Woman's Day Essay Contest About Your Library

As the economy continues its slump, libraries nationwide continue to play an important role in communities everywhere, as people turn to them for free entertainment, to connect to the Internet and look for jobs. This spring, the Carnegie-Stout Public Library, the American Library Association (ALA) and Woman's Day magazine want to hear your thoughts on why the library is important to your community.

From now through May 9, 2010, women 18 and over are invited to tell their story in 700 words or less and email it to womansday@ala.org. Up to four stories will be highlighted in the March 2011 issue of Woman's Day. For more information and to read the official rules, visit www.womansday.com/ala.

The initiative was developed by Carnegie-Stout Public Library, Woman's Day and the Campaign for America's Libraries (www.ala.org/@yourlibrary), ALA's public awareness campaign that promotes the value of libraries and librarians. Thousands of libraries of all types – across the country and around the globe - use the Campaign's @ your library® brand. The Campaign is made possible by ALA's Library Champions, corporations and foundations that advocate the importance of the library in American society.

Laurie Loves Libraries

Mystery author Laurie R. King has announced a contest in celebration of National Library Week (April 12-18). As King explains on her blog, she's inviting readers to send her stories about their favorite library. The author of the winning story will receive a signed copy of King's newest book, The Language of Bees. The library mentioned in the winning story will receive a complete set of King's Russell and Holmes novels. In other words, we could all be winners!

Library Use Up During Tough Economic Times

If you don't see the video below on library use during tough economic times, click here for the MSNBC video.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Every Book Its Reader

A few months ago we blogged about Scott Douglas’ library memoir Quiet, Please. If you thought that was cool, check out these books for library lovers:

Free for All: Oddballs, Geeks, and Gangstas in the Public Library by Don Borchert. "The author recounts his experiences working as an assistant librarian in a public library in suburban Los Angeles, as he encounters patrons who range from bored latchkey kids left there for the afternoon, to rowdy teenagers, to Internet-obsessed adults, to drug-dealers."

The Library at Night by Alberto Manguel. "A fascinating voyage through the Argentina-born author's mind, memory, and vast knowledge of books and civilization illuminates the mysteries of libraries, from his childhood bookshelves to the libraries of the Internet."

Every Book Its Reader: The Power of the Printed Word to Stir the World by Nicholas A. Basbanes. "An exploration of some of the literary works that have most influenced human culture is based on a landmark British Museum exhibition and includes coverage of publications by such writers as David McCullough, Harold Bloom, and Elaine Pagels." An interesting excerpt from pages 15-16:

In 1923, a man named S. R. Ranganathan (1892-1972) applied for a position as chief librarian at the University of Madras in India. Of the nine hundred people who sought the job, none, including Ranganathan, had been trained for the work. What gave this quiet academic the edge was a background in research -- he had two degrees in mathematics -- and a smattering of information about librarianship gleaned from an essay in the Encyclopedia Britannica he had read a few days before being interviewed for the job. Appointed in 1924, Ranganathan was bored at first by the apparent tedium of the routine, but was persuaded to soldier on when offered an opportunity to pursue advanced study in London. When Ranganathan returned to India, he was determined to make books a more powerful force in Indian life, with ideas for the establishment of public and national libraries at the forefront of his agenda. In time he wrote fifty monographs in his field, most notably Five Laws of Library Science (1931), which outlined a set of principles that has become a guiding code among professionals. Three of the laws -- Books Are for Use, A Reader's Time Is Precious, and Libraries Are Growing Organisms -- were directed primarily at his colleagues. The other two -- Every Reader His Book and Every Book Its Reader -- have meaning for anyone with an abiding respect for the written word.

And of course, who besides me could resist this?

Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World by Vicki Myron. "Traces the author's discovery of a half-frozen kitten in the drop-box of her small-community Iowa library and the feline's development into an affable library mascot whose intuitive nature prompted hundreds of abiding friendships."

What books are you reading? Let us know by leaving your comments below!

~ Mike, Adult Services

The Library Didn’t Have It

The library is a wonderful resource. Books are like art; you are at the mercy of sellers and supply and demand. Books can sell for as little as a nickel or as much as thousands of dollars. Most book range from $15 to $25 but this can add up quick if you like to read.

There was an out of print book I wanted to read but the library didn’t have it. I put a request in for an interlibrary loan and had the book within 2 weeks. The library saves me thousands of dollars a year in book purchases, movie rentals, internet services and database research.

~ Rebecca, Adult Services

Carnegie-Stout Public Library Online Catalog

Dubuque Area Libraries

SILO Locator
Online catalog for all Iowa libraries

SILC
Statewide Illinois Library Catalog

WISCAT
Online catalog for all Wisconsin libraries

WorldCat
Online catalog for libraries worldwide

Interlibrary Loan
Borrow library materials not available at Carnegie-Stout

Purchase Request Form
Suggest titles to be added to Carnegie-Stout collections

BookFinder.com
Search over 150 million books for sale -- new, used, rare, out-of-print, and textbooks

Give us a call at the Information Desk

While at the Information Desk recently, I took a phone call from a person asking for the correct spelling of a word. The caller apologized, saying that she had checked three dictionaries before she wanted to "bother" us.

