the time, but little did I no, I found out what that mean after leaving 1,000$ dollars in my momma’s mailbox, room and car. She was swearing it was a difficult scary feeling to find money like this. But little did she know it was me. I had got my momma and family moved into a different good luxury house within A month and my brother ”was” on his way home and we had food! We had expensive clothes and everything. But that say “All money ain’t good money” bit me so hard when I sold a lot of drugs to an undercover. I froze up but the toughness knew what it was and I was just waiting for that check-point to come. Se this is the decision I made that lead me on a bad road that I chose. But eventually I was lucky to choose my own path to life by not ever touching “crack” let alone any drug in my life. Thanks to my savior who forgave me. I turned my life around.

Believe me these young men now know ALL about choices and consequences. As do I.

And I choose to do this again and again, every time ALA, YALSA and Oprah’s Angel Network can help me.

The Great Stories Club, a reading and discussion series, is a grant initiative of the American Library Association’s Public Programs Office (PPO) and Young Adult Library Service Association (YALSA).

Breaking Dawn is Coming…

in 1 day, and some odd hours… depending on where you live and how you intend to get your copy of Stephenie Meyer’s new release in the Twilight Saga…!!

EMBARGOED - Do not open until August 2, 2008

Just so you know, these copies, delivered today, are under lock and key, protected by snarling, fanged librarians who are SO drooling to get their own claws on them.

The Second InfoTubey Award Winners Announced

2008 YouTube Production winners were announced at Computers in Libraries on Tuesday evening, April 8. Congratulations to all the winners…!!

DePauw Libraries: Visual Resource Center – Introduction by DePauw University Libraries — Visual Resource Center

Now Your Library is Open Late Night, Too! by QandANJ.org

Library Zombies by Allen County Public Library

MCLS Year of the Teen 2007 by Monroe County Library System

Amazing Library 101 Challenge by University of Ottawa, Morisset Library

The Second InfoTubey Awards were hosted by Bill Spence, VP, Information Technology, Information Today, Inc., with panelists:

• Marshall Breeding, Director for Innovative Technologies and Research, Vanderbilt University
• Kathy Dempsey, Editor,Marketing Library Services (MLS) newsletter
• Darlene Fichter, Data Library Coordinator, University of Saskatchewan
• Rebecca Jones, Dysart & Jones Associates
• Aaron Schmidt, Director, North Plains Public Library

and sponsored by Palinet.

These awards are presented to library organizations or individuals for outstanding YouTube productions that demonstrate creativity and innovation in marketing a library or library services or enhancing the library’s value. McCracken County Public Library was honored last year for their Super Librarian and Dr. Duck @ your Library video productions.

Do You Sleeveface at Your Library?

Michael Jackson – Thriller, originally uploaded by sweetbabyboy.

Looking for the hottest family program ever for teens at your library…?? Try this neat sleeveface project!  Defined by the original Sleeveface site as “one or more persons obscuring or augmenting any part of their body or bodies with record sleeve(s) causing an illusion”.

Invite teens to search through their parents’ and grandparents’ old LP vinyl album collections for favorite covers of popular recording artists. They need to bring any props they want to use like matching clothes and accessories. Then you provide the digital camera and upload them to your flickr account (your library has one of course…) right there on the spot…!!

Sleevefacing works best when you have several people involved so all family members can work together. You need someone to stage the shot, adjust the angle of the album or clothing, or even help hold the cover. Believe me it is a lot of fun. It took our whole family to organize these Michael Jackson and John Denver shots last weekend…!!

When you try it, link them here in the comments so we can all enjoy your show…

Try AskWhyKY.org!

Tired of wasting time searching the web? Try http://AskWhyKy.org now! It’s fast, it’s FREE, and it’s easy!

from youtube.com posted with vodpod

Kentucky Legislators READ

Led by efforts of Kentucky Public Library Association’s Legislative Committee, librarians and friends will congregate at Kentucky’s legislative annex and the capitol building in Frankfort next month, according to State Librarian Wayne Onkst.

READ posters of lawmakers with their favorite books will be displayed next month in the tunnel between the Capitol and the annex offices as part of Legislative Day, February 13. The nearly 300 foot tunnel will also feature photos of every Kentucky Library proving that EVERY COUNTY WINS! to the legislators who will walk past the message every day for almost two weeks.