Tuesday, September 29, 2009

October is Busy at the Library!

October is a busy month at the Canastota Public Library.  As we fall into the autumn and winter routine, we begin to schedule concerts, regular children and teen activities and various workshops for the community.

Children and Teen Activities: 
Our Baby & Me Lapsit with Miss Angela returns to the library on Wednesday mornings at 10am on October 7.  The program is an early literacy program involving babies up to age 24 months and their parents/caregivers.  Our staff provides songs, stories, rhymes and fingerplays to help you work with your baby!  This is also an excellent way for babies to learn to interact with other babies!  Baby & Me will be held every Tuesday morning through December 16 in the Children's Area on the second floor of the library.

Pre-School Storytime with Mrs. Liz begins on Thursday mornings at 10 am .  Beginning on October 1 and runs through December 17, this program is for children aged 3 and older.  The program includes stories, songs, games, crafts and a snack.  The program is held in the Children's area on the second floor of the library.

With the return of school comes the return of the Librateens to the library!  Our librateen group is a teen program for students in grades 6 and higher.  The group meets every Wednesday afternoon that school is in session.  The librateens first organizational meeting for the school year will be held on Wednesday, October 7.  Various activities such as game days, movie days, speakers, books and crafts are scheduled for the fall sessions.  Meetings are open to every student from grades 6 through grade 12 from 3pm until 4:15pm.   This group has been diligently working to redecorate the teen space on the second floor of the library.  An open house reception for the newly decorated room will be held on Monday, October 19th at 3pm.  The reception is open to the public!

Workshops & Concerts:
The month will begin with an October 4 concert by "The Excelsior Cornet Band."  "The Excelsior Cornet Band" is New York State's only authentic Civil War brass band.  Founded in 2001, the band consisrts of a group of upstate New York musicians who are dedicated to the performance of original Civil War music on actual antique brass band instruments of the 1860's period. The band will be performing their Abraham Licoln Program on Sunday, Oct 4 on the second floor of the library.

The Canal Town Quilters quilts will be featured on display at the library during the month of October.  The Lawson Community on the library's lower level will feature wall hangings as well as traditional quilts and table runners.  A reception for the Canal Town Quilters will be held on Saturday, October 3 from 1 - 3 pm in the Lawson Community Room.

A four week workshop, Job Hunting 101, will be offered on Tuesday mornings during the month of October.  In this program our staff will show you library and online resources available as well as help participants create a resume, search for jobs online and apply for online opportunities.  The program will begin on Tuesday, October 6 and end on October 27.  Particpants should contact the library to sign up as spaces are limited!  The program will be held in the Lawson Community Room beginning at 9:30am until 11 am

On Wednesday, October 21 at 7pm, the library will hold a special presentation on "The Loomis Gang."  Learn about this notorius family of outlaws and horse thieves that operated in Central New York from local descendent, Robert Loomis. This event will be held on the second floor of the library.

Thursday Theatre Returns this autumn!  Continuing with our theme of showing an Oscar Winning Film for Best Picture, the library will be showing movies on the 1st and 3rd Thursdays of the month beginning at 6pm in our Lawson Community Room.  We will alternate between recent winners and early winners.  Join us on Thursday, October 1 to view, "Chicago."  This 2002 Oscar Best Picture features Murderesses Velma Kelly and Roxie Hart.  The pair find themselves on death row together and fight for the fame that will keep them from the gallows in 1920's Chicago.  This is a musical starring Renee Zellweger and Catherine Zeta-Jones.  On Thursday, October 15, we will show the 1934 Best Picture, "It Happened One Night."  A spoiled heiress, running away from her family, is helped by a man who is actually a reporter looking for a story.  But then, he falls for her!  Starring Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert.

We hope that you will join us for one or all of these great programs at the library!  See you between the stacks soon!

