National Library Week: Ficitonal Librarians

National Library Week runs from April 14th through the 20th this year, and we hope that you'll have a chance to drop in and celebrate with us! This is a perfect time of year to sign up for a library card, learn a little more about what new resources we have available, or to take a look at all the exciting events we have coming up.This week alone we have story times, computer classes, and a visit from Iowa Poet Laureate Mary Swander (just to mention a few)!

This year we're also inviting YOU to share your favorite books with the Dubuque community. We've been collecting patron recommendations on our What Dubuque is Reading Pinterest Board for a few months now, and we thought it was time to bring the fun into the library itself. So be sure to stop by the Recommendations Desk on the first floor to pick up a book review bookmark and to check out the display of books selected by our fellow Dubuquers. And don't forget, we still offer the Personal Recommendations service: you tell us what you like to read, and we'll create a reading list just for you!

To celebrate National Library Week, we've pulled together a list of some of our favorite fictional librarians!

ALA Batgirl Bookmark

• Marian Paroo, The Music Man
• Henry DeTamble, The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
• Barbara Gordon, Batgirl and Oracle in DC comics
• Isacc Vainio, Libriomancer by Jim C Hines
• Lirael, Lirael by Garth Nix
• Lucien, Sandman comics by Neil Gaiman
• Miss Rumphius, Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney
• Flynn Carsen, The Librarian movies starring Noah Wyle
• Rupert Giles, Buffy the Vampire Slayer
• Aurora Teagarden, Real Murders by Charlaine Harris
• Bunny Watson, Desk Set
• Library Wars by Hiro Arikawa & Sukumo Adabana
• The Librarian (as an orangutan), the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett

Who's your favorite librarian?

Database Spotlight: Zinio

Do you love magazines? Do you look forward to hearing what our Magazine of the Month will be? Do you have a new tablet or laptop, and you're curious what it would be like to read a magazine digitally? Well, Carnegie-Stout has just the resource for you!

In a recent partnership with Dyersville's James Kennedy Public Library, we've added Zinio to our database collection. Zinio is a new tool that allows you read digital copies of some of the periodicals that the library subscribes to in print. With titles ranging from Cosmo to Popular Science, Newsweek to Rolling Stone, there's something for everyone!

To find Zinio, go to the library's homepage: www.dubuque.lib.ia.us and click on the "Research Tools" link on the left-hand side of the screen. This brings you to an alphabetical list of our research databases from which you will be able to open Zinio.

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The trickiest part with getting started using Zinio is that you will have to register twice: once with a library account that will allow you to borrow from the library's collection, and once with Zinio, so that you can read your magazines. First click the purple Create Account button. You'll be asked to enter your library barcode. Only patrons who live in Dubuque or Dyersville are eligible to use Zinio, but everyone is welcome to come into Carnegie-Stout and browse our physical collection!

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Once you have verified your library card and set up a log-in with an email address and password, you'll be taken to the Carnegie-Stout PL and James Kennedy PL Zinio collection. When you locate a title that you want to read, click on the cover image and you'll be directed to Zinio's main site, where you will be asked to register your account in order to read the magazine.

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After you're fully registered, and have added all the titles you would like to read from the Carnegie-Stout PL and James Kennedy PL Zinio page to Your Reading List in Zinio, you'll be all set to enjoy your magazines! Zinio will send you email notifications when new issues of your titles become available, and you'll be able to add or delete titles in the future. Please be aware that the main Zinio site also sells subscriptions to digital issues not available for free through the library, and that some of these titles are adult in nature.

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Those of you with mobile devices should take a look at the Zinio app. It's free to add this app to your device, and will allow you to read the magazines you're borrowing from our collection on the go!

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If you have any questions about Zinio, run into any problems, or would just like a staff member to walk you through the set up process, give us a call (563-589-4225), send us an email (yourlibrarian@dubuque.lib.ia.us), or stop by in person! Don't forget, we offer drop-in tech help from 6:30 to 8:30 every Wednesday evening.

Capture the Flag!

When I talk to people about my job here at the library, I often end up dispelling myths about what the library and my job are like. No, it's not particularly quiet; no, I don't get to spend my days reading; yes, we still have plenty of print books and will for the foreseeable future. That sort of thing.


I laid out some rules . . .

Something that comes up a lot is the fact that the library's mission has changed a lot in the last fifty years. Once upon a time we focused on being an erudite source of edification, a little ivory tower in the middle of downtown. These days, our official mission statement reads, "The mission of the Carnegie-Stout Public Library is to improve the quality of life by providing resources that enhance and contribute to individual enjoyment, enlightenment, and knowledge." We still work to provide materials and programs that will broaden people's horizons and teach them more about their world, but we also realize that the library can help the community by being a place where people come together for more lighthearted pursuits.


while the competitors listened attentively.

This is all a big windup to the fact that we tried out a new program this weekend: Nerf Capture the Flag! Just shy of twenty folks gathered after closing on Saturday for a couple of hours running around the reference area shooting little foam darts at each other. Much fun was had by all, we met some nice folks, and we all learned a valuable lesson about the effects of short bursts of intense activity on bodies that aren't as young as they used to be.


I don't suspect that the folks who installed these shelves ever
imagined they'd be used for cover in a foam dart shootout.

If this sounds like fun, keep an eye out for signs in the building or a post on our Facebook page. And if you should happen to find a little foam dart behind the reference desk, give it to a librarian and tell them Andrew said you could have a piece of candy for it.




A tense dash from one shelf to another!



I know this one's quite blurry, but the action pose was too good to pass up!



The winners!