Mystery in the Library - A "How To"

The American Library Association announced a new book from ALAPress, “Hosting a Library Mystery: A Programming Guide” by Elizabeth M. Karle. The guide includes five sample mystery scripts for librarians to acquaint different audiences with library services, library personnel, special collections and research skills. Sample scripts:

• Orientation Tour: Stolen Paintings Mystery
• Discipline-Specific: Psychology/Salem Witch Trials Mystery
• Character-Driven: Unfriendly Friends Mystery
• Deduction: Merlin’s Minions Mystery
• Tween Patron: Treasure Island Mystery

The book also provides:

• Instructions for program planning, from how to write clues to organizing the investigation
• Hints for adapting scripts to fit any library’s needs
• Examples and extras to construct an entertaining event in which all patrons can engage in active learning

Elizabeth M. Karle is the collection management supervisor for the Cushwa-Leighton Library at Saint Mary’s College in Notre Dame, Ind. She received a B.A. in business administration and finance from the University of Notre Dame, a paralegal certificate from Roosevelt University and an M.A. in library and information science from Dominican University.

Hi, My Name is Melville Dewey -- a Rap Music Video

Here's a way to drill the Dewey Decimal system into the brains of one and all. This rap music video goes on and on and on. This would be a great live performance by a teen team at the start of each year or for a talent show. Crazy!

Hi, my name is Melville Dewey.
Nice ta meet ya. How you doin?

If you need info, you know where to go.
Go to the Li-brar-y.

The Dewey Decimal Rap is one of Scooter Hayes' Scooter Stories. Scooter Hayes is a Story YELLER.

Nancy Goes to the Library

What great "product placement" for public libraries. The long-time "Nancy" comic strip featured a promotion for libraries on April 19, 2009. She follows signs that read: Free CDs/DVDs. Free Internet. Listen to Free Music. Watch Free movies. The signs lead her to the public library. Not a bad idea for drawing in the public.

Nancy is a free online comic strip at comics.com.

ANIMOTO for a CAUSE

ANIMOTO has announced it will provide its fancy, professional (fee-based) version to non-profits that have a special CAUSE to promote. Now organizations can use Animoto to promote their cause online by posting and sharing videos on websites, YouTube and social networks. Animoto for a Cause launches today with more than 20 partners including American Cancer Society, Save Darfur, Susan G. Komen Foundation, and Teach for America. Applications are being accepted. I've alerted my friends at CSLA, the local YMCA, and you!

Animoto is an outstanding, fun, and easy-to use tool for promoting libraries, literacy, and lots more! Check it out!

Early Childhood Reading Grants - Target

Target offers Early Childhood Reading Grants between $1,000 - $3,000. Target will accept grant applications online between March 1 and May 31, 2009, for programs taking place between October 1, 2009, and September 30, 2010. You will receive notification about your request by September 30, 2009. Reading grants are awarded to schools, libraries and nonprofit organizations, supporting programs such as weekend book clubs and after-school reading programs that foster a love of reading and encourage children, from birth through age 9, to read together with their families. For more information, see Target's frequently asked questions (FAQs).

Gates Foundation & OCLC Grant for Public Libraries

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation announced April 14, 2009 a $5-million grant to the OCLC library cooperative to develop a campaign that will help public library leaders heighten awareness of the needs of local libraries and increase support for the services they provide during challenging times. The campaign will launch in select areas of Georgia and Iowa. This spring, OCLC will solicit proposals from libraries that wish to participate in the early pilot campaign and will award a limited number of small grants to support the campaign in select communities.

2009 Librareo contest - video contest by Gales

Gales has announced a new Librareo video contest. Grand Prize is $5,000. See details on or after April 12, 2009 -- National Library Week. The contest was started in 2007.

Three Cups of Tea -- Pennies for Peace

Each day on the treadmill or incline machine at the YMCA, I've been reading "Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace One School at a Tme" by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin. It is "must" reading. It is hard to put down, but I limit my "Y" books to exercise time as an incentive for working out each day.

Thanks to the book about Greg Mortenson's amazing commitment to building schools for girls in remote mountain communities, now schools and school librarians are raising money for rural schools in Afghanistan and Pakistan through penny campaigns. One example is in Massachusetts, where High School Librarians Joanne Freeley and Debbie Jordan at Walpole High School Library began a Pennies for Peace fundraiser after sponsoring the summer reading book, Three Cups of Tea. Kudos to Walpole H.S. Librarians and students! Their goal is to raise $1,200 for the Central Asia Institute, a non-profit that builds the schools. It is important to note that the Central Asia Institute Board Chair Julia Bergman is Library System Administrator for City College of San Francisco.

Hope lots more librarians pick up on raising funds for more schools, possibly connecting it to student book clubs in addition to summer reading programs. It would be a good way to shine a light on the importance of books and libraries here and abroad.

WOW - Words on Wheels

Words on Wheels (WOW) is a program by New Zealand Book Council that brings a group of top authors by bus to remote libraries, schools, and community centers. Each year, the bus goes out for a week tour to a different rural area of New Zealand. No photos on the website, but Flickr has a nice collection in the collection of Christ Church City Libraries. Here are the five 2009 authors: Vanda Symon, Janet Charman, David Geary, and Anna Mackenzie. Missing from photo is Steve Braunius.

Read Me A Story Before I go to Bed - Acrostic Poem

Look at those sleepy eyes.
Instill a love for reading
Before the lights go out each night.
Remember when you were little and said "read me a story before I go to bed"
And "read one more, please!"
Read to your baby.
Yawn. Day is done.

Acrostic poems have a secret word that runs down one side...
Do you see it? What poem would you make with a word like "BOOKWORM" or "FICTION" or "STORYTIME". Writing poetry is fun, especially when it is for yourself, friends, or family and not something to be graded. After all these years, I'm re-discovering it.

Library Limerick

We went to the library for a look.
And came out with more than one book.
We were ready to go,
But don't you know...
Visiting that place once is all it took.

Need to work more on a Limerick = Line 1, 2, 5 rhyme. Line 3-4 rhyme.

Haiku Poems - reading theme

HAIKU - poems have lines containing 5, 7, then 5 syllables.
Library staff and friends could be invited to create poems in honor of books and reading.

Here is an example, written earlier today. Life is good:

Morning sun on deck,
springtime breezes gently stir
pages of my book.

Librarian Job Description - Unshelved

Some comics are priceless. Today's comic is a "job description" for librarians that will most likely soon appear as a poster, t-shirt, and blog posts like this one! Thank you, clever comics Bill Barnes and Gene Ambaum of Unshelved.

PARENT: "You exposed my son to dangerous ideas!"
DEWEY the LIBRARIAN: "That's pretty much my job description."

Check out the series, but first get grounded on the daily comic strip characters. See also the store for fun t-shirts with sayings like "WILL WORK FOR BOOKS."