Friday Focus
Friday, April 29, 2016 . . . vol. 3, no. 33
HIgh Traffic Bulletin Board
When Art and Libraries Mix
Need New Shelves?
From the Inbox
This is well researched, thought out and persuasively presented newspaper piece regarding a decision in Cedar Rapids, Iowa to eliminate some of their HS librarians. (I get the impression that the system may have already eliminated elementary positions)
Then she found an even better article about elementary school librarians written by children's author Nora Baskin.
See what you think! Feel free to pass them along, too!
Half Price Books Free for Schools!
WEDNESDAY, MAY 4 @ 9 AM
Half Price Books • 1551 W. 86th St. • Indianapolis, IN 46260
This looks like it could be a great thing if you can get out of the library on a Wednesday morning. When you get to the RSVP link, you have to scroll down to fill out the form. Happy free shopping!
P.S. If you don't have a Half Price discount card yet, you should get one. You just have to show them something that proves where you work. Library staff are eligible!
Have you ever had a parent ask for a kids-only content interface for Hoopla? Like the Kids Reading Room that we offer on OverDrive? Well, we wanted it, too! Hoopla listened to librarians and parents from across the nation with the same request. And now it’s here!
Presenting the “Kid’s Mode” feature in Hoopla!! Found in the settings section on your device or in your profile on your computer, it’s a simple toggle. Easy! Turning it on whether you are in the app or on the website will turn on a filter that allows only juvenile materials to appear.
Note: This setting stays with the device, not the account. So if a parent enables “Kid’s Mode” on little Jimmy’s iPad, it’s set only for that iPad. If little Jimmy uses another device (like a PC), the parent will have to enable Kid’s Mode on that device, too.
Hope this helps your parents and teachers with offering Hoopla content to their students. You could even use this setting on the library PCs or iPads. Take a moment to turn it on and see how the content changes.
And as always, if you have any questions, please contact me!
Andrew Luck: Librarians' Best Friend
By now, you should all know that Andrew Luck started a book club, and that he's picking a kids' book and an adult book for each part of the "football year." This is the off-season. If you have any football fans who aren't big readers, you definitely want to turn them on to either his website or his Twitter feed. It's way fun to see photos of kids/grown-ups reading Andrew's recommendations. If you promote it, be sure to include his hashtag: #ALBookClub.
IndyPL bought another 25 copies of Maniac Magee to meet demand, and added it to the Summer Reading Program as the 51st Bonus Book kids can read for 30 points! (Some of you still have copies of it on your shelves. They should all be checked out - we have 28 people waiting for a copy!
Last Week of the Month Task
Remember to run the Item Holds Expired report available on the intranet at this link. (This report and the link will be available to you only at a computer already connected to the VPN!)
If you have any expired holds, check with the person who made the request to make sure they didn't accidentally pick up the hold and forget to check the item out! If you can't find the item, please change the status to Local Missing.
Bee Informed
For some reason, kids really like bees. Make sure your budding entomologists know about this special program.
Dr. Arwin Provonsha, retired Curator of the Purdue Entomological Research Collection, will give a talk about Indiana bumble bees.
- Saturday, May 14, 2016 • 11 a.m.
- Glendale Branch, The Indianapolis Public Library, 6101 N. Keystone Avenue
- (Entrance to the Library is near Staples, take elevator to second floor)
For more information, contact Glendale Branch Manager Melissa Wooton at (317) 275-4410.
This program is given in memory of Liz Day with gifts from her friends and family to The Indianapolis Public Library Foundation.
Summer Reading Lists, Tailor Made
The book list itself is an email, with a hyperlink at the top, a lot like Friday Focus. You can email the list to students, teachers, or families. You can also create a link on your school or library website directly to the list in case they "accidentally" delete the email! If you want to, go look at the whole list and see for yourself!
If you want a list for your school, let me know and I'll drop your logo in. If you want to change the photo at the top, maybe include a photo of your principal reading instead, I can do that, too!
For students in other grades, send in your lists and we'll use LibraryAware, a product of the same folks who bring us NoveList, to create annotated book lists. I'll include the added info about the variety of formats we have available for the titles on the list.
About Us
Email: sbatt@indypl.org
Website: www.indypl.org/about/shared
Location: Library Service Center, North Meridian Street, Indianapolis, IN, United States
Phone: (317) 275-4707
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IndyPLSharedSystem
Twitter: @SharedSysIndyPL