An updated version of Historical Statistics of the United States has arrived, the first new edition since 1993. It will live in the phone room. This source is handy for commonly-requested historical census information, especially that which is too recent for the Historical Census Browser web page.
City-level historical statistics can be hard to find, but Erin points out that there are sources for the population of St. Paul in the St. Paul Collection. Check in the St. Paul subject index under "Population".
Friday, December 29, 2006
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
CENTRAL STAFF FAVORITE READS OF 2006
Check out Central Staff's Favorite Reads of 2006, lovingly compiled by Erin.
Thursday, December 14, 2006
Send Email without Having Email
It sounds impossible, but it's not. Here's a cool site that allows you to send an email without having an email account: http://www.yousendit.com
You can attach files also. Of course, the recipient cannot reply to the email and access to the file only lasts 7 days.
You can attach files also. Of course, the recipient cannot reply to the email and access to the file only lasts 7 days.
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
African-American Romance Booklist
Do you have patrons looking for African-American romances? Check out The Colors of Love, a booklist by the Lincoln, Nebraska public library. Their Bookguide web site also has other booklists such as time-travelling romances, fiction for fans of online gaming, Native American detectives, and In Space No One Can Hear You Laugh (humorous science fiction).
Andrea
Andrea
Sunday, December 10, 2006
Central Book Club
Here are the upcoming titles for the Central Library Book Club which meets the first Monday evening of the month at 7 PM in the Meeting Room:
January 1st New Year's Day - no meeting
February 5th Simon's Night by Jon Hassler
March 5th My Name is Red by Orhan Pamuk
April 2nd The #1 Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith
May 7th The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien
Anyone interested in moderating or contributing to the discussion for any of these titles should contact Barb S.
January 1st New Year's Day - no meeting
February 5th Simon's Night by Jon Hassler
March 5th My Name is Red by Orhan Pamuk
April 2nd The #1 Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith
May 7th The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien
Anyone interested in moderating or contributing to the discussion for any of these titles should contact Barb S.
Culture of Poverty Workshop
This was a 2 part workshop which had more eye-opening moments than I can ever remember experiencing at a learning event presented by MELSA. The workshop began with Jodi Pharr, a chaplain and certified critical debriefer for the St. Paul Police department, talking to us about the course itself, and what she hoped to accomplish during the workshop. She hoped to bring us to an understanding of the role our culture plays in creating and maintaining classes within our society, and how to affect change within this model.
To that end, we (meaning the class and Jodi herself) created what she called a “mental model” of poverty, which centered on the forces that drive people who are in poverty. The driving forces are centered around relationship and survival, rather than the equivalent middleclass worldview which is ruled by work and achievement. Using many great anecdotes about her own and other people’s experiences, Jodi was able to helpus understand what this entailed.
For example, how many times have you had a patron ask you for a particular librarian and be unwilling to “settle” for whoever was on duty? If your relationship is with a particular librarian (however tentative), why would you settle for someone you had no relationship with? Many of those in generational poverty are unwilling to deal with those with whom they have no relationship, since it rarely profits them to do so, and can be both painful and unrewarding to even try. So, building a relationship is paramount in any ongoing contact. For example, if “Pete” is told that he owes fines and that he will be unable to check out, it may not faze him in the least. However, if you know that “Pete” has a little brother who uses his card to help him do his homework, and you relate the loss of the card’s privileges to the inability of the little brother to use the library, you may get a totally different response! This is the beginning of understanding how relationship governs the lives of those in generational poverty.
Authority figures are not viewed in the same way as the middle class would, either. Just because “we” say something, doesn’t make it relevant in the life of someone who may not have the resources that are available to most of us. If, for example, you are asking a woman to pay a fine in order to be able to check out, and she is looking at the last $4 in her wallet, it is unlikely that she would choose to pay a library fine over getting food for her family. In fact, I know of no-one who would reasonably ask anyone to make such a choice. However, lesser choices are also clearly weighted toward the family and the survival of that family, through whatever means necessary. As noted before, if a relationship is in conflict with the needs of an institution (say, the library), guess who’s going to “win”?
