News from your local libraries

Lopez

from Lopez Library Director Lou Pray

October winds are blowing many of us indoors and what better time to curl up with a good book? The week of Oct. 14-20 was Teen Read Week and the theme was “Books with Bite.” As the world has become more crowded with entertainment options, parents, librarians and educators should encourage our youth to spend time reading for pleasure from the vast selection available at your community and school libraries. It’s free, fun, and can be done anywhere! Research shows that teens who read for fun have better test scores and are more likely to succeed in the workforce. Check out Karen Roger’s literary picks from vampires to cooking with a young adult focus, just to name a few:

• Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight trilogy (print and books on CD versions available)

• Blue Bloods by Melissa de la Cruz

• Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead

How to tell if a book is written for a particular age group? Do a search in our online catalog and click new search/advance search. There is limit to “Target Audience,” which allows you to pick from Juvenile, Preschool, etc. You can also tell if a book is intended for youth if the call number has a shelf location of Children’s or Young Adult.

Thanks to input from our teen advisors, the teen movie we’ll be showing on Oct. 25 is “Iron Man” with Robert Downey Jr. and Gwyneth Paltrow (PG-13). The big screen showing is free and munchies are provided. The films starts at 5:30.

As October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, the library is partnering with Suzi Marean, Lopez Island’s community advocate at Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Services of the San Juan Islands (DVSAS), on a selected display of books to educate people on this topic. Marean will be a guest on the library’s radio show on October 29 at 1 p.m. Tune in on the internet to hear this and other library news and reviews at: www.kloi.org/ on Wednesdays from 1 – 2 p.m.

At the Lopez Island Library’s annual retreat in October, the Board of Trustees, led by Bill Evans, began work on the library’s Long Range Plan for 2009-2014. The library is looking for a diverse mix of Lopezians willing to help determine our community’s needs and how the library can best address them in the next five years. The planning meetings will start January 22. If you are interested in taking part your library’s future direction, please contact Library Director Lou Pray at 468-2265 or lpray@lopezlibrary.org.

Orcas

from Orcas Library Director Phil Heikkinen

Our Crossroads Lecture Series continues at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 7 with immigration professor and attorney Juliet Stumpf offering a lecture at The Orcas Center titled “Crossing New Borders: Making Sense of the U.S. Immigration Debate through Law, History, and Politics.” Get free tickets at the Library or Darvill’s Bookstore in Eastsound, and look for upcoming lectures on our website (www.orcaslibrary.org). The spring schedule will be available soon.

I want to share some brief information about Sustainable Orcas Island (SOI), one of our recent efforts intended to support our community’s response to uncertain economy and what to many people looks like breakdowns in systems we sometimes take for granted. For example, in the USA we tend to trust in our extensive food distribution network, fast and inexpensive transportation and shipping, reliable recovery from natural disasters, reasonable prospects for a career and retirement, and affordable housing (well, maybe not so many of us assume that last one in San Juan County). SOI is an informal network of people interested in strengthening local resiliency and community self-reliance. Most people would probably agree that the basic unit of survival is the community.

We meet from 5:30 to 7 p.m. on the last Wednesday of each month at the Orcas Island Public Library. Anyone is welcome to attend, and/or to join an email list that I maintain. E-mail or phone me at pheikkinen@rcaslibrary.org, 376-4985. Some of the projects we are or will be working on (often in partnerships) include the Whole Islands Catalog (wholeislandscatalog.net), edible landscaping demonstration projects, bibliographies of relevant books and other resources, and lectures.

Below are a few recent books at our library offering good introductions to some of the many issues relating to sustainable living. I’ll also be preparing a more in-depth list of materials soon.

Depletion and Abundance, by Sharon Astyk; The Long Descent, by John Michael Greer; Peak Everything, by Richard Heinberg; Plan C, by Pat Murphy; Post Carbon Cities, by Daniel Lerch; Reinventing Collapse, by Dmitry Orlov; The Transition Handbook, by Rob Hopkins; and World Made by Hand, by James Howards Kunstler (fiction). Happy thriving!

San Juan

from San Juan Library Director Laura Tretter

Just in under the wire is the San Juan Island Library’s 2007 Annual Report. Admittedly it’s a little late in the year, but we’re still proud to make the announcement. We are doing this as a means to better communicate how the library is operating and serving our community. Although an annual report is a pretty basic form of communication, we haven’t put one out for as long as I am aware. Now that the seemingly insurmountable has been surmounted, we will continue to do this, showing the return for the investment in our library and community.

As the economic times become more difficult, libraries are becoming even more vital than ever. Libraries across the nation are showing increases in circulation of materials and computer use. One recently aired report on NPR anecdotally tells how libraries across the nation serving more and more people. Another recent report from ALA shows how library card registrations are at an all time high. Our island libraries are no exception. We are all constantly registering new patrons, managing increasing computer use, and reaching new heights in circulation.

From the report:

• San Juan Island Library revenue totaled $835,009 with over 90 percent coming from voter approved property tax levy.

• Our 2007 rate dropped to 27 cents per $1000 assessed valuation, off our maximum levy rate of 50 cents per $1000 assessed valuation

• Our expenditures totaled $838,788, which included an initial expenditure for the catalog system.

• We were open 2,780 hours with 104,328 visits.

• We offered over 400 programs with over 6000 program attendees.

• We circulated 141,746 library materials placing us in the top fivee for circulation per capita in Washington State.

To view the full report go to: http://www.sjlib.org/atl/SJLIB Annual Report 2007.pdf or to request a print copy call 378-2798.

Thank you to all for your support and continued investment in our library.

Comment on this story.

COMMENTING RULES: We encourage an open exchange of ideas in our online community, but we ask you to follow our guidelines for respecting community standards. In a nutshell, don't say anything you wouldn't want your mother to read.