Drake Public Library

Seeking Excellence

LIbrary Services

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Federal Funding Allows Bridges Offerings to Expand

A few months ago there was a discussion on the Library Talk conversation board about the need for more materials on personal issues on Bridges, with the hope that these might be always available for patrons in need. Well, the Bridges team listened and approached State Librarian Michael Scott with a proposal to allocate a portion of the State Library’s federal funding to make it happen. Michael accepted the proposal, and a small collection of simultaneous use eBooks and audiobooks covering several topics including mental health, addiction, abuse, and more has recently been added to Bridges. While there aren’t many titles available with the simultaneous use license, it’s a starting point that could be expanded upon in the future.

The funds have also been used to enhance the collection of graphic novels and comics. Marvel has recently partnered with OverDrive to offer 600 titles to public libraries worldwide, and the funding has made it possible to add all the Marvel titles as well as others from DC, Dark Horse & Archie. It’s exciting for us to see  this part of the Bridges collection expand!

In addition, the supplementary money has also gone to some new titles on librarianship for the library staff.  Finally, we’re excited to announce that the magazine pilot will be extended to a second year AND the State Library of Iowa has funneled a little extra money into holds list reduction and license renewals. This is wonderful for those of you who have been able to enjoy the magazine listings through Bridges!

All this would not have been possible without the State Library of Iowa’s allocation from the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services. It is a great reminder of the impact of this funding- not only on the State Library- but on Iowans who love accessing eBooks and audiobooks from their local library. Remember, if you need assistance with Bridges/Overdrive, give us a call and set a time to sit down with a librarian and your device to get started. 

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Drake Public Library Receives State Accreditation from State Library of Iowa

The State Library of Iowa has announced that Drake Public Library has met the conditions for state accreditation as outlined in “In Service to Iowa: Public Library Standards Sixth Edition.”

Achieving accreditation requires a significant, ongoing local commitment to high quality library services. Drake Public Library has been recognized for its efforts in all areas of library operations including governance and funding, staffing, library collection, services, public relations, access, and facilities. The accreditation is valid through June 30, 2022.

“The director, JeNel Allen Barth, the board of trustees of Drake Public Library and the city of Centerville are to be commended for this achievement and their commitment to excellence in public library services for their community,” said State Librarian Michael Scott.

Of Iowa’s 543 public libraries, 377 – including Drake Public Library– are accredited. Iowa’s accredited public libraries are recognized for being responsive to their communities and for exhibiting excellence in their provision of library services. More than two-thirds of all Iowans have active public library cards. Iowa libraries play key roles in workforce and economic development, lifelong learning and e-government activities. Iowans use their libraries to find jobs, do homework, locate a good book to read, research medical conditions, access government information, and more.

Accredited libraries receive a higher rate of compensation through the State Library’s Enrich Iowa program. They also receive a Certificate of Accreditation signed by Governor Kim Reynolds, Lieutenant Governor Adam Gregg, State Librarian Michael Scott, and Iowa Commission of Libraries Chairperson Sarah Latcham.

For more information on the State Library’s accreditation program, and to view the Public Library Standards, go to www.statelibraryofiowa.org/ld/a-b/accr-and-standards.

About Drake Public Library

“The Drake Public Library strives to be a welcoming center for lifelong learning. We celebrate the freedom to read, discover and converse in a comfortable, inviting environment. We are proud to be your library!”  drakepubliclibrary.org

About the State Library of Iowa

The State Library of Iowa actively champions libraries. Our two roles are improving library services in Iowa and delivering specialized information services to state government and to Iowans. www.StateLibraryofIowa.org

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Drake Public Library Temporary Location

Drake Public Library is about to undergo a tremendous renovation. It is an exciting plan that directly relates to our mission of being a welcoming center for lifelong learning for our community.

During this renovation, the library will be relocating to a temporary location. That location is at 1101 North 18th Street, in the mall, next door to Cinema 4 Movie Theater.  We will be at this location for the duration of the renovation, which is slated to be complete by July 2018.

