Carolina Christmas

The NC State Archives has put together an online exhibit of Christmas letters, photos, cards and more documenting the holiday season in North Carolina through the years.  The collection includes letters from the Civil War and photographs from World War I and II as well as images showing the changing decorations at the Executive Mansion. Visit the whole collection here.

-Reposted from NC Library Development Blog

Happiest Wishes from East

Top 10 of 2015

Top Ten WebJunction Articles & Webinars in 2015

1. Adult Coloring Explosion (article)
2. Beyond Book Groups: Fun Library Programs for Adult Readers (webinar)
3. Key Elements of a Project Plan (webinar)
4. The Pursuit of Happiness … Through Libraries (webinar)
5. Growing Through Conflict: Healthy Workplace Communication (webinar)
6. The Community Connector: Referring Social Services at the Library (webinar)
7. Great Ideas for Innovative Community Engagement (article)
8. Interesting Patron Questions (article)
9. Competency Index for the Library Field (article)
10. Health Happens in Libraries: Pathways to Guide Health Education at Your Library (webinar)

'tis the season for kindness

 

Thanks to South patron Nancy Moffit, retired from the floral department at Ben Franklin's. Nancy brought in these beautiful bows to go with South's wreaths.

counterfeit money

It has been brought to my attention that fake $20s and $100s are being passed around Rowan County.  Please look at the 2 links below.  Apparently, the counterfeit pen will show up the same on some of the fake bills because they are bleaching a $1 and making it into a higher denomination.  Please follow the suggestion when you take in a $20 or a $100.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pZYBiGPkq8

http://www.wikihow.com/Detect-Counterfeit-US-Money

Thanks,

Pam

Series Fiction Database

I don’t know about you, but sometimes you get someone who wants to know the order of series of books, and its hard to figure out.  This site was listed on a listerv for me, and I thought I would share.  Its pretty cool and it does printer friendly versions too!

http://ww2.kdl.org/libcat/whatsnext.asp

Thanks to Jennifer for sharing this great resource! 

Giant book-sorters, the interet Wayback Machine, and crowd-sourced digitization

Enormous automated conveyor belts move items around a system of bins, gently tipping bar-coded items into their desired destinations, sorting thousands of items every day, every hour, even. This is how huge library systems handle millions of items per year.

"When the Technology Changes on You" gives an interesting list of situations in which the technology we have adapted to and use suddenly doesn't work like we expect it to. Spotlight on the "Wayback Machine" which allows you to view webpages that no longer exist, and setting up a Dropbox for when Google Docs lets you down.

What if anybody with a cell phone could help the library digitize materials? How long before everything was scanned? Well, people are floating the idea because traditional book scanners are slow, cumbersome and terribly expensive. Technological capabilities for modern smartphones is astounding, and soon there will few things they can't do, and crowd-sourcing the labor could get the project done in a fraction of the time, given the willingness of volunteers.

News & Notes 11-09-15

Important Notice
Those items that are on display either in the display cabinets, grids or in the gallery on the wall are not to be removed (without prior arrangements) except by Gretchen, as representative of the library, for security and logistical reasons. There are release forms to be signed and procedures to follow. Please refer anyone who would like to retrieve, remove, or add items to a display to Gretchen (or if necessary the History Room staff). It is also perfectly fine to refer folks who are curious about displays or the items in the displays to Gretchen.

FYI
Be alert! Four cell phones have been stolen at Headquarters in the last month. Do not leave your electronic devices out in the open in public areas. Do not leave your electronic devices out in the open in unoccupied offices/staff areas. It only takes a few seconds for someone to pick up your cell phone and walk away with it. Cell phones left in view are easy targets for thieves.

The benevolence snacks have been moved to the sorting room on the desk in front of the sink.

TLC will be running an upgrade to LS2Staff and LS2Pac after we close on Monday November 9th.

We received our first Silent Auction donation from Sherri Jefferies. A homemade, hand-crafted cake to take home with you on Thursday, December 3rd.  We need your donations to make this a successful event.

From Erika
As most of you know, this Friday, November 13th, is my last day here at RPL. I am thankful for all of the staff who made my almost 8 years here a wonderful and loving journey. RPL has been a great place to work and the people here are tremendous assets to Rowan County. While I am sad to leave you, I do look forward to being able to spend an extra 2 hours a day with my family. I will miss you all and I plan to keep in touch. Feel free to reach out to me for anything, or if you are in Greensboro, visit me at the Central Library.

I’ll miss you all, Erika

Holiday Hours
The library’s holiday schedule for November is as follows:

Wednesday, November 11th - Closed for Veteran’s Day
Wednesday, November 25th - Closing at 1PM.
(Note this will be a five (5) hour workday and employees must work the full five (5) hours (no lunches) to receive credit for the full day.
Thursday, November 26th & Friday, November 27th - Closed for Thanksgiving

Employee Spotlight: Sherri Jefferies

Sherri Jefferies (HQ) was recently featured in Employee Spotlight section of The Loop.  Thanks for your 35 years of service to Rowan County!

Friday Funny

In the previous issue of WebJunction's monthly newsletter, Crossroads, library staff were asked, What's the most interesting question you've been asked by a patron?  Here are some of the funniest they've received thus far:

"Has anyone ever told you that you look like Clark Kent?"

"Where is your machine that sanitizes the library book pages?"

"How do you make Jello shots?"

"Whose car is that out there in the parking lot with all that stuff in it?"

"What is Google?"

"How do I find my lost hedgehog?"

WebJunction will be sharing additional responses on Facebook and Twitter, so be sure to tell them the most interesting question you've been asked by a patron (and I know there have been a few good ones at RPL).

Color Copy Price Change

Color copies are .50 per page, beginning  October 1, 2015. Public computers at all locations have updated to reflect the change.

Welcome Claire Hadassah Castle

James and Kristi Castle welcomed their baby girl 

Claire Hadassah Castle

Born: Wednesday, May 27th at 10:57 pm

Weight: 8 lb, 10 1/2 oz

Length: 21" long

Both mom and baby are doing well!

 

Book Sale Weekend

The final count is in and the Book Sale brought in just over $7,000 last weekend.

Thanks to everyone who helped.

Special thanks to Dennis Yokley, Beverly Griffith, Bev Gaston, Emma Rose, Sydney Smith, Shirley Dillard, John Wahl, Paul Birkhead, Anne Morgan, Tara Greene, Erika Kosin, and Rachel Jarman.

See you next year!