Friday, September 18, 2009

The Ninth Annual Rebecca Eddy Memorial Contest

Entries are now being accepted at the Canastota Public Library for the 9th Annual Rebecca Eddy Memorial Writing Contest. Short stories and poems may be any style and/or subject and should be submitted to the library by October 31, 2009.


Entry requirements indicate that original poems should be 20 lines or fewer and original short stories should be between 500 – 5,000 words. Submissions should be made in only one category (poetry or short story) and will be judged by a panel of judges from the community. The following age divisions will be used in determining awards:

• Ages 10 and under

• Ages 11 – 14

• Ages 15 – 18

• Over Age 18

The contest was organized by Joan and Doug Eddy of Canastota as a memorial to their daughter, Rebecca Eddy. Ms. Eddy was a graduate of Canastota High School as well as a graduate of John Hopkins University. She was an athlete, an artist, a thespian and a scholar. Eddy felt a passion towards writing and also towards her community. Joan and Doug Eddy read each entry that is received into the contest.

The contest is free to enter and there are no residential requirements or limits. Entry Forms, available at the library, should be submitted with each entry.

An awards ceremony will be held Wed, Nov 18th at 7pm on the second floor of the library for all participants. All participants will receive a certificate for entering the competition. First and second place award winners in each age category will also receive a cash prize of $25 and $10, respectively.

The contest is coordinated each year by the Canastota Public Library at 102 W. Center Street in Canastota. For additional information, please contact the library at (315) 697-7030.

 

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Puppy Love

I work at the Canastota Library and am always amazed at the resources that are available to the community here. Those resources proved to be invaluable to me several weeks ago.

It has always been my dream to breed small dogs and when I received a female Cairn Terrier for a birthday a few years ago, I was delighted. I named her Maggie and soon we were also the owners of her mate, Argus. Gus and Maggie were getting along well and before we knew it, Maggie was expecting. As we left the vet’s office after confirming her pregnancy, I knew I was going to need to prepare for the upcoming blessed event.

I had already used the library to find books on the Cairn Terrier breed when I was deciding what kind of dog I would like to own. Some of the best books I found were “Cairn Terriers” by Patricia Lehman and “The Complete Dog Book” by the American Kennel Club. Online resources were also helpful during this research! As well, we found local breeders and talked to them about the breed including health issues, training, feeding and more. Our vet was a wealth of information and offered suggestions along the way. And, so, now knowing that Maggie was expecting, I stopped at the library to search for books on birthing puppies.

“Breeding A Litter” by J.M. Evans seemed to be the most comprehensive book on the subject of doggie pregnancy and delivery and I left the library prepared to read every page! I thought I would be prepared for just about anything we encountered during Maggie’s pregnancy and delivery. Our vet indicated that Maggie would probably deliver four to six puppies and indicated that the breed were very good “whelpers” so we shouldn’t have many problems. The book, I thought, would do just the trick. While I skimmed the books on a couple of occations, I never did get around to reading it before the puppies came.

Early one Saturday morning, I went to Maggie’s kennel to take her out for her morning constitution. As I opened the crate, I noticed something wasn’t quite right. Maggie had her back to me and wouldn’t come out of her crate. As I reached in to get her, I quickly realized that puppy number two was on her way into the world and puppy one was already here! I grabbed the book and started reading…I figured better late than never! As it turned out, Maggie instinctively knew what to do but the book helped me to understand what to look for, what would come next and how to help if Maggie had any problems with delivery. Three hours later, Maggie and Gus were parents to four healthy Cairn Terrier pups—two baby boys and two baby girls.

Today, I am looking for books on puppies and their nutritional needs during the first few weeks of life! This is so much fun and the library is able to offer help at every turn. From books on housetraining, to medical needs, natural health tips and obedience training tips, the library can assist anyone who has questions about owning a dog.

