I was unable to post for a couple of weeks as I just attended the Midwinter conference of ALA.  I am on a committee that helps coordinate awards for best library building projects in conjunction with the American Institute of Architects.  I am also on a committee that awards 6 significant scholarships for students pursuing their Master’s in LIbrary Science with the intent of becoming a children’s librarian in a public library.

I had loads of fun in the vast Exhibit Halls, looking at furniture, lighting, products, etc. that would be wonderful in our new building as well as the restored current library.  It is simply amazing to see all the wonderful library items that are available.

Speaking of technology, we will begin offering audiobooks that you can download from our catalog to your mp3 player.  Unfortunately, no downloadable book vendors are compatible with Apple’s ipods.  We plan to have mp3 players available at minimal cost for those who wish to purchase them and use our collection.

I love to listen to NPR’s news/game show “Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell Me” but I came to work crabby today because of this week’s broadcast.  Mind you, this show is for people who know current events, have very quick wits, and disseminate a lot of information, albeit not all of it terribly important.  They apparently had a celebrity guest on sometime last year who had wanted to be a librarian when she was a little girl.  The host and guests proceeded to talk about how shocked they were that the guest would consider such a lowly job as a boring old librarian.  That has made me irritable all day.

     Librarians are, not to sound boastful, keepers of knowledge worldwide.  We are often at the forefront of actions against threats to our Constitution or personal rights.  We always fight for confidentiality and personal freedoms for our users.  When the Internet first became prevalent, everyone predicted the end of public libraries.  In fact, use skyrocketed because librarians know how to evaluate websites, unlike Google or other search engines.  As an aside, whenever the American Library Association conference members leave the host city, the hotel clerks always say “I never knew you librarians were so rowdy”!  We were the first major organization to have a conference in New Orleans last summer.  I could go on and on.  If I sound annoyed, I am.

PS - I may wear glasses, but I don’t have a bun and I don’t walk around shushing people!

Happy New Year to all and especially to all us stereotyped librarians!      Allison

Some of you may have seen the long article in the Sunday East End Edition of Newsday from Dec. 24.  They took photos of the damage to the roofline and eaves, a most unflattering photo of me, , and a much more flattering photo of Alison Cornish & Fred Stelle.  The article is very informative to those who have not kept up with the developments of the last year.  You can request a copy at the library Circulation Desk or come to my office to read my copy.  Just please ignore the photo of me!

You may expect to pick up one of these FAQ’s sometime this month.  We will also post them on the web.  When you read the FAQ, you will discover answers to questions that we frequently receive, like:  why can’t we just expand the current building?; what will the current building be used for when we have a 2-building library?;  What properties did the CLC look into as possibilities for sites for the new building?

Also, please remember that the next public forum is at the end of January.  You can give input there.  We also welcome responses on the blog.

Happy New Year to All,                       Allison Gray, Director

With the help of our hard-working Grantsmanship and Corporate Fundraising Committee members, I have identified a number of foundations that support library restoration projects.  Some grantors only give out small amounts of money, others give tens of thousands.  We are carefully matching building restoration projects and their estimated costs with the most compatible grantmaking organization.  The largest grants are from the government but we won’t be able to apply for most of those until the end of next year.

We are writing proposals for work that can be done to the current building during our regular operating hours so that there is no disruption of service to you.

If you know of any restoration experts (furniture, lamps, grandfather clocks, paintings) who might donate some time repairing original materials, I would love to hear from them.

 Thanks and I hope everyone has a wonderful 2007.                     Allison 

Dear Patrons,   First of all I’d like to wish you all a very happy holiday season.  Our staff has had our Christmas dinner and the Secret Santas visited us.  The library will be closed on December 24 and 25, and December 31 and January 1.  Please remember you can always access information in the form of electronic books and reference information via our library website and the Virtual Reference collection.  We look forward to a productive 2007 with no more falling masonry, lots of grant money for repairs, and the cooperation of this wonderful community in creating a library of which we can all be proud.   

Please feel free to attend this 9:00 am meeting.  We will be focusing on Needs and Areas of and for the library service program.  The Trustees and the LDC members were very glad to see so many people in attendance at the last Forum.  We have a whole series of Forums (especially architectural design ones) in the works.  I will post a schedule as soon as we know the exact dates.  As always, we welcome your comments, questions, and suggestions. 

Many of you have expressed concern over the stray black and white cat that started hanging around the library several weeks ago.  Staff had been taking care of her with the help of one of ARF’s wonderful volunteers.  Happily, she was adopted yesterday and christened “Sadie”.  We will miss her but are glad she found a loving home.

The 2nd in a series of Community Forums will be held tonight Nov. 29 at North Haven Village Hall at 6:00 pm. The Library Development Committee, among others, will be discussing the site plan adjacent to the Park. Exterior design and floor plans will not be the focus of this particular program. Rather, tonight’s discussion will deal with the division between two buildings of the services provided by the library as well as the site.

As you will see, the scaffolding company erected the scaffolding today in a matter of hours.  We are in the process of getting lights installed under the roofs of the walkways but this may take a day or so,   please be careful. 

The Library Board of Trustees is awaiting the full report of the engineer who inspected the roof last week.  Last night we saw some photographs of the roof (from the roof) taken by our contractor, Doug Renna.  The pictures show the source not only of the library leaks but the reason why bits of the building have fallen off.  We can expect more this winter as water gets in the cracks and freezes, causing the stone to separate.  This is why you will soon see a safety fence erected around the building so no one can be near the areas where there may be falling masonry.

    The Board is assessing its options in terms of the repair of the roof with the help of the engineer, Doug Renna, and Fred Stelle.