When I first started utilizing RSS feeds, I primarily used NetNewsWire for Mac. Then, I gave Safari’s built in aggregator a shot and used that for awhile. I eventually decided that accessing my feeds from anywhere with Internet access was important to me, so I switched over to Bloglines. That worked out for awhile, but recently I gave Google Reader a shot and I’ve decided to move things over once again! I have a feeling I’ll stick to Google Reader for a long time. It seems more reliable and quicker to pick up new feeds than Bloglines. Also, I love the fact that I can create a “Shared items” clip and place it right into the sidebar here on this blog! Now, whenever I read something especially interesting or worthy of sharing, I just mark it “shared” and it’ll automatically be picked up on my sidebar (”Recently Read Online”) for everyone to see. Check it out and let me know what you think.
Btw, we’re offering a new class at the Library on blogs and I’m definitely going to be talk about Google Reader, so sign up by calling (805) 449-2660 x. 204 if you’re interested in learning more about blogs and how to keep up with them.
Last night’s event was also the first time we tried a new type of marketing for the Library. You’ve all seen those ads shown at the movie theatres before the lights even go down and the previews start? Well, I put together a quick slideshow to do something similar to that, only instead of ads for local orthodontists and coffee shops, we had slides promoting the Library’s collections, services, programs, etc. I only had a short amount of time to put it together and I think it can be much better (a colleague recommended inserting some trivia just like they do at the movies), but I still think it worked out okay and I hope it was effective in getting the word out about all the things the Library offers to its community.
The screening of the documentary film “The Lost Boys of Sudan” was a huge success! We really had no idea how many people would show up, so at about 15 minutes before the event was scheduled to start, we were happy to see around 20 people in the room. Then, between 6:15 and 6:30, I’d say around 60-70 more people walked in and the room was beginning to feel crowded. People were still coming in when we finally started the film at about 6:40pm. We had 100 chairs set up in the community room and we still had to bring about 20 more to accommodate everyone so I’d say the total number in the audience was 120+. Around 20 or so of those in the audience were from a local middle school. I found out that a teacher, who was also there, offered her students a deal: come watch the film and you don’t have to do homework for a few days, or something like that. Brilliant!
After the film ended, many of the audience members came up to me and my colleagues and told us how much they enjoyed the event and expressed their thanks. I gotta say, even though I feel like I help people and do positive things for the community on a daily basis, having 100+ people in the Library for an event like this was extremely encouraging. I felt like it was proof of how public libraries can bring a community together and contribute to the common good. It felt very good to be a librarian
I’m really excited about two of our upcoming events at the Library. On Wednesday night (March 28) at 6:30pm, we’re showing the award-winning documentary film, The Lost Boys of Sudan, directed by Megan Mylan and Jon Shenk. The film tells the story of two of the “lost boys,” focusing on their journey to and life in the U.S. Watching it a few months ago reminded me of just how fortunate I’ve been in my life up to this point. Things I often take for granted, like a roof over my head and the opportunity to get a college education, are simply things that these “lost boys” have had to struggle for their entire lives. Their stories, both collective and individual, are truly amazing.
The screening is actually a prelude to the main event, which is a visit to the Library by Valentino Achak Deng. Deng is a “lost boy” and is the subject of Dave Eggers’ (A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius) new bestselling book, What is the What. He’ll be at the Library on Thursday, April 5 from 7-9pm to talk about his experiences and life story. If you haven’t read this book yet, start now. Copies of the book will be on sale at both the film screening on Wednesday and the Deng visit. Of course, the Library also has multiple copies available to checkout.
For more information on both events, visit the Library’s website or go straight to the flyer for the two events.
I’ll be making some changes to this site during the next few days, so it might look a bit off. Right now this is a free blog on wordpress.com, but I’m going to move it over to my remote server and install wordpress.org software. I’ve done this once before and it took me forever to figure out since everything I know and do with my websites is completely self-taught (read clueless). Hopefully this time, things will go a lot smoother and it won’t take long before my new and improved site is up…*fingers crossed*
–update–
Well, apparently I learned something the first time around because it didn’t take me long (1 hour?) to make some of the changes I wanted. The site is now hosted on a remote server and I have a lot more control over things. One obvious thing I changed immediately was the wordpress theme. It took me a long time to pick one since there are a gazillion to choose from. I finally settled on the one you see now, called TerraFirma, and the only things I modified were the header image and some of the sidebar widgets. What’dya think?
