LibraryPoint Blog

Find out about library events and services, books and authors in the news, and more.

Library 2010-2011 Budget Update

Dear Library Users,

On behalf of the Library Board, the Friends of the Library and the library staff, thank you all for your support over the past budget season.  The good news is that, despite the current economy, the CRRL did receive additional funds in FY10-11.  The challenge is that we did not receive enough money to fully staff and operate all our libraries.


This means that, starting July 1, we will have to take the following steps:

  • Headquarters and Porter will be closed on Sundays.
  • Headquarters will be closed on Thursday evenings and Porter will be closed on Tuesday evenings.
  • The England Run Library will open on October 4.
  • Programs for children, teens and adults will be reduced.
  • Outreach to schools, including booktalks, SOL-related storytelling and database presentations, will be severely reduced.
  • Reduced staffing may result in longer waits for materials placed on hold and for books to be returned to the shelves.
  • Staff will not receive any salary increase for the third year in a row.

We do appreciate the one-time funding that will increase our book-buying capacity in the coming year.  However, the materials budget remains substantially below recommended levels.

Over the last several months, you made your voices heard. 

  • You sent almost 3,000 postcards to your elected officials stating why the library is important to you.
  • You spoke up for the library at supervisors’ town meetings, public hearings and meetings of county boards and city council.
  • You sent letters to the editor of the Free Lance-Star expressing your support for the library as homeschoolers, business owners, students and impassioned readers.

The library is especially appreciative of the effort made by the Friends of the Library to help library users make their opinions known.  Whether distributing postcards, selling T-shirts, or speaking up in public forums, our Friends did a magnificent job.

The Library Board and administration are committed to continuing to provide high quality library services with an emphasis on excellent customer service despite the budget shortfall.  Rest assured that our commitment to providing access to all our users remains firm.  Thank you for your support.

Donna Cote,
Library Director

If you like The Sea by John Banville

If you like The Sea by John Banville

This readalike is in response to a customer's book-match request. If you would like personalized reading recommendations, fill out the book-match form and a librarian will email suggested titles to you. Available for adults, teens, and kids.  You can browse the book matches here.

The Sea by John Banville: "'I have carried the memory of that moment through a whole half century, as if it were the emblem of something final, precious and irretrievable,' says the narrator of Banville's Booker Prize-winning novel of a relatively trivial moment. But when he recalls the mother and daughter whom he first loved as a barely pubescent child-whose presence pulled him out of the shadow of his paltry self-he observes, 'The two figures in the scene, I mean Chloe and her mother, are all my own work.' Memory, then, is the subject of this brief but magisterial work, a condensed teardrop of a novel that captures perfectly the essence of irretrievable longing. After the death of his wife, Max has retreated to the seashore where he spent his childhood summers, staying at an inn that was once the home of a magnificent, careless family called the Graces. It's as if reawakening the pain of his first, terrible loss-that high-strung and volatile Chloe-will ease his more recent loss." (Library Journal)

"I have carried the memory of that moment through a whole half century, as if it were the emblem of something final, precious and irretrievable," says the narrator of Banville's Booker Prize-winning novel of a relatively trivial moment. But when he recalls the mother and daughter whom he first loved as a barely pubescent child-whose presence pulled him out of the shadow of his paltry self-he observes, "The two figures in the scene, I mean Chloe and her mother, are all my own work." Memory, then, is the subject of this brief but magisterial work, a condensed teardrop of a novel that captures perfectly the essence of irretrievable longing. After the death of his wife, Max has retreated to the seashore where he spent his childhood summers, staying at an inn that was once the home of a magnificent, careless family called the Graces. It's as if reawakening the pain of his first, terrible loss-that high-strung and volatile Chloe-will ease his more recent loss. - See more at: http://librarypoint.bibliocommons.com/item/show/499827072_the_sea#sthash.Cczj1kO3.dpuf

If you enjoyed this title, here are some other titles you may enjoy:

Atonement by Ian McEwan
On a summer day in 1935, thirteen-year-old Briony Tallis witnesses a moment's flirtation between her older sister, Cecilia, and Robbie Turner, the son of a servant. But Briony's incomplete grasp of adult motives and her precocious imagination bring about a crime that will change all their lives.