Generational poverty is also matriarchal in nature, as the male contingent is often not in a position to take the kind of daily responsibility that the middle class assumes would be “normal. In my handouts, I have a diagram of a “family” which gives you a fair idea of how convoluted some family relationships can become in this type of poverty. In fact, I’m not even sure I would be able to do it justice in narrative form at this point. If anyone who took the workshop would like to respond to this posting with both diagram and explication, please do .
So many of the points Jodi covered over the 2 days relate to communication and how it differs both among peers and between classes, that I will simply give one example here. Jodi posited a situation in which both a middle class person and a person from generational poverty were giving a description of a crime witnessed by both parties. In the case of the middle class witness, the description of what they saw was linear, formal and had a clear plot line. In the second decription, it was casual, with no clear cut beginning or end, not chronological tolerant of what the middle class would call interruptions. I won’t even try to duplicate it here, let’s just say “you had to be there”.
Even as we laughed, we were learning.
I will end this ramble with a question that was asked at the beginning of this workshop by Jodi, talking about her clients:
“If you did everything your caseworker told you to do, got a job and kept it for a year, never missing a day of work, how much closer (if at all) would you be to being out of poverty at the end of that year than you were at the beginning?”
The answer (according to Jodi) is you would not be any closer. One of my favorite handouts in the three ring binder (which will be in the FYI basket on the 4th floor staff area) is germain to the question and the answer. It is called Key Points and covers some of the more salient points covered during this workshop:
Poverty is relative.
Poverty occurs in all races and in all countries.
This workshop focuses on economic diversity, not racial or cultural diversity.
Economic class is a continuous line, not a clear-cut distinction.
Generational poverty and situational poverty are different.
This work is based on patterns. All patterns have exceptions.
An individual brings with him/her the hidden rules of class in which he/she was raised.
Schools and businesses operate from middle-class norms and use the hidden rules of middle class.
For our clients to be successful, we must understand their hidden rules and teach them the rules that will make them successful at school, at work, and in the community.
We can neither excuse persons form poverty nor scold them for not knowing; as professionals we must teach them and provide support, insistence, and expectations.
In order to move from poverty to middle class or middle class to wealth, and individual must give up relationships for achievement (at least for some period of time).
We cannot blame the victims of poverty for being in poverty.
We cannot continue to support stereotypes and prejudices about the poor.
In summary, if they ever bring her back, for goodness sake…..GO! It was worth it.
Doris
To that end, we (meaning the class and Jodi herself) created what she called a “mental model” of poverty, which centered on the forces that drive people who are in poverty. The driving forces are centered around relationship and survival, rather than the equivalent middleclass worldview which is ruled by work and achievement. Using many great anecdotes about her own and other people’s experiences, Jodi was able to helpus understand what this entailed.
For example, how many times have you had a patron ask you for a particular librarian and be unwilling to “settle” for whoever was on duty? If your relationship is with a particular librarian (however tentative), why would you settle for someone you had no relationship with? Many of those in generational poverty are unwilling to deal with those with whom they have no relationship, since it rarely profits them to do so, and can be both painful and unrewarding to even try. So, building a relationship is paramount in any ongoing contact. For example, if “Pete” is told that he owes fines and that he will be unable to check out, it may not faze him in the least. However, if you know that “Pete” has a little brother who uses his card to help him do his homework, and you relate the loss of the card’s privileges to the inability of the little brother to use the library, you may get a totally different response! This is the beginning of understanding how relationship governs the lives of those in generational poverty.
Authority figures are not viewed in the same way as the middle class would, either. Just because “we” say something, doesn’t make it relevant in the life of someone who may not have the resources that are available to most of us. If, for example, you are asking a woman to pay a fine in order to be able to check out, and she is looking at the last $4 in her wallet, it is unlikely that she would choose to pay a library fine over getting food for her family. In fact, I know of no-one who would reasonably ask anyone to make such a choice. However, lesser choices are also clearly weighted toward the family and the survival of that family, through whatever means necessary. As noted before, if a relationship is in conflict with the needs of an institution (say, the library), guess who’s going to “win”?
