I did not receive an e-reader for Christmas, I received yard art, which does not require an account with Amazon or a USB port; however, as predicted, a great many of our patrons received Kobos, Sony Readers, Kindles and other assorted e-readers as gifts over the holidays and have been coming to the library for tech support. We followed Cranbrook’s lead and starting last Saturday are offering three e-reader training sessions with our tech staff. The session starts at 1 p.m. and because there is usually a Saturday film being shown in the room at 2, we end the session then. We also have a handout with e-reader basics on it to get you started. If the demand is there, more sessions for the e-reader will be made available. The next two sessions are Jan, 22 and 29.
Wikipedia has a very comprehensive comparison of e-readers. I highly recommend if you are thinking of one in your future. You might want to remember a Kindle does not work for downloading library e-books or audiobooks, and you are going to have to give Amazon money if you want any content in your reader.
We are also asking a little patience on the part of several patrons whose expectations exceed more we can provide in terms of time with our tech staff and level of help. We can show you how to deal with the technology but we cannot do it for you. Currently, our tech staff are in great demand and not always available unless booked well ahead of time.
We have finished sorting and assessing the survey and starting the first of February, our new open hours will come into effect.
The library opening time has returned to 10 a.m. so you can come to the library right after your aquacize class and before lunch. We had a really tough decision to make between a late Wednesday evening or whether to keep the Friday evening. Friday won out only because there are several patrons who bring their kids in to get books for the weekend and have been doing it regularly for years. The survey results had exactly the same number of patrons chose a late Wednesday evening as a late Friday. Saturdays we will be open from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. We are currently trying to do a catch-up with some unexpected cost increases not budgeted for in the last year. Our expectation is to return to longer hours next summer with the advent of the new budget.
The movie Up is showing in the meeting room this on Jan. 22 at 2 p.m. It is am animated film for the kids and I have to admit, I enjoyed it as much as I did How to Train Your Dragon.
Something you might not know: Victor Hugo, the author of Les Misérables and The Hunchback of Notre-Dame just happened to be a lawn bowler and now, you too have the opportunity to help form a lawn bowling club in Creston. A start-up meeting will be held in the library meeting room on Jan. 30 at 7 p.m. I believe bocce players or potential bocce players are also encouraged to attend and contribute to the conversation. Will there be a requirement for white attire only? Come to the meeting and find out.
Ann Day is the chief librarian at the Creston and District Public Library.