So I was browsing through PC WORLD magazine Dec08 and came across some tips for better Google searches (use quotes when looking for a phrase like "dyed in the wool", or use a minus sign to limit a search like salsa -dance if you want recipes, not dance steps), and there are more tips at Google's Advance Search Tips.
And I was browsing through Family Handyman magazine Feb09 (and believe me, I'm only handy with the KitchenAid) and, being the save-money issue, they said to buy a monitor to see how much electricity an appliance uses. WE HAVE ONE TO CHECK OUT. Type in kill-a-watt in our catalog and read all about it.
Come on in and browse! Browse the shelves, browse the magazines, see where it leads you. Take home Pastel Journal even if you don't draw, or Runner's World even if you don't run, or Discover even if you got Cs in any science class you ever took. (Verrrry interesting...) Take home Architectural Digest just to look at the pictures. Or, want to browse from home? Use the Vermont Online Library link from our home page, (then you'll have to type in the last five numbers of your barcode) and click on the top database, Gale Reference Center Gold. Browsing is good, browsing is fun, browsing is FREE too.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Friday, January 30, 2009
ACE OF GAMES: The collection, donations, prizes, and the venues
THE COLLECTION
Ace of Games continues today, Friday, January 30, when dozens of young gamers converge this afternoon for tabletop fun! Want to know what games are in our growing collection? Check out http://www.boardgamegeek.com/ and search for kellogghubbard, or go directly to our collection at http://www.boardgamegeek.com/collection/user/kellogghubbard?own=1&ff=1. This website is a huge resource for board gamers, offering descriptions of over 5ooo games with photos, session reports, discussions, strategy tips, and a marketplace. Sign on an be a geek buddy of the KHL. Right now, we've got over 30 games and counting.
DONATIONS
Our collection is made up of the best games available. Most are high-quality board games from game makers who care enough to make games that are as pleasing to look at as they are to play. Often, the high quality means added expense, so I'm pleased that so many companies have generously supported the Ace of Games. Here's a list of the companies who have given generously to our games program: Northstar Games, Gamewright, Bananagrams. Days of Wonder, Fantasy Flight, Wizards of the Coast, and Hasbro. Also, we have had some generous donations from Woodbury Mountain Toys, who has always been a great supporter of our programs. THANKS TO EVERYONE.
PRIZES
Now that the tournament has kicked off, its time to announce some of the prizes that you can win as part of the Ace of Games. First, for you adults: a $100 gift certificate for tax preparation work by Abacus Bookkeeping. Win this and you can play more games without worrying about your taxes! Woodbury Mountain comes through as always with a generous donation of 5 gift certificates each worth $10. The Book Garden offers a gift certificate of $20. La Brioche offers a $25 gift certificate. And Coffee Corner kicks in another $25 gift certificate. Great prizes from great downtown Montpelier businesses. Don't forget the Top Banana trophy that goes to the winner of the Bananagrams tournament on Sat. Feb 21 at 2pm.
VENUES
We are so lucky to have venues all around town that support the Ace of Games. So many of them are throwing their own gaming events. Coming up on Feb. 6 is Bear Pond Books with their Bananagrams party for the whole family from 6-8pm. Our newest participant, The Coffee Corner, has decided to mix it up with games of Apples to Apples every Wednesday from 1-3pm during the Ace of Games at the front table, by the window. The Ace of Games takes on a new flavor at La Brioche, where chef Adrian Westrope has baked up an edible checkerboard. To order this delicious game, call the bakery 24 hours in advance at (802) 225-3380. The set costs $14 for a cake board and cookie tokens. You can also just buy the cookies for $3 a bag. Otherwise, cusotmers are invited to play games any time. The same invitation has been extended by the Langdon Street Cafe with great results after they installed a permanent games shelf last year. Starting March 10-15 Langdon Street Cafe hosts its annual Geek Week, with an added emphasis on board games. Sunday, March 15, is dedicated entirely to board games at the cafe. Woodbury Mountain Toys has an awesome selection of specialty games for young and old, and during the Ace of Games they are offering 20% off games with a coupon from the library (available Saturday). Also, there is a cute little game table to set up games such as Link-o, Shut the Box, or Quarto. Speaking of Quarto, Rhapsody Cafe on Main Street has recently acquired Quarto for their expanding game shelf. Quarto is quick to learn and quick to play, a perfect lunch hour game. Thats seven Ace of Games venues to choose from, plus the library, so you have lots of options. Now cure your cabin fever and "Get Out and Play!"