Generational poverty is also matriarchal in nature, as the male contingent is often not in a position to take the kind of daily responsibility that the middle class assumes would be “normal. In my handouts, I have a diagram of a “family” which gives you a fair idea of how convoluted some family relationships can become in this type of poverty. In fact, I’m not even sure I would be able to do it justice in narrative form at this point. If anyone who took the workshop would like to respond to this posting with both diagram and explication, please do .
So many of the points Jodi covered over the 2 days relate to communication and how it differs both among peers and between classes, that I will simply give one example here. Jodi posited a situation in which both a middle class person and a person from generational poverty were giving a description of a crime witnessed by both parties. In the case of the middle class witness, the description of what they saw was linear, formal and had a clear plot line. In the second decription, it was casual, with no clear cut beginning or end, not chronological tolerant of what the middle class would call interruptions. I won’t even try to duplicate it here, let’s just say “you had to be there”.
Even as we laughed, we were learning.
I will end this ramble with a question that was asked at the beginning of this workshop by Jodi, talking about her clients:
“If you did everything your caseworker told you to do, got a job and kept it for a year, never missing a day of work, how much closer (if at all) would you be to being out of poverty at the end of that year than you were at the beginning?”
The answer (according to Jodi) is you would not be any closer. One of my favorite handouts in the three ring binder (which will be in the FYI basket on the 4th floor staff area) is germain to the question and the answer. It is called Key Points and covers some of the more salient points covered during this workshop:
Poverty is relative.
Poverty occurs in all races and in all countries.
This workshop focuses on economic diversity, not racial or cultural diversity.
Economic class is a continuous line, not a clear-cut distinction.
Generational poverty and situational poverty are different.
This work is based on patterns. All patterns have exceptions.
An individual brings with him/her the hidden rules of class in which he/she was raised.
Schools and businesses operate from middle-class norms and use the hidden rules of middle class.
For our clients to be successful, we must understand their hidden rules and teach them the rules that will make them successful at school, at work, and in the community.
We can neither excuse persons form poverty nor scold them for not knowing; as professionals we must teach them and provide support, insistence, and expectations.
In order to move from poverty to middle class or middle class to wealth, and individual must give up relationships for achievement (at least for some period of time).
We cannot blame the victims of poverty for being in poverty.
We cannot continue to support stereotypes and prejudices about the poor.
In summary, if they ever bring her back, for goodness sake…..GO! It was worth it.
Doris
Sunday, December 03, 2006
125th CELEBRATION
As we all know, the Friends are working on the 125th celebration next year. One idea is to make lists e.g. 125 reasons to go to the library....125 librarians and their favorite books.....125 Minnesota celebrities and their favorite books etc. Barb M.'s idea is 125 unusual reference questions. Anyone with ideas for the "125 list project" or anyone wishing to work on the project should contact Barb S.
IF YOU ANIMATE IT
Teen Read Week. Those three daunting words. If you’ve ever lived with a teen, worked with a teen, or even just walked past a teen, you know that there can be a tendency toward introversion and surliness. Am I exaggerating? Yes. And no.
So when you ask a group of bookish librarians to plan a Teen Read Week event, is there a risk that their introversion and tendency toward surliness will clash with that of their intended audience and result in a less-than-explosive program? Maybe.
But not this year.
This year, we assembled the A-Team of Teen Read Week committees: Hannibal (Barb S.), B.A. (Andrea), Face (Kim F.) and Murdock (me). Together we managed to produce a knock-your-socks-off event using only a bucket, a few pieces of wire and an allen wrench. Okay, not really, but we did have a limited budget and only a short period of time in which to plan our program.
So how did we get 45 teens to come to the Central library on a beautiful Saturday afternoon, you might ask. Well, I’ll tell you. Anime. Yes, that’s right. And pocky.
It turns out pocky is a huge draw. Who knew?
For those of you who are not in the know (that category included me a few weeks ago), pocky is a Japanese treat. It’s like sticks of cookie dipped in frosting. Chocolate, strawberry, green tea (yes, green tea—it tastes a little like banana)…they were all a big hit. Pocky turned out to be the perfect accompaniment to Andrea’s DJ-style mix of Japanese pop and anime music, Carl’s anime caricatures (dare we say—AniME), and the judging of our poster contest.
