National Library Week 2021

April 5 through April 10 is National Library Week!

Take the time to visit a library - PLEASE WEAR A MASK INSIDE A LIBRARY AT ALL TIMES - and check out what you like - BOOKS ARE GOOD, WE GOT A BUNCH ON HAND - and support literacy and community resources to the full - WE MIGHT BE NEAR DOG PARKS, YOU NEVER KNOW.

In the meantime, see if you can spot a fool in this crowd:

I know I overdo the arched eyebrow thingee

NOW GO READ! We'll see you in the summer when our family events take place.

 

Back Open For Business

Just to note today we re-opened Bartow Public Library for the public to come inside.

This is one of the riskier parts of the COVID-19 Pandemic, as the spread of the virus works best indoors in close quarters. A lot of the things the library staff has to do now involve:

• Making sure everyone is masked. Masks work to reduce the spread of the virus (via the moisture of our exhaling breaths). Most everyone who came in wore masks... but some refused to cover the nose, which still allows for their exhales to cause issues. Cover the mouth AND nose, please.
• Wiping down the computers especially the keyboards and mice after every person's use.
• Enforcing the social distancing such as the six-feet-apart rule. We're trying to mark off where people need to stand at the service/Information Desk.
• Putting checked-in items to quarantine for at least 72 hours.
• Trying not to stand too close while helping patrons, especially at the computers where a lot of the patrons uncomfortable with using computers insist on us helping by hand. We're trying to set up a virtual sharing between the staff computer to patron workstation to provide remote help.

So far, most of the other libraries in Polk County haven't seen outbreaks in them. I think one library in one of the smaller communities had a person test positive, they had to shut down for a week. We'll see how things play out in Bartow and how the patrons return to our building over the next couple weeks. It was quiet today, a brief rush during the afternoon when parents came in to use the computers and check out stuff for their kids.

Praying things stay safe for the staff and for the city. The COVID numbers are spiking as the flu season shifts into gear. That's the best we can do for now, muddling our way through the pandemic... 

Bartow Library Status September 2020

I need to announce that the library where I work opened to Curbside level service today.

What this means is:

1. Patrons cannot enter the library (yet). Our computers and study rooms/meeting rooms are unavailable.
2. Patrons CAN call to place library items on Hold for Pickup outside the library door. We will have a cart set up where they can retrieve the items when they call us to say when they are there. We have a driveway at the door so they can just pull up like drive-thru.
3. Patrons can send us requests to print and copy materials, and also scan and fax documents to other locations. We would have to pickup their items to copy and return them via that doorway cart. We will charge for copies and for faxing (scanning is free, yay Internet).
4. Patrons may not be able to browse our New Fiction/Non-Fiction shelves, but we provide notebooks of current release information left at the doorway cart so they can see what's available and call us to request those titles for Curbside.

It's not a full opening, but given the risks of indoor spread of COVID, this is the safest we can be while giving our Bartow community more support than we've been able the last five months.

Going Online With Library Patrons

 The problem with the ongoing pandemic - how it restricts the availability of indoor locations, the problems of cleaning contact surfaces that include TABLES and STUDY ROOMS as well as KEYBOARDS and MICE of our public computers - is how to make the library effective for our patrons when our patrons can't come in.

One thing we are doing at Bartow Library has been creating online videos and activity links. We did a lot of Online Storytime readings for our youth literacy and read-along families. Our librarian in charge of the book discussions has been using Zoom since May and has been gaining more chat members.

She's also involved in teaching our exercise and Tai Chi classes, so she's asked us to make and present a YouTube video to share with the class enrollees she still has signed up.

So I just wanted to share that here as well, try to get the word out, and let any library users know your public library near you should be doing similar things you can follow!

Keep an eye out for more stuff!

Current Status of Bartow Public Library March 2020

With all that is happening in the world right now, one thing we need to do in Florida and the United States is to stay at home and avoid public places. A public library is as public as you can get, so my city of Bartow's library was ordered closed to the public back on March 17th. Sorry I haven't mentioned it until now.

(Staff is still coming to work because there are off-desk tasks we still need to perform to keep the library functioning. Until such time that the city orders us home if the COVID-19 outbreak gets any worse)

We still have a number of online resources available through our library webpage at https://pclc.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/bartow and we're trying to encourage people to use our Overdrive eBook access.

As for my previous workplaces Pasco County ( https://pascolibraries.org/ ) and Broward County ( https://www.broward.org/Library/Pages/default.aspx ) they're closed to the public until further notice, too.

Stay healthy, everybody!

The Last Jedi Librarian

I fear I may be the last Jedi Librarian in the galaxy...

But I shall defend the trick or treat candy for the Younglings to my dying breath!

And yeah, this is what happens when you don't own a Chewbacca tie for the workplace.

TRICK OR TREAT, Bartow!

Bartow Public Library 1897 - 2017

It's our 120th Birthday here at Bartow!

Thank you all for your patronage of the library!

Welcome to Bartow Public Library!

With thanks to the Tampa Bay Library Consortium, our library has a promotional video out!

...that reference librarian guy needs to shave, get a haircut, and lose 50 70 pounds.

Notes For March 2017

On a professional note, Bartow Public Library is celebrating its' 120th Anniversary this month! We're going to host all-day events on March 29th complete with cake and activities. To the eight regular readers of this blog, please plan out a trip to our fair library and join in on the fun.

