Retirement!

Retirement! I finally, actually, irrevocably retired from the directorship of the Van Alstyne Library on June 10, 2011! This was my 4th retirement date. As each one approached, I found I wasn't ready to give up the best job in the world yet. But this time, I actually went through with it. Two days after my retirement date, I became 69. There were other things I wanted to do with my life -- the rest of it. There are some books I want to write. I want to learn to paint. I want to do some house remodeling. I want to visit my grandkids and spend quality time with them. I want to travel with my husband. I have some serious gardening I want to do. I need to work on some family research. I want to volunteer at the Gunter Library and Museum -- just enough to keep me part of the library scene, not enough to tie me down. I want to have time to read books and attend the book discussion group I encouraged to start but seldom had time to attend. I want to explore some of the new gadgets that are being developed, like tablets and Ipads, and phone aps. That's just for starters!

For the rest, I want to change the focus of this blog. I want to link it as a book discussion group. Anyone want to join me? I'll start by talking about two books I've just read on my Kindle: The Hangman's Daughter by Oliver Potzsch and Daughters of the Witching Hill by Mary Sharratt. Both are about women accused of witchcraft in medieval times. The Daughters of the Witching Hill was based on actual historical accounts of trials and deaths of seven women and two men from Pendle Forest in England in 1612. Belief in familiar spirits, charms and chants from the Catholic religion outlawed by the English Reformation, folk magic, and the attitudes of people from this area and time, all are convincingly presented in the life of Elizabeth Southerns and her family in this book. I understand a lot more about a puzzling phenomenon in history because I read this story. It was well plotted and well written and held my interest throughout.

The Hangman's Daughter approaches the subject differently. The author is writing about his own ancestors. He is a descendant of the Kuisl family which plays the major part in the story. The setting is Schongau, Bavaria, shortly after the Schongau witch trials of 1589. The author reminds us the story is a novel, not a scholarly thesis, but has tried to stick to facts as much as possible. The story centers around the town hangman and his family who not only dispatches torture and death, but also healing with herbs and potions. A woman is accused of witchcraft by townspeople for dispensing similar herbs and potions, and because children who like to visit her home are dying. The hangman believes she is innocent of witchcraft, but must follow his trade of torture to make her confess before the town is visited by the authority who will open up a devastating investigation of witchcraft similar to that in 1589. The characters are well described and interesting. The "devil" in the story is depicted with almost super powers, as is the hangman. The twists in the plot maintain interest. Contrasting the attitudes of characters in both novels, it is interesting to see how the accusations of witchcraft build in intensity in two different countries and situations within 30 years. The first story ends unhappily but the second has a more encouraging ending.

A follow-up reading about the Salem witch trials would be interesting.

Anna GlowFest November 6

The Van Alstyne's Teen Council will have a Library booth at the Anna GlowFest on Saturday November 6. Drop by the booth to listen to stories read by Little Red Riding Hood and Snow White, as well as other familiar book characters. While you're there pick up a treat bag with information about the Van Alstyne Library and its programs. Friends of the Van Alstyne Library supports library activities and helps purchase books for the Library. While you are visiting the Teen Council booth, fill out a membership application for Friends of the Library. They meet on the 2nd Thursday of every month at 7:00 at the Library.

A few new programs you need to know about: On Thursdays at 4:15, Adrienne Clark provides holiday themed story times for children in grades 1-3. This special story time will continue through mid-December.

At the same time Ms Clark provides the story time, ESL lessons for Latino Moms are given by Laura Hornbeck. If you need practice to improve your English, this informal group is perfect for you.

On Monday afternoons at 1:30-2:30, Juanita Hazelton provides free basic computer instruction in Spanish. If you need help with Microsoft Word, Internet Usage, or E-Mail, attend this class.

Method 12: Evaluation

At last I'm Finished!!!

I enjoyed all of the learning modules. I think my favorite is Flickr, just for the enjoyment of those pictures. I thoroughly enjoyed Dr. Wesch's "An anthropological introduction to YouTube." I understand it so much better now. Besides the fun of watching some of the videos, I'm glad to know the history of its development and how it has evolved into a community.

The exercises were easy to follow and the links were most informative. I plan to use all of the methods in one way or another, some personal and some as library extensions.

I didn't expect to be working up to the end of the deadline to finish this -- but so glad I was able to learn these methods. I'm ready to learn the rest of 2.0. Please design another learning module! I will definitely participate.

method 11: Podcasts

I'd like to try some podcasts on our library webpage. It might be easier to start off with some already done by someone else. Whatever, podcasts seem like an exciting way to get people involved in different ways at the library.

I participated in a podcast done by NETLS. At first I was really nervous about doing it, but it turned out to be fun. And I sounded ok!

So I'm thinking we could do something fairly simple, like talking about books we've enjoyed reading. I'm going to subscribe to a few booktalk podcasts and see how they sound first. i like the idea of having teens or kids participate.

Method 10: WikiWikis

I've use Wikipedia, and participated in a Wiki designed to determine when was the best date to schedule a workshop, but I hadn't thought to set up a wiki myself. I have set up a wiki for my staff and intend to use it to get input on our revision of our Technology Plan. Also plan to use it for any other issues staff needs to work on together. It's strictly a private wiki, invitation to staff only to join.

There are a lot more uses for wikis than I thought there were. I think it's a good module for an online book discussion club.

I forgot to post my favorite blog on the state library development wiki site. here it is:
http://www.inthelibrarywiththeleadpipe.org/feed/

Method 8: Social networking and method 9: chat & IM

I don't know how people have all this time to do social networking! While I have a personal facebook account, often I will just go to the news feeds to see what others are doing and don't post anything myself. Other times I will carry on a dialog with a friend or relative.

I don't like chat. It interrupts what I'm doing and often continues on far too long when I have a particular online mission to pursue. As far as I'm concerned, I'd rather have a phone call.
Of Course, my chats have been personal, not library related. I can see that if a library has enough staff to use chat or IM for reference, it can be a good thing. However with only two fulltime employees and four part time, scheduling doesn't allow for a person dedicated to IM reference. We are revising our Internet guidelines, which didn't allow chat -- since so many social networking sites allow it, the guideline about chat isn't enforcible.

I will soon build a library page on Facebook. I almost feel obligated to do so, as well as establish a Twitter presence for the Library. However, again, the time all of these social networking sites require is tremendous. It is difficult just to maintain a current website, even with the YA and Juvenile items taken care of by those particular assistants. Weighing the pros against the cons, I still see I need to set up a social networking library account. I definitely don't think library and personal accounts should be mixed. It is only recently that I have set up two email accounts, using the new gmail account for library business. However, some business email still gets routed to my personal email account just because it was the only contact account for too many years.

Method 7: Tagging

Now I know what it means on my Facebook account when the note appears that someone was "tagged" by someone else. I think this method is going to help me organize my favorite sites in a better way.

I also set up a LibraryThing account for my personal reading. Soon I'll set up the library's account and begin posting some reviews of new books.