Teens throughout the city were invited to submit entries to our READ poster contest. We received eight incredible drawings of anime and/or manga characters reading books. The winning drawings (we had two winners!) are being made into READ posters which will be on display here at Central, and the design of our runner-up will be made into bookmarks.
Shortly after the pizza arrived (that’s right, more food), we showed Fullmetal Alchemist: The Movie and generally made a huge mess of the carpet with ground-in popcorn and candy. Carl continued to draw throughout the movie, even though it was dark, and Andrea and I tallied the votes for the poster contest.
After a small ceremony announcing our contest winners and handing out fabulous prizes, our visiting teens headed home, bellies full and caricatures in hand, but not before asking, “When will you do this again?”
The Teen Read Week Committee would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to everyone who helped us in this endeavor, especially Carl, Karen S., Phyllis, Debbie, Joanna, Keiko, John L., Therese, Hans, Paul, Kathy C. and Marcus. We couldn’t have done it without you!
--Laura
Thursday, November 30, 2006
Katherine Lanpher
I went to see Katherine Lanpher do a music-accompanied reading from hernew book "Leap Days: Chronicles of a Midlife Move" at the Fitzgerald Theater. As you may know, she was a columnist for the Pioneer Press, then the host of Midmorning on MPR and then left MN to work with Al Franken on his radio show in NY.
The book is about her decision to move from St. Paul, her long-time,beloved home town, to NY, where she know nobody but a few of the people she was going to be working with, and her growth and adjustment in her new life. She was very entertaining, and the book sounds like it'll probably be good.
Katherine Lanpher is pretty popular here. I tuned into her being interviewed by Gary Eichten on Midday while she was in town for thereading, and the audience's response to her was amazing.
We currently have 35 holds on 10 copies of the book.
Melissa.
The book is about her decision to move from St. Paul, her long-time,beloved home town, to NY, where she know nobody but a few of the people she was going to be working with, and her growth and adjustment in her new life. She was very entertaining, and the book sounds like it'll probably be good.
Katherine Lanpher is pretty popular here. I tuned into her being interviewed by Gary Eichten on Midday while she was in town for thereading, and the audience's response to her was amazing.
We currently have 35 holds on 10 copies of the book.
Melissa.
Craft Weblinks
Hey all,
There's now a Craft Weblinks group full of fabulous, crafty stuff. Take a look and enjoy. Hopefully the patrons will as well. :)
Melissa.
There's now a Craft Weblinks group full of fabulous, crafty stuff. Take a look and enjoy. Hopefully the patrons will as well. :)
Melissa.
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
New Web Site
Ever helped a patron with a tough crossword puzzle clue and wished that there was a web page that would assist you? Well, now there is! Let your crossword-loving patrons know about OneAcross.
Web site submitted by Terry
Web site submitted by Terry
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
Rondo's Electronic Classroom
Check out these exciting classes available for the public at Rondo's Electronic Classroom!
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
Web 2.0 Powerpoint
Here is the Powerpoint for my presentation on Library 2.0 for teens. It can be adapted for parents, seniors, or staff. If anyone is interested in such a presentation, please let me know.
Andrea
Andrea
Thursday, October 19, 2006
CLASS REPORT
THE IN’S AND OUT’S OF OPEN WORLDCAT AND WORLDCAT.ORG
Open Worldcat and Worldcat.org were created by OCLC to help prospective patrons who are used to popular Internet search engines, but intimidated by library catalogs and databases, find library materials. Librarians will still want the sophisticated search options of the Worldcat database, but since patrons may find our materials this way, we should know about it.