I assured the caller that we often look up the correct spelling of words, but she said she thought we only looked up things like the names of Santa’s reindeer or the names of the Seven Dwarfs.

Next time you are in doubt about the spelling of a word, need a phone number, or want to know how your stock did that day, please don't hesitate to call us at the Library Information Desk 589-4225, option 4.

~ Betty, Adult Services

So you want to be a librarian, eh?

Do you daydream about being a librarian? Apparently you haven't seen the 2006 British Psychological Society study which concluded, "Working in a library is the most stressful job of all."

If you think the study above might only apply to the UK where hooliganism runs rampant, check out Scott Douglas' new book Quiet, Please: Dispatches from a Public Librarian. This "unexpectedly raucous and illuminating memoir" will help any undaunted, aspiring librarian with the following conundrums:

• Why so few librarians are serious reader
• Why you will need a master’s degree to operate the library’s popcorn machine
• How librarians rank within the hierarchy of city employees, in terms of prestige and pay
• How to respond when a patron asks for the Oxford English Dictionary on audiotape
• How to extricate problem patrons from library restrooms
• Proper etiquette for interacting with patrons outside of the library, for example at funerals or bowling alleys
• Which tattoos librarians should avoid getting, for example "Dukakis for President" on your forehead, or a book which opens and closes as you flex your biceps
• How to shoot down corny library pick-up lines
• Why most librarians will not get the opportunity to shoot down corny pick-up lines

For more vocational guidance on librarianship, please watch this YouTube video: Your Life Work: The Librarian. Arthur P. Twogood, Iowa State College, 1946

~ Mike, Adult Services

Extend Your Reach with Interlibrary Loan

Are you looking for recent or older books you can't find at the Carnegie-Stout Public Library? Consider using our Interlibrary Loan (ILL) services, through which we borrow books, articles, CDs, DVDs, and microfilm from libraries in Iowa and across the United States.

We can locate hard-to-find items owned by university libraries and special collections, and even get books from the World’s Largest Library--the Library of Congress!

ILL services have some restrictions. To find out how you can benefit from these borrowing services, please email or call Interlibrary Loan, part of the Adult Services Department on the Library’s first floor: e-mail interlib@cspl.us or phone 563-589-4225, extension 6.

~ Mirdza, Adult Services

Library Survey

Have you wondered why the Library is asking patrons to fill out a survey about why they came to the Library and if they accomplished their purpose while they were here? Library staff use the information gathered from the survey for planning. Please take the time to complete the survey each time you visit the Library during a survey period so we can get an accurate picture of how the Library is being used in May 2008.

Surveys are handed to patrons as they enter the Library, and a box remains on a table near the entry so the surveys can be returned. Children 12 and under have a yellow survey to fill out, and patrons who are 13 and older have a white survey. Parents can help fill out the survey for children.

The survey period started on Sunday, May 11 and will run through Saturday, May 24. Here are the remaining survey times if you want to time your Library visit to hit (or miss!) filling out a survey:

Friday, May 16 2-4 pm
Saturday, May 17 9-11 am & 2-4 pm
Sunday, May 18 1-3 pm
Monday, May 19 6-8 pm
Tuesday, May 20 4-6 pm
Wednesday, May 21 10 am -12 pm
Thursday, May 22 5-7 pm
Friday, May 23 3-5 pm
Saturday, May 24 11 am – 1 pm

~ Michelle
Adult Services Manager

Governor Chet Culver Proposes Library Cuts

Thanks very much to the Dubuque Telegraph Herald and Des Moines Register for their editorials opposing Iowa Governor Chet Culver's recent proposal to cut state spending on libraries by 18 percent, or over $1.1 million.

Under Governor Culver's proposal, Carnegie-Stout Public Library in Dubuque will lose more than $10,000, and the Dubuque County Library -- with branches in Farley, Holy Cross and Epworth, plus a bookmobile serving many more local communities -- will lose more than $7,000.

Surprisingly, Governor Culver's same budget proposal actually increases overall state spending by 6 percent.

To let Governor Culver and your state legislators know what you think about these proposed cuts to Iowa's libraries, please click on the following links:

Contact Governor Culver

Contact Your State Legislators

Thanks!

~ Mike in Adult Services

Iowa Literary Landscape

Reference staff at Mount Mercy College's Busse Library are pleased to announce two recent expansions to Iowa: A Literary Landscape, the largest bibliography of fiction, for children and adults, using Iowa as the setting.

The site now offers a new section of Iowa Folklore that includes general reference books, Iowa-specific titles, and sources pertaining to Native Americans in Iowa.

Also, the site is periodically updated to reflect recently published and newly found works. These new titles are now featured on the Recent Project Additions page.

Photo: Prairie Rose: Iowa State Flower © Linda & Robert Scarth.