Ace of Games continues today, Friday, January 30, when dozens of young gamers converge this afternoon for tabletop fun! Want to know what games are in our growing collection? Check out http://www.boardgamegeek.com/ and search for kellogghubbard, or go directly to our collection at http://www.boardgamegeek.com/collection/user/kellogghubbard?own=1&ff=1. This website is a huge resource for board gamers, offering descriptions of over 5ooo games with photos, session reports, discussions, strategy tips, and a marketplace. Sign on an be a geek buddy of the KHL. Right now, we've got over 30 games and counting.
DONATIONS
Our collection is made up of the best games available. Most are high-quality board games from game makers who care enough to make games that are as pleasing to look at as they are to play. Often, the high quality means added expense, so I'm pleased that so many companies have generously supported the Ace of Games. Here's a list of the companies who have given generously to our games program: Northstar Games, Gamewright, Bananagrams. Days of Wonder, Fantasy Flight, Wizards of the Coast, and Hasbro. Also, we have had some generous donations from Woodbury Mountain Toys, who has always been a great supporter of our programs. THANKS TO EVERYONE.
PRIZES
Now that the tournament has kicked off, its time to announce some of the prizes that you can win as part of the Ace of Games. First, for you adults: a $100 gift certificate for tax preparation work by Abacus Bookkeeping. Win this and you can play more games without worrying about your taxes! Woodbury Mountain comes through as always with a generous donation of 5 gift certificates each worth $10. The Book Garden offers a gift certificate of $20. La Brioche offers a $25 gift certificate. And Coffee Corner kicks in another $25 gift certificate. Great prizes from great downtown Montpelier businesses. Don't forget the Top Banana trophy that goes to the winner of the Bananagrams tournament on Sat. Feb 21 at 2pm.
VENUES
We are so lucky to have venues all around town that support the Ace of Games. So many of them are throwing their own gaming events. Coming up on Feb. 6 is Bear Pond Books with their Bananagrams party for the whole family from 6-8pm. Our newest participant, The Coffee Corner, has decided to mix it up with games of Apples to Apples every Wednesday from 1-3pm during the Ace of Games at the front table, by the window. The Ace of Games takes on a new flavor at La Brioche, where chef Adrian Westrope has baked up an edible checkerboard. To order this delicious game, call the bakery 24 hours in advance at (802) 225-3380. The set costs $14 for a cake board and cookie tokens. You can also just buy the cookies for $3 a bag. Otherwise, cusotmers are invited to play games any time. The same invitation has been extended by the Langdon Street Cafe with great results after they installed a permanent games shelf last year. Starting March 10-15 Langdon Street Cafe hosts its annual Geek Week, with an added emphasis on board games. Sunday, March 15, is dedicated entirely to board games at the cafe. Woodbury Mountain Toys has an awesome selection of specialty games for young and old, and during the Ace of Games they are offering 20% off games with a coupon from the library (available Saturday). Also, there is a cute little game table to set up games such as Link-o, Shut the Box, or Quarto. Speaking of Quarto, Rhapsody Cafe on Main Street has recently acquired Quarto for their expanding game shelf. Quarto is quick to learn and quick to play, a perfect lunch hour game. Thats seven Ace of Games venues to choose from, plus the library, so you have lots of options. Now cure your cabin fever and "Get Out and Play!"
Saturday, January 24, 2009
ACE OF GAMES BEGINS
In February 2008, the Kellogg-Hubbard Library announced its Games! at the Library program.
The Children's Library invested in several board games, including Apples to Apples and the Dungeons and Dragons Basic Game. Soon after, I asked board game companies for donations, and received a deluge of support! Companies such as Fantasy Flight, Wizards of the Coast, Northstar Games, Gamewright, Days of Wonder, Hasbro, and Bananagrams all pitched in. Local merchants like Woodbury Mt. Toys and Book Garden also gave us a boost. With our new collection, we announced an ongoing Friday afternoon Games! program with great success. Kids were making new friends, learning social skills and good sportsmanship, and tackling problems. In a world dominated by computer games, vying for children's attentions, the board game offers a tactile, face-to-face gaming experience that fits our Vermont sense of community building.
This weekend we the kicked off another program for the Kellogg-Hubbard community: the Ace of Games Festival and Tournament. On Friday afternoon, 25 kids played boardgames including Ticket to Ride, Piratissimo, Bananagrams, spit, Settlers of Catan and more. Plus we added the Heroes of Fallcrest Dungeons & Dragons campaign for 8-12 yr olds, thanks to our volunteer Dungeon Masters Matt and Eli. The kids are having a blast with our games. I've been hearing that the games have been coming out everyday after school, and not just on Fridays. We're building a great community of young gamers, and promoting literacy and community as well.
