The End of Spotlight

The time has come to get of Spotlight. There are more closely followed rules around holds and seriously Spotlight has had a very, very long run. I have come up with a new theme that I hope will be very enticing for patrons who read mysteries for fun. It is called Cozy Mysteries as it literally is that genre of book. Since I am huge fan of cozies, I compliled a long list of authors names. This should be fun. Some of the covers will be less than stellar. But almost all books are part of a series. I think I will do straight mysteries after cozys and than maybe romance after that. A good dose of self-help book will be my third endeavor. I haven't planned beyond that. It truly is an excited time at the library as our numbers are growing and foot traffic is really brisk. Are you interested in cozy mysteries?

Grand Reopening

This past Tuesday was our first day opening at Kennebecasis. What a jovial spirit I felt on entering. , There were patrons tucked around each corner reading or studing or on the public computers. Everything looked colourful and alive. All that water brought us a bright new library. We are all overjoyed to see the patrons loving the space again. Big sigh of happiness.

Too Much Water

Oh no. We had a burst pipe in the wall which resulted in a flood in our beautiful library. There was way too much water flowing out all night (or weekend) which resulted in mega damage. It is so bad that the carpet is going to be replaced and our adult books are in boxes. Thanks to the staff from central who are overseeing this process. Fortunately, most the books were higher up and can be saved. Some the Dvd's were not so lucky. We needed another good weed, so in a way, there is a small silver lining. What have we learned from all this upheavel? We are lucky that our workroom with several items close to the floor has been spared. Also the staff we are working with in other branches have been awesome in sharing their dry and warm libraries with the staff. Our patrons who had just got to the end of curb side pickup due to COVID restrictions are doing some suffering with us. Each of is hopeful that the situation will change by spring. Crystal ball: we all want to know 1/when we will back to our library, and better yet 2/when the COVID cases are far and few between. Until then, mask up and carry on.

Global Cooling?

I had a patron who told me that scientists recently think that they earth is cooling because of the ozone in the air.  I am starting to experience it as I have had to turn the heat pump setting to warming today.  In August.

I spend a bit of time thinking of what will happen to the world if the oceans do rise. The weather is so weird all over the globe, it does cause a person to wonder what is going on.  I think back to the winters in the 1960's and they seem horrendous.  So that is one point for warming.  Also the storms are getting worse all the time.  The jet stream zips up and down the latitudes daily.

Maybe we are in a state of flux, unsettled and vulnerable to the whim of sunlight and warmer waters.  We all explained it with the Nino couple causing this - El and his partner La.  But this year they are no longer around.  Hmm.

Stay strong World.  More to come in the next few years.

Spotlight still going strong

Now listen. peeps.  Many good ideas come and go and  have their day, but if you work in a library, you seriously have t think about a Spotlight section near the checkout desk.

It has been ages since I wrote in this blog, and honestly I forgot all about it.  Naughty me!

The Spotlight area (4-9 copies of the same book is an idea that is still going strong and in fact I just finished ordering a lot of sets from other libraries in New Brunswick.  I believe I have been doing this for five years.  So much has happened in five years.  We have gotten a lot busier, and a lot of nights I come home exhausted but happy because I love working in a library.  Hope you do too!

Indigo - an inspiration

Indigo stores in Canada are a marketing wizard.  You can see how they make attractive to buy, and they are expert at grouping like products.  Where they differ from libraries are the amount of non-book items.   I take inspiration from their displays.

Not only are they great at marketing, we get plenty of donated books purchased from Indigo and also at Costco.  I often go to Costco to see what is new and what we may be getting in the future.  So much fun! Costco has zero marketing techniques, literally piling them all up in one aisle on tables,  but those book covers often market themselves. 

Here is a tour of Indigo's children's department from 2014:

Next is a blogger showing us here Indigo haul from last week.  Notice how few books she got, but how much fun she had.

To be fair to Costco, I tried to find a video to upload that would show their book piles, but youtube actually doesn't have one.  Think book warehouse in your mind, and you have seen it.

Not much of a summer

We are having a kind of a non-summer her in the Maritime provinces, and ironically, that is keeptng us busier than normal at the library.  Why is that, you ask?   Well, it is pretty difficult for kids to play outside in the rain, and adults can't garden in the rain either.  Even the hardiest soul has more time to read or at least browse a magazine.  Our library is very modern, and there are plenty of places to sit and read and many do.

Now on a sunny day we have fewer patrons coming in and per capita, they take fewer books as they are busy gardening, mowing the lawn, and going to family get-togethers. 

One item that moves is the Beach Reads.   Mind you, this is for the female side of the population, but as they make up the majority of our patrons, beach reads must be big business for publishers.