Newsletter no. 11

September 09

Book reviews – a pick of the month….
What a great assortment of reviews being submitted to our web site. If you haven’t felt brave enough to try it yet, just take a deep breathe and write it down as if you are telling a friend. Here is a great example that feels as though the writer is talking to you about a series they enjoyed.

DarkangelReview by Library staff
Date: 3 August 2009
“I read this series many, many years ago and would recommend it to anyone who wants to read about vampires or the supernatural. I enjoyed these 3 books because I became engrossed with the characters and needed to find out what happened next. It was also a teenage love story, not like the “Twilight” series to which I only read Book One and I felt it told the whole story - without having to read the rest!! I recommend these three books to anyone who likes supernatural “love” stories”.
Quote of the month…
“Libraries are as the shrine where all the relics of the ancient saints, full of true virtue, and that without delusion or imposture, are preserved and reposed”. - BaconWell, yes… But helping our customers find a cracking good read is a lot more fun!

Website of the month…
http://www.reader2reader.net/
Amongst other things, this site presents routes to books linked to the situations where they might be read – 3am reads for sleepless nights, relaxing and refreshing reads for the garden, familiar reads in a comfy armchair. A great site for browsing which includes “bin a book”. Hated reads and why.

Newsletter number 10

August 09

A fabulous new service to be offered by North Shore Libraries...!
We will soon be offering a new service to our customers. They will be able to download audio books on to a variety of devices, PC, Ipod, MP3 etc., both at home and in the library. Yes, there will be training so that you will be able to offer the assistance customers may need. So… in the next couple of months, if you hear the word Overdrive you’ll know what it’s referring to. Overdrive provides the infrastructure and applications to support the down loading of audio books. Here is a preview of how it works:

Visit the link below and click on “downloadable media help” and “quick start guide” to scroll through and find out what it’s all about.
http://auckland.lib.overdrive.com/5FDF8A76-F4DB-4032-A30C-A9549C2F0EB0/10/443/en/Default.htm

For further information you can also explore the Overdrive website:http://www.overdrive.com/

You will hear more about this fabulous new service and any training needed in due course.
What about our ideas…?
You may have been wondering what has become of the good ideas you put forward at the Reading Experience training sessions. Well, you will be pleased to know that the Library Management group is soon to have a workshop to further progress The Reading Experience, and implementing those ideas will be discussed as part of the workshop.
Quote of the month…Considering how many cards have been signed by our patrons recently, this one seemed especially appropriate…
“The richest person in the world – in fact, all the riches in world – couldn’t provide you with anything like the endless, incredible loot available at your local library. You can measure the awareness, the breadth and the wisdom of a civilisation, a nation, a people, by the priority given to preserving these repositories of all that we are, all that we were, or will be.”
Malcolm Forbes, former publisher and editor of Fortune magazine.

Newsletter No. 9

July 09

The Reading Experience Training is finished. So is that it…?
Not at all, there’s more! The training sessions you have all just attended were only the beginning of The Reading Experience. Still to come for training are half day sessions aimed at The Reading Experience-kids and teens, two hour sessions for shelvers, and a workshop for the library managers. Also, the newsletter will continue on a monthly basis in the same format with hints, tips, websites and alerts to new things to check out on the blog such as exercises you can do to hone your Reading Experience skills. By now you should be seeing The Reading Experience on your staff meeting agendas. What an opportunity for you to share great reads with each other, new ideas, websites, events and programmes and to share your progress in being out there talking to your customers having that reading conversation and putting some wow! into their day and yours.

Tip of the month…Running out of books to put shelf talkers into because they keep going out? The customers sure do go for them. See what other library staff have enjoyed by visiting “Rave Reads” on the blog:
http://nslreadingexperience.blogspot.com/search/label/Rave%20Reads
Then have a look on the OPAC and see if copies are on your shelves. Grab them, put in shelf talkers, put them on display and voila! Your customers will love you for it. (developed from an idea from a TRE training session)
Congratulations…!!
…To those of you who have completed your two compulsory post training exercises, and have received your certificate from Geoff. If you need a reminder of what to do go to:
http://nslreadingexperience.blogspot.com/search/label/exercises
It needn’t take long – your answers can be brief. Talk to your manager or IS Librarian if you need help. (psssst! Ask them if they’ve done theirs!)