On Saturday, we welcomed adults and teens to the Hayes Room to sample our recommended games. About 20 have participated so far, playing Settlers, Carcassonne, and many others. With the help of our volunteer game masters, we were able to get the newbies up and running with these great games. Bob racked up 8 points for teaching both Settlers and Carcassonne. As I write this, the gamers are wrapping up a game of Ticket to Ride, Agricola (new to our collection), and Pictureka. Its a great day for game geeks! Look for the Ace of Games article coming soon in the Times Argus.
See you at the game table,
Ben
The Children's Library invested in several board games, including Apples to Apples and the Dungeons and Dragons Basic Game. Soon after, I asked board game companies for donations, and received a deluge of support! Companies such as Fantasy Flight, Wizards of the Coast, Northstar Games, Gamewright, Days of Wonder, Hasbro, and Bananagrams all pitched in. Local merchants like Woodbury Mt. Toys and Book Garden also gave us a boost. With our new collection, we announced an ongoing Friday afternoon Games! program with great success. Kids were making new friends, learning social skills and good sportsmanship, and tackling problems. In a world dominated by computer games, vying for children's attentions, the board game offers a tactile, face-to-face gaming experience that fits our Vermont sense of community building.
This weekend we the kicked off another program for the Kellogg-Hubbard community: the Ace of Games Festival and Tournament. On Friday afternoon, 25 kids played boardgames including Ticket to Ride, Piratissimo, Bananagrams, spit, Settlers of Catan and more. Plus we added the Heroes of Fallcrest Dungeons & Dragons campaign for 8-12 yr olds, thanks to our volunteer Dungeon Masters Matt and Eli. The kids are having a blast with our games. I've been hearing that the games have been coming out everyday after school, and not just on Fridays. We're building a great community of young gamers, and promoting literacy and community as well.
On Saturday, we welcomed adults and teens to the Hayes Room to sample our recommended games. About 20 have participated so far, playing Settlers, Carcassonne, and many others. With the help of our volunteer game masters, we were able to get the newbies up and running with these great games. Bob racked up 8 points for teaching both Settlers and Carcassonne. As I write this, the gamers are wrapping up a game of Ticket to Ride, Agricola (new to our collection), and Pictureka. Its a great day for game geeks! Look for the Ace of Games article coming soon in the Times Argus.
See you at the game table,
Ben
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Library calculator
The more you use the library the more you're getting for your tax dollars or patron fee. Check this out!!! KHL Use Value Calculator
FYI- all of our public computers have Microsoft Word and/or OpenOffice. Using one of their resume templates you can put together a resume in pretty short order. (OK, the Word template is easier to use.) Usage is limited on the public internet computers, but we also have a workstation just for typing, and you can print from
all computers, .15/page, B&W.
OK, take a break- BBC Audio Slideshows. Scroll about halfway down and click on MORE AUDIO SLIDESHOWS and off you go to, say, Kew Gardens!
FYI- all of our public computers have Microsoft Word and/or OpenOffice. Using one of their resume templates you can put together a resume in pretty short order. (OK, the Word template is easier to use.) Usage is limited on the public internet computers, but we also have a workstation just for typing, and you can print from
all computers, .15/page, B&W.
OK, take a break- BBC Audio Slideshows. Scroll about halfway down and click on MORE AUDIO SLIDESHOWS and off you go to, say, Kew Gardens!
Friday, January 9, 2009
Browse new materials, check your account!
NEW MATERIALS Adult library JANUARY 2009(.txt), Children's and Young Adult DECEMBER / JANUARY 2009(.txt).
Hint: these are plain text files. Use the Find tool to jump to the section you want to browse. E.g. Go to New Materials Adult Library, click on Edit at the top of the window, then click on Find on this page, type in Mysteries, and then click Next.
CHECK YOUR OWN ACCOUNT ONLINE- go to OUR ONLINE CATALOG, (you can get there from the home page by clicking Search Library Holdings and thwen Online Card Catalog), click on My Info (third tab from right) type in your entire patron barcode number from the back of your patron card, and type in YOUR LAST NAME for "password." (Please CALL 223-3338 - no e-mails - to place holds or renew materials.)
Hint: these are plain text files. Use the Find tool to jump to the section you want to browse. E.g. Go to New Materials Adult Library, click on Edit at the top of the window, then click on Find on this page, type in Mysteries, and then click Next.
CHECK YOUR OWN ACCOUNT ONLINE- go to OUR ONLINE CATALOG, (you can get there from the home page by clicking Search Library Holdings and thwen Online Card Catalog), click on My Info (third tab from right) type in your entire patron barcode number from the back of your patron card, and type in YOUR LAST NAME for "password." (Please CALL 223-3338 - no e-mails - to place holds or renew materials.)
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Free language instruction!
Holy Moly! I forgot about the audio language programs you can download right from ListenUp Vermont with your patron barcode #!
