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!

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.)

Free language instruction!

Holy Moly! I forgot about the audio language programs you can download right from ListenUp Vermont with your patron barcode #!

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....

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.

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

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!

New StoryWalk™ going up in Hubbard Park

A new StoryWalk™ book will be posted in Montpelier’s Hubbard Park beginning November 21 and lasting until December 8, 2008. The book, South, by award-winning cartoonist Patrick McDonnell is a great little book. When a little bird awakens to find that all of his friends and family have gone south for the winter, it takes a surprising friendship with Mooch the cat to help him find his way. This is a wordless and profoundly moving story--by the creator of the beloved comic strip Mutts--that explores being lost and found, crossing boundaries, saying goodbye, and broadening horizons. Bring your family for a walk after Thanksgiving and enjoy a good book and nature.

The Kellogg-Hubbard library has this book in our collection in the children's department. Check it out!

The StoryWalk™ Project was created by Anne Ferguson of Montpelier, Vermont and developed in collaboration with the Vermont Bicycle & Pedestrian Coalition and the Kellogg-Hubbard Library.

Historic Photos tell Montpelier's History

Anyone interested in Montpelier's history will want to take a look at the new book, Montpelier: Images of Vermont's Capital City, put together by Paul A. Carnahan and Bill Fish. The book is full of historic photos of Montpelier and the people who lived here beginning with a sketch of our little city that was done by Sarah I. Watrous in 1821. There are photos of floods and fires, parades, street scenes with horses and buggies, and some of the businesses that used to thrive on State Street and Main Street.

Ever wonder what the school looked like that educated Montpelier's children before Union Elementary School? It's in the book. Did you know that Montpelier's bridges at one time were covered bridges? Can you imagine the hill behind our State House without any trees?

Still, some of the photos look as if they were shot yesterday except that the cars in the setting are from the 1920s and 1930s.

From snow rollers and sleighs to the trolley that ran in Montpelier, this book will give a whole new perspective on how Montpelier has changed and yet stayed the same over its 200+ year history. Be sure to check it out.

Stuntology at the Kellogg-Hubbard this Saturday.

On Saturday, October 18, my personal hero Sam Bartlett will be coming to the Kellogg-Hubbard to show off his newest compilation of tricks, gags, and general feats of strange behavior to the unsuspecting citizens of Montpelier. The new book is called The Best of Stuntology, and within its pages you will find some of the simplest, and most effective stunts to play on friends and family. But not just practical jokes, Sam also shows you how to speak in "Bing Crosby" and how to make broken toothpicks come to life. If you have ever had a moment of boredom in a restaurant, and feel like making some tabletop mischief, this book is for you. Sam is also a world-class banjo plucker, so maybe he'll treat us to some of that as well. On top of all of this, Sam is a great illustrator, whose distinct style allows him to bend and contort his characters to the demanding backwards bending of Stuntology. Sam professes his Stuntology at 10:30 am on Saturday October 18th in the East Montpelier Room. All ages are invited. FREE!
Yours in Stuntology,
Ben t. Matchstick