Website of the month…..
For your own enjoyment, and to keep you up with what your customers are bound to be looking at. Have a look at what TVNZ provides on line for readers.
http://tvnz.co.nz/the-good-word
Lifestyle Book Reviews

Quote of the month…“Libraries will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no libraries”. - Anne Herbert, Whole Earth Catalog

Has it become so hard to find a really good book?

How many of you read this recent opinion in the Saturday Herald?

John Roughan: Why has it become so hard to find a really good book?

What were your thoughts on this article? Do you think we do better in libraries than book shops? Are we up to the challenge?

Hunters and Gatherers

Many of you at the training sessions asked for information about John Stanley's theory that customers may be categorised as either 'hunters' or 'gatherers' according to their shopping habits. The following articles explore this topic further. Food for thought!

Hunters and Gatherers - Are you serving both their needs?

Are you making the most of your transition zone and foyer?

Newsletter number 8

June 12 ‘09

Writing reviews for our website…….
I’m sure you are all thinking about that book you’ve just enjoyed and busily writing your short review for the new website. Don’t forget it’s your opinion of the book readers want to know … they can always get an outline from the catalogue if they want to know more about the plot.

Tip of the week…Did you know that you can request back copies of the reviewing journals that circulate to the selectors? What a great way to broaden your knowledge of those genres, subjects and formats you don’t read, and keep up with the new authors who are appearing on the scene.
To choose - search by subject: Books – reviews – periodicalshttp://www.elgar.govt.nz/search~S6?/dBooks+--+Reviews+--+Periodicals/dbooks+reviews+periodicals/-3%2C-1%2C0%2CB/exact&FF=dbooks+reviews+periodicals&1%2C13%2C

Food for thought….‘When people say they can’t put a book down, the suggestion is that they want to find out what happens next, but I don’t think that’s true at all. I think when we say that, it means we don’t want to break the spell that has been cast upon us by the voice of the writer, and we don’t want to break that relationship, that intimate relationship, we’ve established with another while we’re actually reading.’
(Diane Stubbings, An intimate relationship; interview with David Malouf. Canberra Times, Saturday, September 2, 2006, Panorama section, p. 11)
Website of the week…..
www.mcpl.lib.mo.us/readers/movies
Based on the Book
'Based on the Book' is a compilation of over 1,250 books, novels, short stories, and plays that have been made into motion pictures. Utilizing the Internet Movie Database as the authority, all movies in this collection have been released as feature-length films in the United States, in English, since 1980.

Quote of the week… “Fiction reveals truths that reality obscures”. ~Jessamyn West

Newsletter Number 6

May 14 ‘09

The Training is here …
Q: How will I get to know about all the good ideas being shared during the course? There are lots of sessions, and I only attend one of them.A: The trainers are taking note of the good ideas coming from the sessions and these will be shared with you via the blog and these newsletters. They are keeping a note of the Rave Reads you are talking about too- these will also be available on the blog.
Tip of the week…

Displays don’t have to be complicated. Try relating a simple display to a colour, e.g.
“RED HOT!”
Back it with red paper or cloth and fill it with all kinds of items with red covers- fiction and non-fiction ,DVDs, CDs and audio books. It’s a great way of showing customers a selection of our stock they may never stumble across otherwise.
How about MOODY BLUE or BASIC BLACK….? The list can be as long as your imagination.

Food for thought….

Take advantage of opportunities within the library for promotion. The library building and its inmates are great promotional tools! Friendly, helpful people are one of our best means of promoting anything the library has to offer.

Website of the week…..
Mad about JD Robb?
Know someone who is? www.indeath.net
All you will ever want to know and more about J.D Robb’s “In Death” series.


Quote of the week…

“Reading is a discount ticket to everywhere.”
Mary Schmich