From the Director
Library news and happenings.
KPL is celebrating its 140th anniversary this week with an appearance by literary journalist and author, Susan Orlean. What better way for a library to celebrate than to bring a best-selling author to town for a free public appearance.
Orlean’s most recent book is Rin Tin Tin: The Life and the Legend, just out in paperback. It tells the story of Rin Tin Tin’s journey from a puppy on the WW I battlefield to movie star. An earlier book, The Orchid Thief, was made into the Oscar-winning movie, Adaptation, starring Meryl Streep. She has also been a staff writer for The New Yorker.
I hope you will join us Friday night, October 12, 7 pm, Kalamazoo Central High School Auditorium for this free program to celebrate our anniversary. A selection of her books will be available for purchase and signing at the event.
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Susan Orlean
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KPL will join libraries, schools, and bookstores across the country in celebrating the freedom to read during “Banned Books Week,” September 30 – October 6.
Bill and Judith Moyers are this year’s honorary chairs. In this video essay, Bill Moyers talks about how libraries provided his first opportunity to indulge his love of reading and learning and shares his dismay over efforts to remove books from schools and libraries.
This week is an opportunity to remind us all that the ability to read, speak, think, and express ourselves freely is a right, not a privilege. Libraries often lead the efforts to speak out for the right to read; without the help of outspoken supporters, books are still being removed in some communities.
KPL and the American Civil Liberties Union will celebrate our right to decide for ourselves what to read, listen to, and view with a “Readout” on Thursday evening. Local literacy celebrities will read from frequently challenged books.
Join us at this event; celebrate and appreciate your freedom to read, listen, and view.
Bill Moyers on Banned Books Week from BillMoyers.com on Vimeo.
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Banned Books Readout
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One of our staff recently gave me an editorial on the importance of “every word.” The author wrote of “pockets of language poverty,” a phrase I had not heard before. One example he wrote about is when parents are unemployed, kids lose the secondary benefit of casual access to workplace words. Hearing the terms that are part of the workplace enhances a child’s understanding of the world.
Increasingly kids are not hearing and learning the words they need to be successful. Reading is one way to learn new words and be transported to different times and places; learning through conversation can be equally important.
This is a good reminder to all of us who work with, live with, know kids…..read with them, encourage them to read, talk with them, share your experiences. We all have a part in giving kids the many words they need to make their way in the world.
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Read
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September is “Library Card Sign-up Month.” 2012 marks the 25th anniversary of this monthly designation during which libraries across the country remind parents that a library card is the most important school supply of all.
The honorary chair this year is two-time Super Bowl champion Troy Polamalu of the Pittsburgh Steelers. You can see him on our website holding a KPL card!
Once again, we will be issuing library cards to all 1st graders in Kalamazoo Public Schools (KPS) who do not already have one. All 1,100+ first graders will visit a KPL location twice this fall. We will have library cards ready for them; they will select a book to take home and check it out on their library card. A few weeks later they will come again to return the book and check out another. We hope this will establish a routine for regular family visits.
If you know a KPS 1st grader, later this month ask them about their library visit and ask to see their library card. Even better ask any student you know to show you their card and if they don’t have one, encourage them to visit any of our locations to register for a card as the first step in becoming a regular library user.
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Library Card Sign-Up Month
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I’m always sorry to see summer and beach reading days come to an end. I admit to having spent many hours sitting on the beach reading this summer BUT not necessarily reading “beach reads.”
“Beach reads” has a bad rap. One definition I saw recently: breezy, lightweight for pool or lakeside reading.” Well, many of the books I read this summer at the Lake Michigan beach do not fit this definition. Among others, I read and recently blogged about The President’s Club. I read The Tiger’s Wife for August book group; Canada, Richard Ford’s new book; A Hundred Flowers; Destiny of the Republic; By the Iowa Sea; The Snow Child; among others, all from our collection.
Although I am hoping for at least one more weekend of beach reading, I’m moving into another season of reading—primarily in my living room instead of the beach—but my book choices aren’t going to change.
What did you read this summer? Do your reading choices vary by season?
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Beach Reading
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What a summer for readers!
We celebrated a strong summer of reading with a concert in Bronson Park on Saturday featuring Milkshake, a high energy, rock and roll band for kids. We tossed around a big globe, shared baseballs, and spread some sunshine. I hope you were there; no matter what your age, it was fun.
Kids have attended many fun events over the summer but most importantly, they’ve been reading. The reading game was based on reading 20 minutes per day with prizes at 20, 40, and 60 days. So many kids read so many days that we ran out of prizes. What a good problem to have—we were happy to order more.
We had a 25% increase in registrations and a special emphasis on KPS first graders, all of whom visited the library three times during the school year and were preregistered for summer reading. It is especially important to maintain newly acquired reading skills over the summer for that age.
Thanks once again to our very good Friends for sponsoring our summer reading games!
I hope you had a good summer of reading and that back-to-school goes smoothly for all the kids in your home or life.
photos: Kim Howard
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Summer Concert
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Our year ended on June 30 and it was a very good one!
Circulation of print and AV materials was up 21% over the previous year. Not surprisingly, the percentage increase was greatest in ebooks – from about 3,600 to over 17,000. Our total circulation was over 1.6 million so ebook circulation is still small in comparison to print and AV.
Program attendance was strong also, especially for our programs for children and teens; attendance at youth programs was over 37,000 for the year. We have increased our emphasis on programs for these ages, both in the library and around the community, in support of our priority of “creating young readers.”
Computer use, number of cardholders, and hits to our website are all up for the year, too.
Come visit soon, in person or through our website... check out an item, attend a program, find information on our website.
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Kalamazoo Public Library
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I have often written here about our very good friends, The Friends of the Kalamazoo Public Library. I am writing about them again to share their goal of increasing their membership.
The Friends goal is 150 or more (!) new members. That’s a very reasonable goal for a community our size with a strong history of support for the library.
Once again this year, the Friends are funding our summer reading games for all ages: the game cards, programs, prizes, the end of summer concert – about $25,000 worth – and that’s only about half of their annual gift to the library.
Selling gently used books, gently priced in their bookstore is their major source of income. Memberships provide a secondary source of revenue.
Membership brochures are available throughout the library and in the bookstore, of course. You can also join through our website.
Please consider joining; membership levels range from $5 - $100 and are tax deductible.
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Join the Friends of KPL
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I like lists, especially lists of books. The Library of Congress recently selected a list of 88 books they judge to have shaped America. All the titles are by American authors; Benjamin Franklin is the only author with multiple titles on the list…..he has three.
The list includes a wide variety of titles and has generated some interesting online comments: thin on books from the 60s; what, no John Updike or Maya Angelou; few writers of color.
The books are on display at the Library of Congress through September. They also have an online survey on their website.
What do you think of the list? What’s missing or shouldn’t be included?
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Books that Shaped America
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If you have children in your life, you might know about the TumbleBook Library but if not, here is a brief overview with a link to our website for more detailed information.
Kids and tweens can listen to or read along at their own pace to animated, talking picture books, read-alongs and ebooks on a computer or ipad. In addition to books, there are videos, puzzles and games, and language learning. All are available through our website. A good starting point is the virtual tour for an overview of the various features.
The books range from picture books, easy readers, chapter books, teen fiction, and graphic novels. Suggested grade level is included.
Children learn in various ways and many of today’s kids learn best in an online environment or as a complement to print learning. We’ll have books in both print and online format for many years to come.
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TumbleBook Library
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http://www.tumblebooks.com/library/auto_login.asp?U=kalamazoo&P=libra