Newsletter number 14

A picture is worth a thousand words......

Have a great Christmas and enjoy summer in our paradise by the sea – here are some recommended booklists* for sourcing the necessary supplies…

From Booksellers New Zealand this is the year’s bestseller list compiled from sales figures

http://www.booksellers.co.nz/book-news/nzs-bestsellers/best-bestsellers-2009

The NZ Listener for Dec 12 – 18 includes 16 pages of books of the year. Read it in the Library or wait until 26 December for the online version at
http://www.listener.co.nz/issue/3631/artsbooks/14563/novels.html

The New York Times offers a list of the 10 best books of the year and a list of 100 notable books of 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/gift-guide/holiday-2009/10-best-gift-guide-sub/list.html?ref=books
http://www.nytimes.com/gift-guide/holiday-2009/100-notable-books-of-2009-gift-guide/list.html

The Times of London also provides two lists; the fifty best paperbacks of the year and the 100 best books of the decade
http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/fiction/article6847448.ece
http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/book_reviews/article6914181.ece

*Links courtesy of Patricia - ECB Info news.

Reader photo from Flickr.

Newsletter Number 13

November 09

Review drought alert!....

The flow of reviews is drying up. Come on guys, don’t let our website become out of date and tired! Keep those reviews coming – we know you’re all out there reading, listening and viewing, we’ve seen the overflowing staff hold shelves! Just a few sentences is all you need to write. Send your reviews to Kim Sipeli

Other people’s libraries…

Working fireplaces, indoor waterfalls and moveable “clouds” to shade the sun are just some of the features of this stunning public library in Salt Lake City. Check out this amazing library and be prepared to be wowed by the features and facilities the citizens of Salt Lake City are able to enjoy.
” The librarians in this area take great pleasure in discussing your reading interests, helping you find more books like the ones you've recently enjoyed, and introducing you to new authors and subjects.”
Mmmm…That sounds strangely familiar!
Yet another library to visit on the Librarian’s world tour.

http://www.slcpl.lib.ut.us/details.jsp?parent_id=7&page_id=5

Website of the month…
http://getwithitweb2.blogspot.com/2009/08/module-6-topic-1-books-and-authors.html

This month you are being taken to North Shore Libraries’ very own blogspot to have a look at the sites included in module 6 of the “Get with it” programme which many of you are currently doing. Module 6 is all about sampling what’s out there for us to explore. Twittering, Facebooking, Blogging… you name it, someone is using it as a forum for talking about books and reading.
And when you have had a look at these, perhaps you may feel inspired to do the Get With It programme… there’s still time!

Newsletter no. 12

October 09

Looking at other people’s libraries…Take a moment to have a look at the outstanding modern Alexandrian Library in Egypt.
http://www.sacred-destinations.com/egypt/alexandria-library-bibliotheca-alexandrina

Designed by a Swedish architect and completed in 2002 it cost $220 million to build and sees 800,000 visitors per year.
Imagine a 70,000 square metre Reading Hall that can accommodate 2,000 readers at one time. And that’s not all… this is a truly outstanding facility. Like the New York Public Library, it would have to be a “must see” for travelling librarians!
Follow the links in this website and prepare to be wowed.

Quote of the month…The time to read is any time: no apparatus, no appointment of time and place, is necessary. It is the only art which can be practised at any hour of the day or night, whenever the time and inclination comes, that is your time for reading; in joy or sorrow, health or illness. ~Holbrook Jackson

Website of the month…http://www.readersadvice.com/
This website is quite a one stop shop. Not only can you search for authors, genres and series, but if you click on Reader's Advisory Tips & Sources you will find links to all sorts of other websites that may help you find that elusive “good read” your customer is looking for.

The Reading Experience conversation

Remember the video we watched at the Reading Experience training sessions?
Here it is, an excellent demonstration of a librarian and a customer engaging in a Readers' Advisory transaction.

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