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Director's Note
The Library will be closed tomorrow for Thanksgiving. Thinking ahead, we will also be observing special hours on Christmas Eve: 9am to 1:30pm instead of the usual. We will be closed on Christmas and New Years Days.
In other news, we have shuffled mysteries back in with fiction. I separated the genres a few years ago so that patrons could come in and easily find mysteries, but there has been a big shift in publishing recently in which most popular mystery authors are trying to make their books as mainstream as possible. Writers who used to stay solidly within the genre have been shifting more toward thrillers rather than
whodunits
. The lines are becoming blurred, and integrating the collections makes more sense than shelving the same author in two different places... Except Nora Roberts's science fiction. It stays in science fiction.
I have also been ninja-editing the website over the last month, so you may notice some differences. The big header images are gone, so pages should load faster. Every page and service is nested in the menu. The front page has an agenda-style calendar. Policies, procedures, and other language across the site has been updated, and the blog is gone as everything posted there ended up in a newsletter or on facebook anyway.
Safe Holidays, everyone! If you need a safe haven from the hustle and bustle of the season, remember we are here for you. Except on December 10. We're going to be really noisy that day.
Keep Reading,
Justin Snook
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Ukulele Time with Julie Stepanek
Want to try an instrument that is fun and easy to play? Join us on December 10 at 4pm as Julie Stepanek shows you the fundamentals of ukulele playing. You'll learn how to strum, tune, and read chords. After a short lesson, you'll be able to play some songs. No experience necessary. Bring your own uke or borrow one of hers.
Space is limited to 24 so registration is required. Call the library at 508-476-2695 or visit us to register at the circulation desk!
This program is for young kids only (ages 5-12).
We are doing another program for teens and adults on February 20 at 6:30, and registration is open for that session as well.
This program is sponsored by the Friends of the Library. Thanks, Friends!
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Price Chopper Community Grant
Price Chopper awarded the Library a $200 gift card to be used at Market 32 to buy snacks for programs. If the cookies seem fancier than usually, this is why.
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Library Under the Hood: CWMARS
CWMARS is an acronym for Central and Western Massachusetts Resource Sharing. Massachusetts has nine library consortia, and we are the biggest with 149 libraries, over 1 million patrons, and 8.1 million items in our shared catalog. It is a member-driven consortium. While we have a central administrative office based in Worcester, all policy and budgetary decisions have to be voted on and approved at Users Councils, which happen 4 times a year. Every library gets to send a voting member or designate another library director to vote for them by proxy.
CWMARS is a great deal for us. We get our library catalog, technical support, internet, and easy access to the entire system's resources for an extremely reasonable price. Our membership assessment for FY21 is $8,105, which is comparable to what some libraries in the U.S. have to pay annually for just their catalog alone! Here is how it is calculated:
- Douglas has a small enough population that we benefit from a discounted base membership fee ($1,800 vs. $8,000).
- $3,369 is added to our membership based on the volume of our circulation.
- $3,188 is added based on the number of items in our collection.
- $3,080 is added as our contribution toward collective digital material in Overdrive.
- This makes our uncapped assessment $11,437. Increases from year to year are capped at 2.5%, though, so our capped subtotal is $9,538.
- Since we use CWMARS as our internet provider and network manager, an additional $1,067 line cost is added.
- We benefit from SLIN (Small Libraries In Networks) grants administered by the MBLC to encourage small libraries to join consortia. This saves us $2,500.
- The final tally is $8,105.
Clear as mud?
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Calendar:
Monday, December 2
-2:30pm: Teen Movie Afternoon
Tuesday, December 3
-1:00pm: Music and Movement - All My Colors
-3:30pm: Young Readers Club - Grades K - 2
-6:00pm: Knitting in the Loft
Wednesday, December 4
-3:30pm: Lego Club I
Thursday, December 5
-5:45pm: Reading to Hiro
-6:30pm: Greatest Book Club Ever
-7:00pm: Yoga at the Library with Marise Nazzaro
Monday, December 9
-2:30pm: Teen Movie Afternoon
Tuesday, December 10
-4:00pm: Ukulele and Craft with Julie (K-6)
-6:00pm: Knitting in the Loft
-6:30pm: Intrepid Readers
Thursday, December 12
-6:00pm: Book Wizards
-7:00pm: Yoga at the Library with Marise Nazzaro
Monday, December 16
-2:30pm: Teen Movie Afternoon
Tuesday, December 17
-1:00pm: Music and Movement - Jingle Bell Jump
-6:00pm: Knitting in the Loft
Thursday, December 19
-5:45pm: Reading to Hiro
-7:00pm: Yoga at the Library with Marise Nazzaro
Monday, December 23
-2:30pm: Teen Craft and Planning Meeting
Tuesday, December 24
-Library Open from 9 to 1:30
Wednesday, December 25
-Library Closed
Thursday, December 26
-7:00pm: Yoga at the Library with Marise Nazzaro
Tuesday, December 31
-6:00pm: Knitting in the Loft
Wednesday, January 1
-Library Closed
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Brought to you by the Friends of the Simon Fairfield Public Library.
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