 

 

The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Prince Myshkin, a good yet simple man, is out of place in the corrupt world created by Russia's ruling class.

 

 

Census Data for Small Businesses and Entrepreneurs Webinar

Census Data for Small Businesses and Entrepreneurs Webinar

Find the data to support your business plan, research your industry, target your clients, and more, using the Census Bureau website to mine the data collected about household consumers, businesses, and the economy.

The webinar is on Tuesday, December 10, 2013, from 1:00pm to 2:30pm.  You can attend this free webinar at a library branch close to you or you can log on at work or at home. Need more information?  Please call Mary Buck at 540-659-4909.

Teen Books into Movies

Teen Books into Movies

There are two approaches when it comes to reading books destined for the big screen.  Some like to read the book first, and others, like me, don’t.  My initial excitement in seeing Harry Potter brought to life, ended in disappointment.  Due to the constraints of the format, I knew they would have to leave much on the cutting room floor, but for me those fallen scenes were the most important.  In comparison, “The Hunger Games” is one of my favorite teen book to movie renditions, but even they soft-pedaled one of the most emotionally charged parts of the book--the genetically engineered, shockingly horrific mutts--probably and understandably for that PG-13 rating.  These days though, so much young adult fiction is Hollywood-bound that I read the book before I know its future.  

CRRL Collection Showcase: Science Fiction

CRRL Collection Showcase: Science Fiction

If you want to read a science fiction novel that favors intelligent, subversive writing with unique twists, try one of these novels. Many are critically acclaimed and highly influential within the science fiction genre. Most of their authors have been honored as Grand Masters of Science Fiction. If you are a science fiction fan, I strongly recommend you check out some of these books from our collection.

New Choices for World Book Night

New Choices for World Book Night

Do you know people who don’t read much or at all but for whom a good book could make a big difference? For World Book Night (April 23, 2014), you can volunteer to be a giver of books, whether to teens or adults.

A Christmas Visitor by Anne Perry

A Christmas Visitor by Anne Perry

Sherlock Holmes once remarked to Watson that “the lowest and vilest alleys in London do not present a more dreadful record of sin than does the smiling and beautiful countryside.”

Indeed, readers who enjoy suspense, strong characters, and immersing themselves in the deceptively quiet and sometimes lethal English countryside of Victoria’s reign should enjoy Anne Perry’s A Christmas Visitor. Though it does feature a character from her well-established William Monk series, it is not necessary at all to have read those books to appreciate this one.

Molly Bang

Growing up with Books and Traveling the World

With a scientist/writer for a mother and a research physician for a father, it’s little wonder that Molly Bang grew up to be a writer and illustrator who would eventually make it her mission to create books that drawn children into the world of science. Her family kept a large library and would often give each other books illustrated by the famous Charles Rackham as gifts. Molly found these to be inspiring.

After she graduated from Wellesley College with a degree in French, Molly traveled to Japan to teach English at a university there for 18 months before returning to work on master’s degrees in Oriental studies. Then it was back overseas to illustrate health manuals for UNICEF, as well as Johns Hopkins and Harvard, working, among other places, in Calcutta and Bangladesh.

Top Reasons to Wait on a Smartphone Purchase

Top Reasons to Wait on a Smartphone Purchase

Even though it may not seem like it to me, smartphones are not actually a necessity of life. Shocker, right? I love the suckers! To see if my affinity for all things “smart” was shared by my peers, I conducted a highly scientific survey of whichever of my Facebook friends chose to respond, asking them whether they owned a smartphone and if not, why?  A surprising (to me) number of them confessed they did not own a smartphone.

Countdown to Christmas

Countdown to Christmas

Not to add to your stress, but the holidays are just around the corner.  Take time to relax and enjoy the spirit of the holidays at one of the many wonderful events presented at the library this December.  Don't forget to take home some of the enchanting books, music and movies that also celebrate the holiday spirit.  
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