The Bark is a new magazine that the library carries. I’ve been reading this monthly since the library purchased it. This month, we’ve received two new books that dog owners will find helpful. They are:

• “Green Dog, Good Dog. Reducing your Dog’s Carbon Footprint” by Dominique DeVito

• “The Everything New Puppy Book” by Carlo DeVito

I don’t know if the DeVitos are related but both books are great!

I've posted two pictures here.  The first picture shows the puppies during their first week and the second is a picture of the first born last Saturday at 3 weeks old! 

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Job Hunting 101

Here in Canastota, we have been helping patrons to use the internet for many things. Most recently, we have found an increase in requests to help people find and apply for jobs on line. In light of those requests, the Canastota Public Library will begin a four week workshop, Job Hunting 101 in October. In this program, our staff will show participants resources that are available through the library and online to help them create a resume, search for jobs online and apply for on-line opportunities. The program will be held Tuesday mornings in October from 9:30am until 11am, beginning Oct. 6th and ending Oct. 27.


The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation supports efforts to supply and sustain free  public access computers and the internet through local public libraries.  In the past several years, the Canastota Public Library has been able to upgrade and increase the number of public access computers to six due to the generosity of the foundation and matching funds made available by our local Friends of the Library group.   This past summer, the library received four laptop computers to add to the bank of public use computers from the Friends support and the Gates Foundation. Those computers are now a part of the library’s larger bank of community accessible computers and will be used in the Job Hunting 101 group training workshop.

According to the Gate's Foundation website, more than 70% of folks who use public library computers to access the internet indicate that the library is their primary and often only source for internet services.  The internet gives these patrons access to valuable information like health facts, financial planning and online banking, job services and job banks, research information and it also provides people with the ability to keep in touch with family and friends across the state or across the world.  The Gates foundation notes that "in the United States, where Internet access has been more widely available, going online also enables people to participate more fully in the social and economic fabric of their communities and make meaningful contributions to society."

Due to the number of laptop computers on hand, we will need to limit the number of folks participating in Job Hunting 101.  Computer skills, while helpful, are not necessary for this workshop.  You can sign-up by calling the library at 315-697-7030.  If enough interest is generated from Job Hunting 101, a second session will be offered in November.

Thanks to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, this and other laptop workshops will be available at the Canastota Public Library in the coming months and years!

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

You Can Download Audio Books to your iPod/iPhone/MP3

The Canastota Public Library has great news for iPod© and iPhone© users who love audio books. With the free OverDrive Media Console v3.2© for Windows, most audio books including Stephenie Meyer's "Twilight," Malcolm Gladwell's "Outliers," and John Grisham's "The Appeal" are compatible with the Windows formatted iPod and iPhone. These and hundreds of other titles can be downloaded free and transferred to these and other popular players.


In addition, MP3 titles are being added to the site on a regular basis. MP3 titles can be downloaded to MACs and transferred to any Mac formatted iPods and iPhones . Even more good news: now that the collection has increased in size, customers may now check out up to 5 titles at a time!

This increasingly popular service is called MYaudio2go. You can access the service by clicking on the “Digital Audio” link from Mid York’s homepage. This new software provides access to Mid York’s collection of audio books for Windows formatted iPhone and iPod users. With a few clicks and using the built-in Transfer Wizard!, audio books can be sent to a iPod, a Zune, many smart phones, and most other portable players.

MYaudio2go allows you the freedom to enjoy audio books, anytime, anywhere. You can borrow audio books even when your library is closed and there is no need to worry about fines because the file becomes unplayable on the computer when the loan period ends. All you need is your Mid York Library System card.

“I travel for work and was happy to learn that I can download audio books to my IPod. It makes traveling a bit more enjoyable,” noted Jerry Mc Dowell, a patron of the Canastota Library.

The service is jointly funded by the Mid-York Library System and its forty-three member libraries. “This is a great example of how cooperation can expand the services available to every library customer in our service area”, said Darlene Ford, Mid York Library System Director.
For help or information, direct email to: myaudio2go@midyork.org
Enjoy listening!