Our temporary home will house the vast majority of our book collection, DVDs, audio books, magazines, newspapers and some of our public computers. We request that you call or email the library for an appointment if you need to do genealogy research, as those materials will be at another location. Our book drop will be located at this sight and Library Hours will remain the same: Monday through Friday, 10am until 6pm and Saturdays, 10am until 2pm.  The Little Listeners story time group will still be meeting with Kristin on Wednesdays at 10:30.  Other programming will be advertised throughout the year as we get settled into our temporary site.

We will be moving into our temporary location September 11 through September 16.  During that week, we will be closed to the public.  You will still be able to call us at 867-6676 for assistance or log into your account through the Follett Destiny link on our website drakepubliclibrary.org to renew your materials online.  Any late fees that accrue during the week that we are closed will be forgiven.

We plan on being open to the public, in the temporary location, on Monday, September 18. We know that it won’t be perfect but we want this to be a smooth transition for our patrons and we are focusing on making sure we can still provide the best customer service to our patrons as possible. We hope that you will stop in to see us!

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Be Awesome!

I was asked to speak on behalf of the library for the first day of school teacher assembly for the Centerville Community School District this morning.  I wasn’t nervous at all! (Ha!) It went pretty well so I thought I would share my speech to the teachers and staff with you.

“Good morning everyone!  I’m JeNel Allen Barth and I am now the Director at Drake Public Library after being Children’s Librarian for the past 7 years.

I don’t want to keep you long because I know that you have many things to do in preparation for the upcoming school year.  But I do want to be sure to share a few things with you.

First of all, I hope that you had a relaxing, restful summer because you deserve it!  The more time I spend working with teachers, the more I realize how hard this job is and I don’t need to remind you how important your job is….but I will, time and time again.

Over the summer vacations, evenings and weekends, the Drake Public Library is the library available to school children; and for babies through preschoolers, it is the only library available.  Our library is a unique and valuable resource and we strive to be a lifeline to our community.

Our staff has worked very hard to update and mark the books that fall under the Accelerated Reading Program.  If you’re struggling to find titles that will inspire success in this area, send your students our way!

Our new Children’s Librarian, Kristin Craver, is planning for our after school programming.  Mondays at 4pm the “Rising Readers” will meet for story time, round robin reading, book chats, intros to new books and homework help.  Thursdays from 4-5pm, “After School Adventures” in puzzles, games and special crafts will provide students with social time and an opportunity to get to know the library and other kids better.  And, of course we will continue with our story time for Babies through Preschoolers with “Little Listeners” on Wednesdays at 10:30am.

Kristin is available for hosting classroom field trips and would love to visit classrooms for special guest story times and chats with your students.  And, by the way, I am still available for visits too.  You know I love spending time with students and visiting classrooms.

Junior High and High School teachers, don’t forget that Drake Public Library offers computers and free wifi access for students working on homework and research projects.  We host a free, online research data base, EBSCO Host, that offers a broad range of full text and bibliographic databases designed specifically for academic research.  The sign in is simple and our staff is happy to show anyone around the site.  Oh, and printing for school work is free for students.

So, go help kids learn, smile and belong.  Ask hard and interesting questions.  Try new things!  We’ll continue to work at providing services to help you and to inspire a love of reading in your students.  It’s time for a great year of learning…so go be awesome!”

 

JeNel Allen Barth

Library Director

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Why Should You Listen to Audio Books?

I’ve been getting to know our “audio patrons” lately. I’ve never been an audio book listener so I decided to look at some of the reasons why someone might start listening to audio books.

Readers can access a lot more books when they check out audio books.  You can take them in your car, while you’re exercising or walking.  You can even listen to them while doing household chores and when you’re just lounging.  Think about all of that time!

Audio books are great for auditory learners.  You are hearing how to pronounce words before seeing them in print.  The reader’s voices help you comprehend the story more when the narrator changes his or her inflections for the characters and doesn’t just read, but acts!  Its really fun to compare the American readers/books to British readers.  (Think about the word harassment…)

Audio books are wonderful for readers with visual impairments.  Its  not easy for an avid reader to give it up due to eye strain or poor eyesight.  They are also quite accessible.  Bridges has a large collection of audio books available for download. Check with the staff here for directions on how to utilize Bridges for audio books. Drake Public Library also has a relatively large audio book collection that we are working on to keep current and interesting for our audio patrons. We have a shelf on the main floor and we also have several audio versions of children’s books in the children’s department.