Monday, December 22, 2008
Let's go... global!
How about trying a language? Just try one. There won't be a test. I actually made it to the second level of Italian. Recently I tried Arabic. OK, I barely got through the first cd, but I'll try it again sometime, and I picked out the phrase "excuse me" in the movie Body of Lies. Che bello!
We have some videos for basic French, Spanish and Italian, lots of travel videos and dvds, you could sing along with "Marriage of Figaro", or come to one of our "language lunches" for some real immersion. (Again, no pressure; just come and listen, if you'd like.)
Oh sure, you could try one of those internet translation sites, but....
We have some videos for basic French, Spanish and Italian, lots of travel videos and dvds, you could sing along with "Marriage of Figaro", or come to one of our "language lunches" for some real immersion. (Again, no pressure; just come and listen, if you'd like.)
Oh sure, you could try one of those internet translation sites, but....
Thursday, December 18, 2008
The closing of the year
The economy seems to be in freefall, but the streets of Montpelier are packed with throngs of shoppers. In this storm, it feels as though we are holding on to the things that are closest to us: our shops, our local charities, our traditions, and yes, our library. The "Evening at the Library" on December 6th saw an unprecedented turnout, and people are still stopping us on the street to tell us what a great time they had. Our guest of honor, Tom Slayton and our hosts, Chris and Nancy Graff made it a special night for all of us.
We are so grateful for your support as we work to make sure that the library doors remain open to the some 850 children and adults who walk through them each day. In tough economic times, people who come to the desk are telling us that the library is more important to them than ever. We will continue to do everything we can to give you the best possible service.
As the year draws to a close, it's good to reflect on all of the things that make our lives worthwhile, even in times of scarcity: friends, family, good food, a place to gather, a good book.
Friday, December 12, 2008
02
Was listening to a very good cd, DAUGHTER OF TIME by Josephine Tey. (Well, actually required alot of jumping back a track or two to try and keep all those
British royals straight.) Excellent reader. There was a great quote about libraries which I
didn't jot down while driving, so got to work, ran upstairs, got the book, here it is. The character was sent to buy a book by Sir Thomas More. However-
"No T. More in any of the bookshops, so tried Public Library. Can't think why one never thinks of Public Libraries. Probably because books expected to be soupy. Think this looks quite clean and unsoupy. You get fourteen days. Sounds like a sentence rather than a loan." Scribner paperback ed, 1995, p.70.
Where do you enjoy audiobooks- driving, walking, knitting, painting, ...? Has to be a good reader, though.
Want to see what you have checked out and when it's due? Go to our online card catalog, click the My Info tab, type in your entire patron barcode number (on back of your library card) and the password is your last name.
BTW, wonder what all those IM and text messages SAY? Here's a list of internet acronyms and text messaging shorthand.
Last but not least, take a stroll down School St during the day sometime and enjoy the aroma coming from Manghi's. OML
British royals straight.) Excellent reader. There was a great quote about libraries which I
didn't jot down while driving, so got to work, ran upstairs, got the book, here it is. The character was sent to buy a book by Sir Thomas More. However-
"No T. More in any of the bookshops, so tried Public Library. Can't think why one never thinks of Public Libraries. Probably because books expected to be soupy. Think this looks quite clean and unsoupy. You get fourteen days. Sounds like a sentence rather than a loan." Scribner paperback ed, 1995, p.70.
Where do you enjoy audiobooks- driving, walking, knitting, painting, ...? Has to be a good reader, though.
Want to see what you have checked out and when it's due? Go to our online card catalog, click the My Info tab, type in your entire patron barcode number (on back of your library card) and the password is your last name.
BTW, wonder what all those IM and text messages SAY? Here's a list of internet acronyms and text messaging shorthand.
Last but not least, take a stroll down School St during the day sometime and enjoy the aroma coming from Manghi's. OML
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Who's Haunting the White House?
As Barack Obama enters the White House, do you think he feels a chill? Does he notice the stirring in Lincoln's bedroom? Find out what ghosts lurk inside the president's mansion when Author Jeff Belanger and local illustrator Rick Powell come to the Kellogg-Hubbard Library on Saturday, November 22 at 1pm in the East Montpelier Room. Rick has been a guest at the Dark Knight Comics Club and is the owner of Montpelier's Book Garden book store. He has the original artwork hanging up in the store, and will bring some of those works to the library. If you're a comics fan, or a fan of illustration, its cool to chat with Rick to hear what his challenges were. He told me that it wasn't easy to draw something that "wasn't there". How do you draw something transparent like a ghost. Good question. I hear Jeff Belanger is an authority on hauntings. I'm sure he'll be able to send a chill up your spine with his true accounts of ghost sighting. Come check it out!
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