I received a gift for the holidays, a Merriam-Webster 365 New Words-a-Year Calendar. Now, I know it's not 2008 yet, so I must admit that I look ahead -- plus the word I'm about to share with you was advertised on the box.
Our word for the new year is "cybrarian." It is a noun meaning, "a person whose job it is to find, collect, and manage information that is available on the World Wide Web."
It is the word for the day January 21, 2008. We'll have to start using it in conversation. "When I need information at two in the morning, I will have to log onto my computer to chat with a cybrarian." Since I'm going back to school, that's a sentence I may actually use.
I'll let you know if I come across other fun words to add to our vocabularies.
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Generosity of Spirit
I work in a wonderful community, or maybe it's the time of year. Whatever the reason, I am thankful that when I reach out to the people of Manitowoc County at this time each year, they respond!
Manitowoc Public Library collects new, unwrapped children's books each December. Hundreds are received and we, in turn, deliver them to the Salvation Army for their annual gift distribution to underprivileged children, so one one has to go without a new book at the holidays. Books that arrive too late for the SA party are taken to the Domestic Violence Center. Those children endure so much hardship -- especially during the holiday season -- that it's especially nice to give them the opportunity to get lost between the covers of a book!
I also ask people to make a gift to the Friends of Manitowoc Public Library during this festive season. Years ago our appeal took the form of a Cookie Walk. While a wonderful idea, there aren't too many folks who have the time they'd like to bake for the holidays. (Last night, for instance, was baking for the Foreign Language Week festivities [I found out about it at noon]. I'm sure the bars tasted good, but they certainly weren't "Cookie Walk-Pretty." Why do teachers think the high school students actually prepare the food?) Anyway, back to our fund drive. We simply ask our members to save themselves the shopping and baking and plating and shlepping, and send us a check for what they would have spent. And they do. Now, we don't raise enough to replace our book budget, but we certainly raise enough to present a program or two throughout the year that would not otherwise be possible. I'm so happy to send the thank you notes, but what really is fun is introducing those programs, and telling everyone that they're possible because of the community's generosity.
We think of the Library as a community resource. It's nice to pause for a moment or two and remember what a resource we have in the people of our community.
Manitowoc Public Library collects new, unwrapped children's books each December. Hundreds are received and we, in turn, deliver them to the Salvation Army for their annual gift distribution to underprivileged children, so one one has to go without a new book at the holidays. Books that arrive too late for the SA party are taken to the Domestic Violence Center. Those children endure so much hardship -- especially during the holiday season -- that it's especially nice to give them the opportunity to get lost between the covers of a book!
I also ask people to make a gift to the Friends of Manitowoc Public Library during this festive season. Years ago our appeal took the form of a Cookie Walk. While a wonderful idea, there aren't too many folks who have the time they'd like to bake for the holidays. (Last night, for instance, was baking for the Foreign Language Week festivities [I found out about it at noon]. I'm sure the bars tasted good, but they certainly weren't "Cookie Walk-Pretty." Why do teachers think the high school students actually prepare the food?) Anyway, back to our fund drive. We simply ask our members to save themselves the shopping and baking and plating and shlepping, and send us a check for what they would have spent. And they do. Now, we don't raise enough to replace our book budget, but we certainly raise enough to present a program or two throughout the year that would not otherwise be possible. I'm so happy to send the thank you notes, but what really is fun is introducing those programs, and telling everyone that they're possible because of the community's generosity.
We think of the Library as a community resource. It's nice to pause for a moment or two and remember what a resource we have in the people of our community.
Monday, December 3, 2007
Great Reading
I have been very fortunate. I have read some terrific books lately. I raved about A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini, recommending it to everyone as the best book I've read in months. Then I picked up The Hindi-Bindi Club by Monica Pradhan. Wow! Another new author with another must read novel. I learned a great deal about different cultures overseas and here at home in both of these books (as I did in Hosseini's first novel, The Kite Runner). While I don't anticipate passing up new books by some of my favorite authors, after reading these works by Hosseini and Pradhan, I will certainly look for more titles by new writers -- and will certainly add these two to my favorite authors list.
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