Like a good print book, audio books can be comforts reads and favorites that you listen to over and over again.  So, what are  you waiting for?

By JeNel Allen Barth

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DVD’s at the Library?

Did you know that you can borrow movies and tv shows on DVD from the library?  We have a wide variety of choices that are rated PG and up on the main floor and G rated in the children’s department.  This month, I was able to add a couple of new titles for each collection.

For the kids, we have a Mo Willems favorite, “The Duckling Gets a Cookie!?”.  In this adorable story, based on Mo’s popular book, duckling does get a cookie but Pigeon isn’t very happy about it.  The beloved Pigeon returns for this hilarious adventure that will keep kids giggling…and minding their manners!

Something new that has come to our collection is “Sofia the First, The Secret Library”.  When Sofia discovers a wondrous hidden library of unfinished books, she learns it is her destiny as “Story Keeper” to make the tales come out right.  This sweet story proves that when you believe in yourself, you can create your own happy ending!

For the adults, we have a mesmerizing and funny performance from Sally Field.  “Hello, My Name is Doris” is the story of a woman who is just not ready to act her age.  This is a witty and compassionate late-life coming of age story that will make you cheer and want to say, “I’m possible!”

And finally, who doesn’t love the Coen Brothers?!  “Hail, Caesar!”  is an all-star comedy set during the latter years of Hollywood’s Golden Age.  (Including George Clooney, Channing Tatum, Scarlett Johansson, Frances McDormand and many more famous faces!)  It follows a single day in the life of a studio “fixer” who is presented with plenty of problems to fix.

If you are looking for something fun to watch while you beat the heat, take a look at our DVD collection and see if there is something there for you.  These DVD’s can be borrowed for up to 2 weeks and are another wonderful, free service that we offer here at your Drake Public Library.

Enjoy!

JeNel

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New titles available at Library

New Adult books at the Drake Public Library

My Kind of Wonderful                                   Jill Shalvis

Some Like it Scot                                              Suzanne Enoch

If you only knew                                              Kristan Higgans

Cold Hearted Rake                                          Lisa Kleypas

Bourbon Kings                                                   J. R. Ward

Secret Sisters                                                     Jayne Krentz

Japanese Lover                                                 Isabel Allende

Wyoming Rugged                                            Diana Palmer

Precious Gifts                                                    Danielle Steel

Career of Evil                                                     Robert Galbraith

Crimson Shore                                                  Douglas Preston

Improbability of Love                                     Hannah Rothschild

Ashley Bell                                                          Dean Koontz

 

 

Children’s books

Skink: No Surrender                                       Carl Hiassen

Waiting                                                                 Kevin Henkes

Love Monster and the last chocolate      Rachel Bright

Pete the Cat’s Groovy Guide to Love      Kimberly Dean

Here comes Valentine Cat                           Deborah Underwood

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2015– Oh what a year!

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December is coming to a close, now is the time to reflect on the past year at the Drake Public Library. Here are some highlights of our year.

Scholastic book fair in March had profits of $1,717.41. Library received many books with the Scholastic dollars that were raised.

Friends of Drake Public library held a penny drive with the hopes of collecting fifty pounds of pennies. They netted over two hundred pounds of pennies! That is no small feat!

The Summer Reading program was a success. Over 300 local kids registered and counted reading hours. Yard signs purchased by Friends of the Drake Library dotted the landscape all over town. The theme for the annual event was “Every Hero has a story”. The library hosted a Veteran’s Appreciation program. Participants also had a visit from the Science Center of Iowa, Blank Park Zoo, and took a field trip to the Appanoose County Historical museum. A finale program wrapped things up with an outdoor evening movie and a Make your own Minion treat bar.

Circulation of library materials from December 1, 2014 to December 1, 2015 totaled 89,359.