Open Worldcat integrates OCLC records into commonly used search engines such as Yahoo! and Google. Searching for “Guns, Germs and Steel” will bring the user to a “Find in a library” search result, although they have to page down to the third page of results. If the user adds “+worldcat” or “find in a library” to a search, it will come up first. This leads to a record which asks for a zip code to find the closest libraries. Clicking on “
Thing to consider include the fact that not all libraries are OCLC members, that the zip code search may bring up college libraries that the patron cannot borrow from before public libraries, and that only one zip code is assigned to each library. St. Paul Public is assigned the zip code of the
Monday, October 16, 2006
Adult Programs at Central
Saturday, November 4th, Central will have TWO exciting adult programs. At 1:00 pm Minnesota Historical Society will present a program of two films exploring the lives and legacy of Minnesota's Greatest Generation. MHS staff members will be on hand to discuss ways to document your own family's heritage. This is one of a series of programs held throughout metro libraries and is sponsored by MELSA.
At 2:00 pm the Friends are hosting a poetry reading by the Laurel Poetry Collective. It will be held in the Fitzgerald Alcove.
Another Friends program scheduled for the Fitzgerald Alcove is a free noontime concert by the Rose Ensemble on Wed. Nov. 1.
At 2:00 pm the Friends are hosting a poetry reading by the Laurel Poetry Collective. It will be held in the Fitzgerald Alcove.
Another Friends program scheduled for the Fitzgerald Alcove is a free noontime concert by the Rose Ensemble on Wed. Nov. 1.
New Collectibles Database Trials
Check out two new database trials for collectibles. Mark has put the links and passwords on the Intranet. Try them out as you help patrons in the Mississippi Room or elsewhere, and send me any comments.
Andrea
Andrea
Thursday, October 05, 2006
Engaging Youth on their Own Terms: Instant Messaging and Gaming in Libraries
This webinar, presented by the author of the famous Librarian in Black blog, is taking place on Tuesday, Oct. 10 from 10-11.
Andrea
Andrea
Wednesday, October 04, 2006
Book Club Update
Central's Book Club has begun and members chose books for the November and December meetings. On November 6th, the group will discuss One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. December 4th's book is Team of Rivals; the Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin. Have you read these books? Are you interested in moderating? Let me know.
Barb S.
Barb S.
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
Teen Events at Central
Did you know that Teen Read Week is October 15-21? Here at Central, we will be celebrating with activities and events throughout the month (and beyond!).
Beginning October first, teens can submit a drawing of their favorite anime or manga character reading a book for our first ever READ Poster Contest. The winning drawing will be featured on a READ poster to be displayed in the Skinner Room.
Our brand new series of Teen Creative Writing Workshops begins on Wednesday, October 11 and continues throughout the school year on the second Wednesday of every month from 3:30-5pm. This month's theme will be Getting Started-- writing prompts and journaling ideas.
On Saturday, October 21, teens are invited to join us for the first ever Anime/Manga Festival at Central. At this festival, teens can get a caricature of themselves as an anime character, watch a film, have popcorn and pizza, and vote on their favorite entry in the READ poster contest. Watch for more details coming soon!
Laura
Beginning October first, teens can submit a drawing of their favorite anime or manga character reading a book for our first ever READ Poster Contest. The winning drawing will be featured on a READ poster to be displayed in the Skinner Room.
Our brand new series of Teen Creative Writing Workshops begins on Wednesday, October 11 and continues throughout the school year on the second Wednesday of every month from 3:30-5pm. This month's theme will be Getting Started-- writing prompts and journaling ideas.
On Saturday, October 21, teens are invited to join us for the first ever Anime/Manga Festival at Central. At this festival, teens can get a caricature of themselves as an anime character, watch a film, have popcorn and pizza, and vote on their favorite entry in the READ poster contest. Watch for more details coming soon!
Laura
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
Book Chat
Do you have a great idea for a book chat at Zelda's? Terry is doing his "Beyond Bizarre" program appropriately on Halloween. In November Shelly and I will do book chats on great gift books for children and adults. Email me with ideas for future book chats you would like to present!
Barbara Sippel
Barbara Sippel
Book Club
Central is starting a book club! The first meeting is Monday, Oct. 2nd. The club will meet the first Monday of each month from 6:30-7:30 PM in the Meeting Room. I will moderate the first meeting with a discussion of The Painted Drum by Louise Erdrich. Book club members and staff interested in moderating will be choosing the titles for discussion. Anyone interested in moderating future book club meetings should contact me.
Barbara Sippel
Barbara Sippel
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