On a personal note, I really need to get back to writing my stories out. I am coping with the wrong levels of anxiety and stress and depression. /headdesk

On a cat note, Mal has learned how to jump up when I toss snacks at him to snag the bite-sized bits with his mouth. A few more weeks and we can go on Saturday Night Live to show off.

I should post later about more library stuff.

KEEP READING!

We Even Had a Psyduck

I have proof.

"You got any more bottled water? All that walking makes a duck THIRSTY!"

YOU'LL NEVER POKEBALL ME! NEVER!

We had a good turnout at the Bartow Library Pokemon Go Walk yesterday.

Where We Poke-Walked

There were three families, two with kids, and not all from Bartow. I explained some of the rules I knew, some of the kids told me otherwise and so everyone else was better informed, and we circled nearby Mosaic Park as that has a nice rectangular border to it with a sidewalk the whole way and PokeStops at key corners.

I found out most of the locals are Team Valor - NOoooooo - but that explains why most of the Gyms are all Red-State on me. :sigh: So if there's any Team Mystics in the Bartow area, we need to organize...

Oh, and capture more Pikachu.

WHY DON'T WE PIKA IN THE ROAD?

Need to see about more outreach here. There was interest in the event, and while the turnout was good it wasn't as big as hoped for.

Maybe when school gets going, families will figure out their free times. We'll see.

Just a Weird Observation About Working at Bartow Library

It's just, in the three years I've been working at Bartow Library as the Reference and Computer Tech Support Librarian, I have gone through four boxes of business cards. In the years that I've had company business cards - since 1997 or so with Broward County up to 2003, up to 2006 at University of Florida, and between 2006 to 2008 with Pasco County - I barely finished off the single box of cards each place had given me.

It's a difference in the audience now. Previously, the business cards were just for professional courtesy between fellow librarians for conferences and conventions. At Bartow, it's the public who take the cards so they can call back later to schedule One-on-One sessions to teach them how to use their computers and tablets, or fix any glitches in the software/operating system (I don't have the tools or supplies to fix hardware, sorry).

Still, it just seems... nicer, to be able to say I'm handing out so many business cards like this.

Now, if I can just hand out my bookmarks promoting the ebooks I've got on sale at the same rate as my business cards...

Library Card Month

Bartow Public Library is celebrating September as Library Card Month where we're encouraging people to sign up for library cards for the first time.  There's adults who've never gotten a FREE library card before, as well as kids, so we're doing what we can to promote the effective value of having a FREE library card.

Such as:

• Library cards are free to get... (okay, if you lose it there's a 1.00 replacement fee, so the trick is "don't lose your library card.")
• Libraries let you check out a lot of books at one time for a two-week or more period depending on library circ policy.  Bartow allows for up to fifteen books at one time, for up to two week checkouts.  You can renew and prolong the checkout as long as no one is on Hold for waiting for that book.
• Libraries have audio CDs of music and audiobooks, Bartow circulates those up to fifteen as well for two weeks (plus renewals).
• Some libraries - like ours - circulate DVDs for checkout.  Again, Bartow allows up to fifteen DVDs for up to two weeks, plus renewals.

Also, you can use public computers to do things like job hunt, study online, email and social chat, creative projects, and yes Facebook.

So, can I interest you in getting a library card FOR FREE at your local library?

Summer Librarianship: Keep the Kids Reading

Just to note, it's summer.  Libraries use this time to encourage kids and teens to read.  It's helpful: it keeps the youth engaged in a needed skill - reading and literature - during the two/three months between schooling.

The theme this summer is Heroes, which is an appropriate one for meself as a fan of comic books and hero gaming.  Here at Bartow Public we're hosting a lot of superhero-themed events for the youngsters.  I worked with our Children's and Teen librarians hosting an event where kids got a superhero name and they crafted their own superhero outfits (although I would have said no to the capes like Edna would).

As such, I need to get this printed out and hanging on a wall at work:

Libraries run a READ campaign.

I really REALLY miss City of Heroes...

P.S. this is post 300.  Hi, everybody!

Free Comic Book Day 2015 - At Bartow Library

While the Free Comic Book Day website doesn't show Bartow Public Library offering itself as a place to collect the free issues available this first Saturday of May - May 2nd - I do want to ensure people that yes we will have select free titles to hand out!

Just a reminder we're at
2150 S. Broadway Ave
Bartow FL 33830
and we're open on Saturdays from 9 am to 5 pm.

We are carrying just a few titles though, so the giveaway is limited.

A New Year of Shelving, A New Year of Writing

Starting up hopefully my third year as the reference librarian at Bartow.

Restarting my umpteenth year of trying to get more stories from my superhero 'Verse written.  I broke out the old timeline and character sheets from before and am looking at getting pieces of the stories done to build towards a full work.

So how does 2015 look for you?

Tim Dorsey at Bartow Public Library: The Early Warning

We're hosting Tim Dorsey - of the Serge A Storm series - this Saturday at Bartow Public Library (Bartow, FL).

We expect Mr. Dorsey will talk about his travels across the state, and how he determines the proper method of killing off rude characters in each unique touristy locale.

I'm serious.  If Tim Dorsey includes a character based on you in any of his Serge novels, you will die in a painful and creative manner...

So be very polite when he shows up, and no sudden movements, and STOP TURN OFF THAT AUTOFLASH ON YOUR SMARTPHONE NOOOOOoooo... Oh no... OH NO.  RUN...