The Kiss a Goat contest raised $438.77 for the library. Contestants Pete Lind, Mark Waits, and Jan Spurgeon were edged out by write in candidate Greger Barth. He puckered up and kissed George the Goat on September 11, 2015.

 Friends also held a raffle and a Christmas boutique.

Two new book clubs were started by staff member Crys McKissick. Genre Shifters Book Club for adults and D3 for avid young readers.

As always the library offered free wireless internet, copy services, public access computers, e-books, faxing, DVD rental, audiobooks, large print rental,  test proctoring, meeting room availability and the book nook.

Thank you for all the Christmas candy plates, sugar cookies, chips, fudge, homemade bread and other goodies! The library staff is overwhelmed by our patrons’ generosity.

2016 will be a great year!

Bulldog and girl.

Bruno the bulldog visits a young fan.

 

 

 

 

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It was a dark and stormy night………

It is October, so here is the obligatory scary book blog post! There are a ton of scary books; vampire books, dystopian books, ghost stories, and psychological horror. Perusing online, a person can find lists and lists of scary books.

Stephen King is the master of the scary story, from short terrifying novellas to thousand page mammoth books full of the undead, he can make a reader sleep with a light on all night long. Salem’s Lot and Pet Sematary are two of his that absolutely scare me to my wit’s end. Interesting side note, King’s books are always vanishing from the Drake Library. We have to re-order multiple copies of his books. That is horrifying.

King has a son named Joe Hill. He is a talented writer. His short story collection 20th Century Ghosts is full of hair raising spooky tales.

The scariest book I ever read has to be Doris Lessing’s The Fifth Child. This family has a child and he is violent, super strong, and not very lovable. The siblings don’t want anything to do with Ben. The mom can’t handle him. This story is scary to me because I think that is every parent’s nightmare. Having a child that is uncontrollable and unpleasant would be a heavy burden for a family.

Whatever your flavor of fright, you can find a spooky story at the Drake Public Library to fill your October evenings with terror.

Stop by the store and buy a fresh light bulb on your way home from the library! Just in case!

 

 

Scary books

Some of the scary titles available from the Drake Library.

 

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I stand with the banned

This book has been banned by some libraries.

This book has been banned by some libraries.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hey did you know it is Banned Book Week?

 

Banned Book Week was started in 1982 as a way to bring attention to books that were being banned. Why do books get banned? They get banned for containing material that is deemed inappropriate by the School Board or the Library Board, or any organization that governs a library.

 

Here is a list of the top banned books in 20014 from Bannedbookweeks.org website:

 

1)     The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie

Reasons: anti-family, cultural insensitivity, drugs/alcohol/smoking, gambling, offensive language, sex education, sexually explicit, unsuited for age group, violence. Additional reasons: “depictions of bullying”

2)      Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi

Reasons: gambling, offensive language, political viewpoint. Additional reasons: “politically, racially, and socially offensive,” “graphic depictions”

3)      And Tango Makes Three, Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell

Reasons: Anti-family, homosexuality, political viewpoint, religious viewpoint, unsuited for age group. Additional reasons: “promotes the homosexual agenda”

4)      The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison

Reasons: Sexually explicit, unsuited for age group. Additional reasons: “contains controversial issues”

5)      It’s Perfectly Normal, by Robie Harris

Reasons: Nudity, sex education, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group. Additional reasons: “alleges it child pornography”

6)      Saga, by Brian Vaughan and Fiona Staples

Reasons: Anti-Family, nudity, offensive language, sexually explicit, and unsuited for age group. Additional reasons:

7)      The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini

Reasons: Offensive language, unsuited to age group, violence

8)      The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky

Reasons: drugs/alcohol/smoking, homosexuality, offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited for age group. Additional reasons: “date rape and masturbation”

9)      A Stolen Life, Jaycee Dugard

Reasons: drugs/alcohol/smoking, offensive language, sexually explicit, and unsuited for age group

10)  Drama, by Raina Telgemeier

Reasons: sexually explicit

 

 

Promote your freedom to read by checking out a title that is controversial from your local library.

 

For more information about banned books, check out the American Library Association website at ala.org